The Cycling Club Stop at the Grange Tea Gardens Rottingdean

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The fig tree by the flint wall, with a thrush bird singing. The church over the road, the big dog daises and the delicate vervain and the cycling club locking their bikes before they have their cream teas. As I witnessed on the 28th of July 2028 today as guest artists for @gertrudesgardenartsandcrafts bellow The Grange art gallery @rottingdeanheritage

Print details

To create this print, I start by crafting individual drawings in ink, which collectively form a collage comprising the final piece. I scan my drawings and digitally add colour. The original design solely exists in digital format, and I print it using archival inks and paper. I then release my design as a limited edition print, available in standard ‘A’ sizes, ranging from A0 (84.1 cm x 118.9 cm) to A4 (21 x 29.7 cm).

Contemporary Costumbrismo Art

This work echoes many different sources: from Vuillard’s colourful depictions of the domestic interior. Many of which I saw at Pallant House Gallery in 2022, to the Alekos Fassianos Foundation I visited in Athens in the summer of 2023. It also draws inspiration from the recent exhibition in summer 2024 at Studio Voltaire in London, which featured a pairing of work by Beryl Cook and Tom of Finland.

I have been running a life drawing session in Brighton for many years; the depiction of the human form is something that fascinates me. Through these pieces, I aimed to express my own personal experience my own and the environment where I live.

Costumbrismo is the literary or pictorial depiction of local everyday life, customs, and mannerisms, primarily within Hispanic contexts, particularly during the 19th century. It connects to both artistic realism and Romanticism, sharing Romanticism’s interest in expression over simple representation, as well as the precise depiction of specific times and places characteristic of both Romanticism and realism, rather than an abstract portrayal of humanity. Often satirical and occasionally moralizing, Costumbrismo differs from mainstream realism in that it typically does not provide or suggest any particular analysis of the society it portrays. When not satirical, its treatment of charming folkloric details often has a romanticized quality. (Wiki source)