A Stop in the South Downs Way The Seven Sisters from Birling Gap

Print description

This panorama is one of the most iconic views you can experience not only in Sussex but across the UK. It is best appreciated as a rewarding stop along the South Downs Walk,

I began depicting the Seven Sisters in 2012, which was 12 years ago. In 2018, I created a large panorama featuring a murmuration of starlings. I enjoy the challenge of revisiting my early work. What can I do or see now that didn’t happen then? This new variation relates closer to my now extensive and expansive collection of chalk cliffs works. If you look closely, you can spot in the distance the coastguard cottages. I’ve also included a bench were you can rest along the climb towards Beachy Head.

Print details

I create each print out of my own hand drawn ink drawings that I colour digitally. I print my design using fine art paper and archival inks, and release each print as part of a limited edition of 100 for the standard sizes A0,A1, A2, A3 or A4. Each print has my signature and edition number.

Birling Gap

The beach at Birling Gap is set at the base of the imposing, sheer chalk cliffs known as the Seven Sisters between the seaside resorts of Eastbourne and Brighton. Birling Gap and the Seven Sisters  is a National Trust site. It has a fascinating history that starts from 4000 BC Neolithic. At that time people lived in a settlement at nearby Belle Tout.

Birling Gap is a coastal hamlet within the parish of East Dean and Friston . It is situated on the Seven Sisters not far from Beachy Head and is owned by the National Trust. Coastal erosion has already removed some of the row of coastguard cottages built in 1878.  In 1973 The first cottage was demolished due to its proximity to the eroding cliff edge. Nonetheless those that remain are still inhabited.

Seaford Coastguard Cottages

At the end of the Seven sisters is the Cuckmere Valley and in the opposite bank of the Cuckmere river you can find in my print the Seaford Coastguard Cottages. Interestingly I only came to this fact while I was drawing the base drawing for this print. By location geography I knew they were somewhere along the shore. I work from my own photographs, then when I am at the studio magnifying these photographs and studying the details of the landscape that this information reveals itself.

Finally past the cottages the view ends with Seaford Head Nature Reserve

In addition across the print you can see a flock of starlings forming a murmuration with its distinctive pattern in the sky. Equally  in this print I record with emphasis other patterns from nature. For example at large scale you can appreciate the repetitive undulating cliffs formation.  Equally and at small scale the rock scattered along the shore forms a pattern that copies itself in a repetitive scribble.

Seven Sisters Cliffs

The Seven Sisters cliffs take the name for each of the seven hills that form this landscape. These cliffs are the remnants of dry valleys in the chalk South Downs, which are gradually being eroded by the sea. The name Seven Sisters relates to the number of peaks and dips which are the following: Haven Brow, Short Bottom, Short Brow, Limekiln Bottom, Rough Brow, Rough Bottom, Brass Point, Gap Bottom, Flagstaff Point, Flagstaff Bottom, Flat Hill, Flathill Bottom, Baily’s Hill, Michel Dean and Went Hill Brow. Since I moved to Brighton in 2007 I have paid many visits to the Seven Sisters Country Park. This particular walk starts by taking the train to Seaford, walking along the promenade and then climbing up Seaford Head. Once passed its summit the view of the Seven Sisters is revealed.

Art references: William Blake, Samuel Palmer, Constable, Eric Slater, Arthur Ridgen Read and more.

Have you ever been on a walk in the South Downs in a day with large cumulus clouds that shoot up to the sky? They dwarf any feature in the landscape and turn us into miniscule beings. The sun shimmers in the haze and the cliffs, like limelight in old fashion theatres, project a blinding light to the spectator.  Many artists have captured this light and their work is present in my consciousness during the art creation process. Among others I like feel drawn to past artist that have also dwelt and depicted the South East such as Samuel Palmer with his romantic landscapes watercolours of the cliffs, William Blake idyllic images of Felpham, Constable clouds of Brighton and Hove, Eric Slater and Arthur Ridgen soft Japanese woodblock prints of seascapes and seagulls. All these artists captured the light and essence of this land.

A poem:  ‘Sea Fever’ by John Masefield

Poetry belongs to a realm between music and painting, the rhyme and repetition and the colourful descriptions take the reader into landscapes created in their minds. This poem below is very close to my heart and during walks along the Sussex Coast I often find myself reciting it.

I must down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;
And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking.

I must down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.