Print description

A Sussex art print of the famous view of the Sussex Weald from Devils Dyke in bloom with Rampion flowers.

Print details

Panoramic format. Print size 124 x 30.5 cm approx. Signed print from a limited edition of 100. From original ink drawing to which I apply colour digitally. Printed on fine art paper using archival inks.

Rampion Flower

Picture yourself lying on the grass at Devil’s Dyke, looking across the Sussex landscape through a sea of Rampion flowers. This limited-edition art print is inspired by the South Downs landscape, the distinctive Round-headed Rampion, and one of Sussex’s most recognisable views.

The flower featured in the print is Phyteuma orbiculare, the Round-headed Rampion, also known as the ‘Pride of Sussex’. Rather than being a single flower, each rounded head is made up of a cluster of small flowers which, when open, resembles a sea anemone. It is a herbaceous plant from the Campanulaceae family, with tall, erect stems. Rampion flowers can be found across much of Europe, but they thrive particularly well in the chalky grasslands of the South Downs. In the language of flowers, Campanula is associated with gratitude.

Devil’s Dyke is a dramatic dry valley in the South Downs, formed during the Ice Age. Nearly a mile long, it is England’s deepest and widest dry valley and is known for its expansive views across Sussex. John Constable famously described the view from Devil’s Dyke as ‘the grandest view in the World’. In my print, the landscape stretches towards the Sussex Weald, with the South Downs surrounding the view, the North Downs visible in the distance and, on exceptionally clear days, the Isle of Wight.

Making the flowers for the Devil’s Dyke print

The artwork began with charcoal drawings and kitchen lithography, an experimental printmaking technique that uses everyday household materials. The name comes from litho, meaning stone, and graphy, meaning writing or printing. Kitchen lithography is based on the same basic principle as traditional lithography: oil and water repel each other.

French artist Emilie Aizier developed this technique in 2009 as a way of creating lithographic prints without some of the more harmful chemicals traditionally associated with the process, including turpentine and nitric acid.

For this technique, I draw the design onto kitchen foil using oil-based pens and other household materials such as chocolate or soap. Cola is then used to alter the surface of the foil, changing its ability to retain water. Vegetable cooking oil is used to clean the surface before the plate is moistened and inked with a roller. Because the ink adheres to the areas of the design, the image can then be transferred onto paper using a wooden press.

This process combines drawing, experimental printmaking and digital colour to create a contemporary art print inspired by the landscape and wildflowers of the South Downs.