With the Tour de France Grand Depart only weeks away, Harrogate artist Anita Bowerman has been hard at work for months on a piece celebrating Yorkshire’s role in the greatest race of all

WHILE most people are still gearing up for the Tour de France Grand Depart in Yorkshire next month, one Harrogate artist has already grabbed herself a slice of the action.

Anita Bowerman, who has long been inspired by the Yorkshire countryside she grew up in, has painstakingly recreated the Stage 1 route from Leeds to Harrogate as a paper cut, chiselled from one piece of paper. The image measures 72cm x 62cm and took Anita five months to create.

Her intricate work has to be seen to believed.

To the uninitiated, her map looks like a gigantic doily and features all the highlights along the breathtaking 191km (118.6mile) course. It is, of course, much more inspiring than a cut-out pattern and deserves a place on a very grand wall somewhere as spectacular as the scenery it depicts.

Look closely and you’ll find tiny rabbits, sheep, cows, horses and chickens, birds and even a sheepdog. Splendid highlights include Yorkshire businesses Theakston’s Brewery, Wensleydale Creamery and the Forbidden Corner. Among the great and the grand of North Yorkshire’s castles are Middleham, Bolton and Ripley; abbeys – Bolton, Fountains and Jerveaux – and landmarks – Brimham Rocks, Almscliffe Crag, The Cow and Calf Rocks and Buttertubs Pass. There’s also the stately homes of Harewood House and Newby Hall.

It took Anita two weeks to do the research for this work of art. She drove the entire route, often taking her family along the way to enjoy the best Yorkshire has to offer.

The idea for this map was born when Anita heard the announcement that Welcome to Yorkshire had successfully won the bid for the county to host the opening two stages of Le Tour on July 5 and 6.

“I love Yorkshire and wanted to create something really special to mark the occasion,” she said. “I was born in Leeds and had a very happy childhood there. My brothers and I spent many hours in the countryside having breakfast on a little stove with our father; playing by rivers, flying kites, running through the fields strewn with wild flowers, exploring with Bertie our beagle. We visited lots of famous landmarks and places all around the county. I have nothing but fond memories.”

Anita has already created three Yorkshire maps – Harrogate, Ilkley and most recently York, each about one metre long. The Harrogate original was bought by an American collector and the York map is staying in the city – it has been snapped up by a York enthusiast.

Anita has created numerous other designs, mainly based on the Yorkshire countryside.

So what price would she put on her Tour de Yorkshire papercut? “It’s something you can’t put a price on. All I can say is that I’m open to sensible offers.” she said.

The price would have to reflect the seemingly- endless hours Anita has spent on the project. In order to get a true representation of the profile of the buildings on the map, she approached owners or managers to ask which view was the most accurate. She then made sketches of the varied countryside.

Back at her studio in Harrogate, she chose a large piece of turquoise paper for the map – which works well with yellow, the official Tour de France colour.

Then began the process of laying the map onto paper. “I love tiny details and telling a story so began to sketch the map with relish on the reverse of my large piece of paper. For instance, at Middleham Castle, I included Richard III. This was his childhood home. At Bolton Abbey there are deer, people crossing The Strid and the Embsay Light Railway.

“I then added tiny cyclists around the route.

Included on the map are the four winners’ jerseys on the riders, which I hand painted.”

The cutting out process is entirely by hand using a tiny sharp blade. It took more than 200 hours to cut out this map.

“A building can take me all day to create,”

said Anita. “Every window, each detail is only millimetres high. I went through more than 100 blades and wore my pencil down to a stub.

I can only usually work for three hours a day since my eyes get tired, but latterly to finish the map on time, I’ve been cutting out for eight hours.”

Anita’s deadline was May 20. It had to be ready for a grand unveiling by the Mayor of Harrogate in front of 100 people as part of a preview for Art Harrogate. The art fair, at Harrogate International Centre, showcases local artists and will be scrutinised by the world’s media in town from June 28 to July 5 for Le Grand Depart.

The original is now framed and on display at Anita’s gallery and working studio, The Dove Tree Art Studio, Back Granville Road, in central Harrogate, just behind the theatre.

  • Limited edition giclee prints are available of the paper cut Stage 1 – £95 for A3, £175 for the original size. A limited edition laser cut is also being produced. See anitabowerman.co.uk for details. The map is also on display at Weetons, West Park, Harrogate and at the Grammar School, Leeds.