Stephen Hopper

26/08/2026

Cwm Idwal painting underway - 1m x 1.5m oil on linen

22/08/2026

15/07/2026

Another portrait is nearing completion—and this has been one of the most emotionally engaging I've undertaken.

When creating a historical portrait, I find it easier to capture what I think of as a "meeting of minds" if I feel a genuine emotional connection with the subject.

Among the many references I drew upon, Wilfred Owen's poem 'Anthem for Doomed Youth' became a particular source of inspiration.

The painting depicts Owen and his fellow soldiers sheltering in the cellar of La Maison Forestière at Ors, just one day before his death—and only eight days before the end of the First World War.
Knowing what was to follow the next day—as well as the fact that Owen’s mother received a telegram informing her of her son’s death just as church bells were ringing out the Armistice—lends my portrayal added poignancy.

www.stephenhopper.net

30/06/2026

You're Invited – Open Studio Weekend

Join me for a special Open Studio Weekend on Saturday 4 & Sunday 5 July 2026.

The studio is open as part of the Llanfyllin Fringe Festival, celebrating visual art, open studios, folk and jazz alongside the week-long music festival.

Original artworks, prints, and greeting cards will all be available to purchase, with no obligation—you're equally welcome to simply browse and enjoy the studio.

My work ranges from atmospheric watercolours inspired by the Welsh landscape and my mountain walks to larger expressionist paintings exploring history, mythology and Welsh cultural identity. I've also created portraits of iconic Welsh figures, including Owain Glyndŵr, Dewi Sant, R. S. Thomas and Hedd Wyn.

Come along for a chat, enjoy a coffee, and celebrate a weekend of art, creativity and the Welsh landscape that continues to inspire my work.

The Coach House Studio
Isfryn
Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant
SY10 0AD
Saturday 4 & Sunday 5 July 2026
10.00 a.m.–4.00 p.m. both days
On-site parking is available.

Whether you're discovering my work for the first time or returning for another visit, I'd be delighted to welcome you to the studio.

www.stephenhopper.net

22/05/2026

'Echoes of Giants on the White Slope'

At the Head of the White Slope (Pen Yr Ole Wen), the cunning mist—at once benign yet concealing hidden dragons—demands certainty of footing.
It’s here that steps of giants once creased the rocks, sending bloody streams through the veins of an ancient past.
Shrieking around the peak’s wizened head, cracked consonants and vexatious vowels of Princes past—Llywelyn and Dafydd—echo into the void.
To experience the slope’s majesty, the traveler needs to embrace weariness and wariness in equal measure. Respect its presence, and Wales’s seventh highest peak will reveal its seventh heaven.

My oil painting and narrative of Pen Yr Ole Wen (The Head of The White Slope) looking West towards Yr Wyddfa, Eryri. Oil on Claesson canvas 40 x 50cms.

07/05/2026

Tonal grisaille from my wanderings in the Welsh 3000s of the Carneddau – in the footsteps of brothers Llywelyn and Dafydd.
And with next stage of oil colour in progress..

11/04/2026

If you've never been to Cym Idwal, go there.
Here is my narrative ...

'Fire & Ice in The Devil’s Kitchen'

"Forged from the ancient granite of millennia, the giant armchair of Cwm Idwal is a canvas sculpted by a glacial alchemist.
Between Glyder and Garn—the ‘Twll Du’ or ‘Devil’s Kitchen’—is a deep, fiery chasm from which foreboding mist plumes skyward. And bird song is eclipsed by the screams of a 12th-century prince drowned in the lake by an ice-blooded uncle.
It’s here amongst the moraines and heather-covered mounds that Darwin catalogued rare and delicate plant life, clinging to life in the stillness.
Flowing out from this Devil’s pestle, the cascading, clear, oligotrophic waters of Afon Idwal sound a musical torrent of myth, legend, and mystery."