An Interview With Snowdonia Photographer and 'Oriel Hafod Ruffydd' Proprietor - Graeme Pettit

AmeriCymru spoke to Graeme Pettit, photographer and owner of the Oriel Hafod Ruffydd gallery in Snowdonia, north Wales. The gallery is situated near the village of Beddgelert ( famed for the legend of the faithful hound ) and features photographic works by Graeme and others.

Visit the website here:- Oriel Hafod Gruffydd for a full list of attractions.

( click on the pics below for full size images )

Winter view of Snowdon from the gallery

AmeriCymru: Hi Graeme and many thanks for agreeing to be interviewed by AmeriCymru. You own and manage the 'Oriel Hafod Ruffydd' in Beddgelert north Wales. Care to introduce the Gallery and surrounding area for our readers?

Graeme: The gallery is the culmination of a dream which began when I was out photographing the moorland at the end of a long deserted track in Mid Wales, where I found a tall house end wall, leaning outward, but heavily buttressed, and a tree growing next to it. I sat down for lunch, kicked the grass, and exposed a quarry tile floor. I was working full time at the time, but had one of those what if moments. On returning home, I described it to my wife, who said Im not moving anywhere unless it has a roof on it to which my reply So we can move then?. Two years later, and 170 locations looked at, we bought the property we are in. I sat on a rock outside, looking at the views and watching the light change, and decided to do something else with my life there and then that was in 2010.

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Beddgelert the local village

We are located about a mile North of Beddgelert, in Snowdonia, halfway along the new Lon Gwyrfai path between Beddgelert & Rhyd Ddu. We can see down the valley 20 miles to Cadir Idris, have Snowdon to the North East, and mountains all around us astonishing vistas, ever changing weather, and a valley with a microclimate all of its own. I am very interested in old folk tales and mythology, and the Beddgelert area is heaving with it. Cwm Meillionnen, in which we sit, is known as the valley of the fairies, and there is a tale of a silver purse, Arthurian legend, and of course, Gelert himself, to name but a few. Plenty there for inspiration!

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The gallery building is full of (as described by visitors) rural charm....

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The gallery building is full of (as described by visitors) rural charm. We are not white walled, wooden floors and perfectly lit ceilings. It is an old stone built barn possibly as old as the house we live in dating back to the 1500s. I have left the old sloping stone floor in part, and you have to duck as you enter through the door but inside, we hope visitors find a hidden gem something unusual, and that they wouldnt expect to find in the middle of nowhere. We are adding to it daily having opened in September 2013, and been very pleasantly surprised by the traffic we have had and the level of sales to date.

Whilst we do have parking at the gallery, most of our visitors are walkers, or those who found us via Helfa Gelf (the North Wales Art Trail). We welcome dog walkers, cyclists and anyone who cares to visit in fact, some of our first customers were folk who had got lost in the forest and just chanced upon us before we opened officially.

We offer hot and cold drinks, and are about to expand the catering side to cover hot snacks requested by walkers last Autumn. We found catering brought customers who may not have otherwise wandered off the path, and the investment has paid for itself in a very short time.

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Approach to the gallery - building on left

AmeriCymru: What images and other artwork can people expect to find on offer at the gallery? Do you specialise in local images?

Graeme: When we opened, about 20% of the work offered was from my Welsh travels the rest was NZ, USA, Thailand, Ireland, and the UK landscapes, travel, nature and transport were key themes. The proportion is getting on towards 50% Wales now, and only set to grow further. My wife paints in oils, and her work will go in, and we have had interest from other local artists of various disciplines, so we intend expand to cater for the variety over the course of the year. We are beginning to specialise in images of Northern Snowdonia, with a very local emphasis. Whilst all the work on show at present is my own, I am obtaining permission to offer some historic prints, and have a growing stock of local views by painters of the last century I hope to have these on show during the summer perhaps for purchase.

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I like to go beyond photography, so I am no purist. The digital darkroom affords me wonderful creative opportunities

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I like to go beyond photography, so I am no purist. The digital darkroom affords me wonderful creative opportunities to come up with work based on a photograph, but taken beyond into more of an art style. I also sculpt in wood, found items, and make things in metal, so the variety of what is here on offer, is only set to increase. That said, the focus will be my photography work.

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Gelert legend - faithful hound

AmeriCymru: Tell us a little bit about yourself. When did you first become interested in photography? How do you go about selecting and setting up your shots?

Graeme: I was an irritation to my grandfather as a small boy he was a keen horticulturist, but I wasnt interested in his prize winning Chrysanthemums and Carnations, and kept getting in his way after I had done the watering for him, so he gave me his camera, and told me to go learn how to take pictures and that started it sometime in the 1960s. He developed the films for me, and it seems they were not bad so we shared a few moments that way instead. As a student, I had to document my Forestry work as I was qualifying, so found myself with all sorts of challenges on which to hone my skills later, I ran a rather large railway website, highly demanding of images, and on my tours around the UK, began taking landscape and wildlife photographs. I had spent the last 32 years working with people within the UK prison system. Many are very creative in their own right with words, with art, and good with their hands. My work was in the education and workshop sides toward the end of my career, so I had time to discuss things with people, and became interested in faces. Through candid street photography in the Midlands of the UK, recording daily life, I began to do portrait work also, and there is a studio at the gallery for visitors and pet photography. I also do commercial work since turning professional a couple of years ago. It has been a long slow haul, and nigh on 50 years of learning the craft of photography for me.

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One still life image, A Feast for Bacchus took me two weeks to set up and get right.....

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I have a wide and varied taste musically, and something is usually playing around me often, that sets a mood emotionally, and I then take photographs to express that feeling. Wales is less than renowned for good weather, but it is a myth, and for the most part, has been kind to me Ill go out regardless of the weather, and always find something lensworthy. The concept of the weather being good, depends what you want to do when out in it and so long as you dress for it, almost anything can be achieved! I like my landscapes to have cloud cover the light tends to be more dramatic. I might be up on the hills at stupid oclock in the morning to get a shot Ive seen on a less good day, but often, my works are opportunistic the cameras live in the car most of the time, and I often see tantalising glimpses of something good so take my chances when I can get them. That said, I sometimes have an idea and try and create it. One still life image, A Feast for Bacchus took me two weeks to set up and get right but it is just the dining room table and light between two curtains from the window outside I wanted the feel of an old master, but it is for others to decide whether I achieved it.

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A feast for Bacchus

AmeriCymru: The gallery offers a range of other services: photography and software workshops, accommodation catering etc. Can you tell us a little more about these?

Graeme: We have a studio at the gallery I use it for product work, pets, people portraits, and still life/abstracts amongst other genres. As we develop our accommodation, we will be running courses in camera use, studio work, image processing and more some may be residential, others day based. The catering side is in its infancy my wife had the bright idea of offering hot drinks at the end of last summer to our gallery visitors, so invested in a coffee machine we sold out exceptionally quickly over the autumn, and the drinks brought viewers to the gallery which may have otherwise walked by. Chatting, some asked about food so we will be introducing hot food in a limited way once we have approval from the authorities. We bought the property with outbuildings the gallery occupies what used to be a milking parlour, creamery and stalling years back. Another is used as a workshop, where I do wood and metalwork sometimes artistically. We have been living in an attached Swedish style wooden cabin for the past year, whilst we have been doing up the 500 year old house on site and it is the cabin, and a small stone built annex which will form the core of our self catering accommodation the cabin sleeps 4-6, and the annex, a couple. We have had a lot of interest from art groups due to our spectacular location and ever changing light so we will have to see what the future brings. We are slowly moving into the house as our builders leave rooms

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Gallery interior

AmeriCymru: Are there any photographers whose work has inspired your own and who you would like to mention here?

Graeme: I have been inspired by so, so many over the years the classics, who shall remain un-named bar one, and many of the more modern image makers. In historic terms, I have always loved the pioneering work of O Winston Link the great railway photographer, but in the modern age, something can be learned from every image I see. I am impressed and inspired by the works of :

David Nitsche (USA) I love this chaps whole approach - his humour, creativity, and inherent simplicity of image underlies a phenomenal amount of work and experimentation. His work is always a pleasure for me to view.

John DeVaul (USA) I was first introduced to this mans work through his Light Painting set - almost HDR, but more - done with a superb subtlety and excellence of execution

Troy Paiva (USA) A friend in the US put me on to Troys inspirational night photography a few years back. His website "Lost America" is colourful, beautifully presented, and contains some truly excellent work - but that I had similar subject matter! If you want to see the best in contemporary night photography, visit Troys site - you wont be disappointed.

Another guy I love is:

James Ravilious (UK) I was introduced to this mans work through a friend and mentor. Based in Devon, and with much of his time spent out capturing rural life, he has caught an age quickly passing, and documented it for posterity - Beautiful images of daily life.

I have spent many hours in his back yard, but cannot find what he gives - perhaps I just don't feel it, perhaps I am trying to be too complicated in my approach - but these images are simply exquisite in every way to my eyes.

Each of these people has something special their own, unique take on their craft. I would do them and myself an injustice to copy their styles, but their dedication and attention to detail is something I do wish for myself.

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Must learn to speak Welsh that is major. Im a bit long in the tooth, but am trying!

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AmeriCymru: What's next for Graeme Pettit? Any major plans for the future

Graeme: Must learn to speak Welsh that is major. Im a bit long in the tooth, but am trying! It is very early days for us, living and working in Snowdonia. We need to consolidate on what we have so far by way of the gallery and commercial work, and get the self catering up and running. I suppose my major plans probably include developing the studio side and getting to the tops of more mountains in the shorter term, and expanding my photography of the beautiful Welsh landscape, but mumblings have been made by her indoors and there could be a few trips abroad coming. I would love to visit Iceland and Japan at some point, and return to New Zealand for another road trip, but I suspect we will end up on another roadtrip USA we are due one. It will either be New England/Canada/Nova Scotia, or a run from Chicago to New Orleans we have done almost everything east of the Appalachians that said, I would love to visit the Carolinas again Catfish is my favourite food! But to go in search of the Blues, would suit me fine!

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Snowdon from Plas y Brenin

AmeriCymru: Any final message for the members and readers of AmeriCymru?

Graeme: If you are a creative soul, then my advice is to appreciate and learn from the work of others, but to choose your own style and take it as far as you can. I would thank AmeriCymru readers for the good welcome and interest, just as I have found the natives of Wales so to an invading Englishmannow, who should I support in the 6 nations rugby tournament when Wales play EnglandLOL.

If you are interested in seeing my work, please either visit the gallery itself, or my website - www.graemesdesigns.com

I also offer a limited number of works through Fine Art America -

http://fineartamerica.com/customshop/graeme-pettit.html

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A view SE from the gallery over the Moelwyn range