East Sussex artist explores coastal and high-rise contrasts

In an exhibition of 90 oil paintings recording her solo journey from Rottingdean to Margate on foot, Alice contrasts the sharp cliffs of England’s coastal path with the high-rise urban architecture of Canary Wharf, King’s Cross, South Bank, White City and Canning Town.

“What could work better than an exhibition contrasting the handsome beauty of England's south east coastline with London's urban perpendicular giants?” Alice said.

The exhibition opens on November 15: “It will be on for four days and I welcome you all. I've painted a collection of 90 oil paintings over the last 18 months contrasting the sharp cliffs of England's coastal paths with London's high-rise urban architecture. When lockdown hit and the diary emptied, I took to walking long distances along the crumbling chalk coast line of the East Sussex Downs. I set out on these rambles with a canvas satchel stuffed full of oil painting kit. I wanted to record the stellar white cliffs before their jagged facades crumbled any more.

"I became obsessed with the colours. Every day the greens and blues would change and I'd eagerly get out my pallet and record the mixes, painting oil sketches that I could work from in my studio at home. When I reached the county border I continued into Kent, painting my way from Rottingdean to Margate, soaking up the sun or on many days the rain. Travelling on foot, alone, I strove to capture in my pictures a precious state of calm and introspection and, although always figurative, my final paintings contain elements which verge on abstraction.

“I'm hoping they will give viewers time out from the frenetic digital world of today. Post lockdown, when the country opened up and I could travel to London, I saw similarities between the sharp cliffs and the city's ever-changing skyline as high-rise buildings spring up. Come look for free. They want to be seen and if one strikes a chord they are all for sale.