A New Home, A New View

22/09/2020

Relocating from Oxford to Glynde in East Sussex

‘Summer in Glynde’

I was born and raised in Oxford, and except for the 3 years I spent studying down in Cornwall, I have spent the majority of my life based there. I had my lovely studio at Cuckoo Lane near Witney for 5 years, but this summer, a new chapter called us, in the rolling south downs of East Sussex. My partner has found work near Heathfield as a watchmaker (his instagram account can be found here), and so the search for an inspiring yet affordable place to live, and a studio for me, became a sudden priority as lock down eased in the summer of 2020.

We were fortunate enough find a cottage in the idyllic village of Glynde. With incredible views of mount Caburn, we jumped at the chance to live somewhere so beautiful. Our new home is part of a row of old miners cottages (the old chalk pit still lies behind the houses, visible as a huge white expanse when you are on top of Caburn). The village itself is full of artists and craftspeople. There is a blacksmith and a shoemaker (both called Tom), several artists who exhibit during artwave festival. We feel right at home here.

Since we arrived, I have been utterly captivated by Glynde, walking around and drinking it all in. Even if the pandemic has made exploring and meeting people harder than it might be otherwise, we have been so lucky to move in during the summer. I will never grow tired of the view from our windows and how it changes each day with the weather, with the seasons. The allotments burst with life in the summer (especially this year!) and we are treated to the most amazing sunsets over Caburn. I love the way the light moves across the hills in brilliant patches on bright cloudy days. I love the sound of the train pulling into the little station at the end of our road. I love the way the wind whistles through the valley and makes everything dance, an invisible choreographer.

I simply couldn’t wait to paint the view from our house as soon as we moved in. So in the quiet weeks before I had to start thinking about moving my studio over, I worked from our living room window and attempted to capture the way our new home was working its way quickly into my heart. I am looking forward to creating many more landscape paintings of Glynde, this beautiful place, over the coming years.

Painting from home, the view of Mount Caburn across the Allotments in Glynde.