❤️ life ❤️ art
alej ez Artists Open Houses Cover Artist 2026
There are moments as an artist that feel quietly surreal. One of them was walking through Brighton in the spring of 2026 and seeing Modern Bathers reproduced on billboards across the city as the official image for the Artists Open Houses Festival.
Being invited to create the cover artwork for the 44th anniversary of the festival was already an enormous honour. Seeing the design leave the page and become part of Brighton’s streetscape was something else entirely.
This photograph was taken beside one of the large-format billboards, where the artwork stretched across the wall, catching the bright spring sunshine. Sharing the moment with friends made it even more memorable.
The artwork, Modern Bathers, celebrates many of the things I love most about Brighton: its sea, its architecture, its open skies and the simple joy of people gathering by the water. Inspired by the city’s unique atmosphere, the print combines bold colour with flowing lines to create a contemporary vision of life by the coast.
The Artists Open Houses Festival is one of the UK’s largest independent visual arts festivals, bringing together around 1,000 artists across nearly 200 venues every May. Homes, studios and galleries open their doors, transforming Brighton & Hove into a city-wide celebration of creativity.
Looking back, seeing Modern Bathers on billboards around town remains one of the highlights of my artistic journey. It was a reminder that art doesn’t only belong inside galleries—it can become part of the everyday landscape, surprising people as they walk to work, meet friends or head down to the beach.
Thank you to the Artists Open Houses team for trusting me with the festival’s visual identity, and to everyone who stopped, smiled, took photographs or discovered my work through the campaign.
