Artist in Residence: Beth Tidmarsh

In January 2022, Cumbria-born speech and language therapist Beth Tidmarsh posted a drawing of the London hospital she’d been working at throughout COVID to her new Instagram account, @bethdrawsbuildings. Complete with row upon row of miniature bricks, carefully observed columns, windows and a tiny flag flying on top, this detailed drawing was a taster of what was to come. 

Four years and a move back to the Lakes later, Beth’s creative “side hustle” is flourishing. Expanding her subject matter to include landscapes and local landmarks alongside her beloved buildings, Beth has just finished her biggest project to date: a large-scale grid filled with 247 Lake District scenes – many of them chosen by Beth’s followers.

Ahead of her upcoming residency at Another Place, The Lake, 19 - 22 June, we sat down with Beth to talk felltop engagements, leaving drawings in the wild for people to find, the memories some landmarks hold, and why – even in an increasingly digital age – handmade will always mean more. 

Growing up in the North Lakes, it was so quiet, and I was desperate to escape to a big city! But, after moving to London to work as a senior specialist speech and language therapist in the NHS, I found myself really missing it.

I decided to return to Cumbria for the slower pace, the countryside and a Labrador called Rolo. I still work in the NHS, balancing my drawing business alongside clinical commitments.

Building on a passion

Beth Draws Buildings came from my love of architecture and pen-and-ink drawing. The first building I ever drew was Gianni's, an Italian restaurant in Penrith, for a GCSE architecture project.

It wasn’t until 10 years later that I picked up my pens again as a distraction during lockdown. I tentatively set up my Instagram and began sharing some of my drawings, including one of the London hospital I worked at throughout COVID.

Buildings appeal to my inner perfectionist; I love all the tiny details – the awkward fiddly bits. Depending on the commission size, each drawing typically takes 20-30 hours to finish.

Personal connections

It’s amazing hearing the memories the places I draw hold for people. It could be where someone got engaged or a walk they remember doing with a loved one.

One of my favourite things to come from my drawing has been the ‘Finders Keepers’ project – where I leave prints at the places that inspired them, for people to find on their own adventures. There was Ambleside Bridge House, found by a couple on their honeymoon, Ullswater Jetty, found by some wild swimmers and Warnscale Bothy, found by a hiker visiting the Lakes.

With everything more digitised now, I think people are pushing back a bit and seeing the value in hand-drawn pieces that take time and effort to make – rather than an AI-generated image. It’s lovely to see the number of people who approach me when they could just Google something for free.

I don't quite know how I've ended up drawing things so small, but I guess I found a niche that I enjoy! I like the poetry of all these smaller elements making up the whole – and there are so many little things to appreciate in the Lake District, which is what I wanted to try and highlight with my new grid drawing, Shades of Home.

Shades of home

I recently completed my large-scale grid project, ‘Shades of Home’, made up of 247 4x4cm squares, each filled with a different monochrome Lake District scene, from iconic buildings to lakes, peaks, waterfalls and viewpoints. I basically walked into the art shop in Kendal and bought the biggest piece of paper they had, then mapped it out to see how many squares I could get on one page.

I was inspired by a print of all 214 Wainwrights by The Northern Line, and wanted to make something on a similar scale, but including a wider range of Lake District places special to both me and other people.

I drew the very first square on 3 March 2025 and finished it just over a year later. Each square took me around 1 hour to complete and was hand-drawn using a combination of fine liners, pencil and brush pens. The first one I did was Derwentwater Jetty (square 78) and the last was the Helvellyn ‘hole in the wall’ stile (square 127).

My only rule for this piece was no businesses and no boats because I wanted it to be timeless (and I can’t draw boats to save my life!).

At one point, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to fill all 247 squares, so I asked people on social media to help me out by sending in suggestions of locations they’d like to see included. I love how it’s been such an interactive process.

I had some really nice, personal requests from people saying ‘this was my mum’s favourite view’ or ‘this is my dad’s favourite walk’. One person asked me to draw the bothy where they had a New Year’s Eve celebration. Often, though, it was requests for places where people got married or engaged – I lost track of the engagements! I think there was an engagement at every different trig point.

I’ve been working with local photographers and printers to release a limited-edition run of prints of the grid piece. Each print will come with a full list of all 247 locations, so you can identify each square and find your favourites.

I’m so happy it’s finished in time for my residency at Another Place in June, so that I can bring it and display it on the weekend. I'm hoping it will appeal to lots of different people because there are 247 drawings of the Lake District in there, so hopefully at least one will resonate!

On her upcoming residency

I'm excited to hopefully get a sunny day, do some drawing around the hotel and discuss my work and sketchbooks with guests and visitors. If it's warm, I might even get in the lake…

I've spent many an evening eating pizza in The Glasshouse, so it’ll be great to capture that building on paper and do it justice. I might also do some small, standalone sketches of the shepherd huts. And then I’m hoping to create a collage that reflects all the little things that make up a weekend away at Another Place.