The Iconic White Cliffs at Dover in Kent

Hi Everybody

Along the South Coast of England the White Chalk cliffs are a dominant sight.

Immortalised in songs and seen as a great landmark of the UK they stretch from East Kent right through to West Suusex.

In a way they have come to symbolise the determined spirit of our Island Nation and for artists they are a great gift of nature, and for me compelling subjects.

it is the same limestone of these cliffs that gives the soil in Champagne in France the ability to produce great Champagne wines and which have in the past few decades allowed the emergence of a fine wine industry in Southern England where today some of the World’s finest Sparkling wines are now produced.

So it is against all that that have over the years painted a good many watercolours of these iconic cliffs and this post gathers some of them together now in one place.

I hope  you enjoy seeing them

Lets start  in Kent near Kinsgate Bay and the cliffs on that part of the coast.

Here is view of the North Foreland Lighthouse perched high on the Cliffs near Joss bay.

Flying kites near Broadstairs.

The coastal town of Broadstairs is today a popular seaside resort and has gained fame through the presence in the town  of Charles Dickens in the 19 century and his books

Low tide at Broadstairs

Dawn at Broadstairs

The beach and Cliffs at Dumpton Gap just south of Broadstairs.

As we travel further south we come to Dover and here again is the header picture for this Post showing the imagined view from a ship entering the harbour.

.Beyond busy Dover is the ferry port of Folkstone with its delightful harbour shown here.

At Folkestone the cliffs descend and then they reappear at Petts Levels , just beyond Rye in Sussex,  seen here from Camber Sands.

Beyond Eastbourne the white cliffs beome higher with the impressive Beach Head and the Seven Sisters Cliffs

A cold winters day at the Seven Sisters Cliifs

Stormy seas at the Seven Sisters

Calm day at the Cliffs

The White Bliffs csrry on further into Sussex but we will leave those and other parts of the South shore till a further post.

These paintings and many more will I hope soon appear in an “eBook” called

“The Coastal Counties of England “ which I am currently working on.

Happy Travelling and stay safe and well

Brian

Recently I have been lucky enough to have been invited to show my watercolours at  some Exhibitions and to show my watercolours in Galleries.

This is quite new to me and a little bit daunting as one doesn’t know what the reactions will be.

But it has also been exciting and although I do sell watercolours on line, mainly via Artfinder, or by word of mouth or commissions, exhibiting is a bit diifferent!

So in this post I am showing some of the watercolours, framed and ready to exhibit. Some have been sold and these are included too.

The emphasis of the exhibitions have been partly Kent biased and so the majority of the watercolours reflect this but others are of different places we have travelled to.

One really nice aspect is seeing ones work alongside others and recognising your own devolopment as an artist in context with others. This is quite stimulating and of course reinforced if a sale is made of a painting.

I feel that the past two years have changed art sales quite a bit with an increase in my sales during lockdowns and a decline now that normal life is a bit closer. I don’t know if other artists have also noticed this but again discussions at the exhibitions did indicate this may be a factor..

So here are some of the watercolours. You may have seen them before here but now I hope in a new context.

There are 9 paintings in all

Firstly a  watercolour sold at an Gallery in Tonbridge ( Artspring).

The exhibition was called “Reflections” which interestingly was the name of this Lockdown painting

Reflections at Scotney Castle in Kent 18 by 8 inches.

The next few were exhibited in a Kent Creative Exhibition in Faversham in Kent

For another exhibition at Hartley in Kent I introduced two new watercolours,painted on canvas

During 2022 I do hope to get the opportunity to exhibit my watercolours in more Galleries and Exhibitions, meanwhile I need to get on with a new commission!

Happy travelling and do stay well.

Brian