Alej ez at the Sussex County Arts Club Artists Open Houses May 2026
Artists Open Houses, Central Trail, venue 11
Sussex County Arts Club
3 Bond Street Cottages, Bond Street, Brighton, BN1 1RP
Medium: Ink, three colours on page 416 of The Oxford Book of Victorian Verse
Lin
Medium: Ink, three colours on page 416 of The Oxford Book of Victorian Verse
Model: Lin
Lin asked me: Did you feel inspired by these poems?
I said, Alej: I do, before I create the drawing I peruse the poem, then I create the drawing. And then you, Lin, add new lights on meanings. These poems – pages pulled out of the pages of the Oxford Book of Victorian Verse – are sometimes dramatic, grand, mystical, all sorts of proper Victorian mush: feeble or cloying sentimentality.
RETURN – Sydney Dobell (1824–1874)
A passing ghost, a smoke-wreath in the air,
The flameless ashes, and the soulless urn,
Warm with the famish’d fire that lived to burn–
Burn out its lingering life for thy return,
Its last of lingering life for thy return,
Its last of lingering life to light thy late return,
Return, return.
AN EVEN SONG – Sydney Dobell (1824–1874)
In the spring twilight, in the colour’d twilight,
Whereto the latter primroses are stars,
And early nightingale
Letteth her love adown the tender wind,
That thro’ the eglantine,
In mixed delight, the fragrant music bloweth
On to me,
Where, in the twilight, in the colour’d twilight,
I sit beside the thorn upon the hill.
The mavis sings upon the old oak tree,
Sweet and strong,
Strong and sweet,
Soft, sweet, and strong,
And with his voice interpreteth the silence
Of the dim vale when Philomel is mute!
The dew lies like a light upon the grass,
The cloud is as a swan upon the sky,
The mist is as a brideweed on the moon.
The shadows, new and sweet,
Like maids unwonted in the dues of joy,
Play with the meadow flowers,
And give, with fearful fancies, more and less,
And come, and go, and flit.
Medium: Pen & colour ink on pages 339 & 342 of The Oxford Book of Victorian Verse
The Two Roberts
Medium: Pen & colour ink on pages 339 & 342 of The Oxford Book of Victorian Verse
Model: Tom
Life drawing session in response to the show Robert MacBryde and Robert Colquhoun: Artists, Lovers, Outsiders at Charleston in Lewes (@charlestontrust), and The Two Roberts, a new and beautiful book by Damian Barr (@mrdamianbarr).
We looked at and re-enacted three works: Figures on a Hillside, Boy with Birdcage, and Hobby Horse. I made a few simple props from black mountboard to echo elements in the paintings.
For the double figure, Tom—our model—did two consecutive poses, and I asked the artists to combine them into a single drawing, adding long grasses to hold the space together.
It was a moving session—a fabulous experience where we felt closer to these two extraordinary Scottish artists: their experiences, their romance, and their art.
Figures on a Hillside, before 1933
Private collection
This drawing comes from a group of sketches preserved by Colquhoun’s mother and later passed down through his family. It shows two boys together on a hillside, caught in a playful, physical moment.
What’s striking is how closely it echoes the prologue of The Two Roberts by Damian Barr, written nearly a century later—and only seen by Barr after he had finished the book. In both, there’s the same sense of intimacy and breathless closeness: two figures lying together in the grass, curled in on themselves
Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking
By Walt Whitman
Out of the cradle endlessly rocking,
Out of the mocking-bird’s throat, the musical shuttle,
Out of the Ninth-month midnight,
Over the sterile sands and the fields beyond, where the child leaving his bed wander’d alone, bareheaded, barefoot,
Down from the shower’d halo,
Up from the mystic play of shadows twining and twisting as if they were alive,
Out from the patches of briers and blackberries,
From the memories of the bird that chanted to me,
From your memories sad brother, from the fitful risings and fallings I heard,
From under that yellow half-moon late-risen and swollen as if with tears,
From those beginning notes of yearning and love there in the mist,
From the thousand responses of my heart never to cease,
From the myriad thence-arous’d words,
From the word stronger and more delicious than any,
From such as now they start the scene revisiting,
As a flock, twittering, rising, or overhead passing,
Borne hither, ere all eludes me, hurriedly,
A man, yet by these tears a little boy again,
Throwing myself on the sand, confronting the waves,
I, chanter of pains and joys, uniter of here and hereafter,
Taking all hints to use them, but swiftly leaping beyond them,
A reminiscence sing.
Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking
By Walt Whitman
Soothe! soothe! soothe!
Close on its wave soothes the wave behind,
And again another behind, embracing and lapping, every one close—
But my love soothes not me, not me.
Low hangs the moon, it rose late,
It is lagging—O I think it is heavy with love, with love.
O madly the sea pushes upon the land,
With love, with love.
O night! do I not see my love fluttering out among the breakers?
What is that little black thing I see there in the white?
Loud! loud! loud!
Loud I call to you, my love!
High and clear I shoot my voice over the waves,
Surely you must know who is here, is here,
You must know who I am, my love.
Low-hanging moon!
What is that dusky spot in your brown yellow?
O it is the shape, the shape of my mate!
O moon, do not keep her from me any longer.
Land! land! O land!
Whichever way I turn, O I think you could give me my mate back again if you only would,
For I am almost sure I see her dimly whichever way I look.
Title: Zack Pinsent
Medium: Pen & ink on pages of Vitruvius Britannicus. Plate references: C.2, PL.32
Model: Zack Pinsent
What an amazing experience! It was so lovely to do something different, learn about Georgian attire and draw jackets, linen, boots, that for Zack is like a second skin, all his outfits, made by him.
I’m an architect, and I love life drawing. At Oxfam, I found a lovely edition of Vitruvius Britannicus. I began cutting the pages in two, softening the dominance of the architectural designs.
Back in the studio, I realised that placing the two halves symmetrically creates a blank space in the centre — a quiet gap, perfect for drawing.
Zack Pinsent
Zack Pinsent is a British historical tailor and costumer based in Sussex, known for wearing exclusively Regency and 19th-century style clothing in everyday life. He makes much of his own wardrobe and works professionally in bespoke historical dress, often inspired by the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
He has become widely known through social media and media features for his commitment to historical fashion as a lived practice rather than costume, and for his role in reviving and interpreting Regency tailoring traditions today
Medium: Pen & ink on pages of Vitruvius Britannicus. Plate references: C.2, PL.32
The Sussex County Arts Club
The Sussex County Arts Club’s annual summer exhibition showcases artwork produced by club members in a variety of media, much of it created during some of the many sessions run throughout the year at the club.
I have submitted three pieces to this year’s Sussex County Arts Club May Festival Exhibition, which always feels like a proper marker in the Brighton calendar. It’s a relaxed, generous show—open to everyone who’s been working away in the studio sessions—and it tends to reflect the full spread of what’s been going on over the past year: experiments, breakthroughs, odd directions, and quiet obsessions.
The exhibition opens on Saturday 2nd May and runs across four weekends, with afternoon viewings through to Sunday 24th May. It’s one of those shows where you can really see the variety of approaches side by side—painting, print, drawing, and sculpture—all rooted in the shared space of the club.
There’s a Private View on the opening night, with the usual mix of wine, conversation, and the David Rose Prize being decided by members’ votes. It’s informal, slightly chaotic, and always worth it.
I’m looking forward to seeing how the work sits together this year—and, of course, to getting my own pieces up on the wall.
Other art pieces from the life drawing session
