Wealden District is blessed with one of the most spectacular landscapes in England, perfect for a country getaway if, like me, you live in a town or city. In the north of the district, you have the Ashdown Forest and the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, a medieval landscape of wooded hills dotted with fields, the odd farm, and ancient pathways. Moving south you hit The South Downs National Park with its heathland, river valleys, woodlands, historic villages and towns (plus, of course, the mysterious Long Man of Wilmington).
The district then snakes down the meandering Cuckmere river. The region is capped off by the iconic white cliffs of the Sussex Heritage Coast: think Birling Gap and Beachy Head. No wonder it is the setting for countless films, and has been an inspiration to artists for centuries. Here is a small selection of contemporary artworks made of and about the stunning Wealden landscape.
Jessica Wood
South Downs study
Tom Lee, Mist Rising, Cuckmere Valley Archival print with pigment ink on Hahnemühle German Etching paper, 25×16.5in with additional white border, signed, titled and numbered, edition of 250. £350
Alongside a highly successful career as a commercial architectural photographer, Lee started on a ‘projet de cœur’ in 2009, which brought him back to his early years of black and white photography, and his homeland in Sussex, feeding his passion for the English landscape. He spent a total of nine years photographing the South Downs, publishing a book of the results. Costing £12, it is a joy to leaf through. Individual prints and books are available at Alfriston Arts and Tom Lee Gallery.
Bird’s eye view
Adele Scantlebury, Red Kite & Long Man Woodblock print hand-tinted with watercolour, 48x43cm/38x30cm. Signed edition of 30. £150 unframed
Originally graduating in Ceramics from Farnham, Scantlebury has worked on many heritage tile projects, including the floor tiles for the Crypt of St Paul’s Cathedral. During the same period, she explored working with woodblock printing. ‘Peeling the paper off the block for the first time is always a magic moment as the picture is revealed, a mirror image of the piece of wood I have been carefully chipping away at for days,’ she comments. Her hand-tinted prints with Ravilious-style curving and clean-cut lines, can be found at Alfriston Arts.
Speaking pots
Maya Hughes, Faceted Lidded Jars Stoneware with an addition of Wealden clay, ash glazed, reduction fired. From £55
Working from her Maya Imagine Ceramics studio in Heathfield, Hughes specialises in wheel-thrown forms, surface decoration, and experimental firings that connect her work back to natural, indigenous materials and landscapes. A key principle in her practice is allowing the pot to ‘speak for itself’, avoiding overworking and letting natural processes shape the final outcome. A graduate of Clay College in Stoke, she is certainly one to watch.
Pink sky at night
Helen Brown, The White Horse Pink, Woodcut, 17x17cm. £55
Helen Brown begins her ‘Sussex-style’ process drawing scenes en plein air on the South Downs: ‘Working outdoors enables me to connect with the spirit of the place, capturing the line and fluidity of scenes and localities’. She then carves the image in reverse on to a woodblock before creating her distinctive highly coloured prints on an 1844 Colombian press at Brighton Independent Printmakers.
Wind in the Willows
Studio Amos
Craftscouple Annemarie O’Sullivan and Tom McWalter grow the willow that they use for basket-making and willow weaving just outside Horam. Trading under the STUDIO AMOS banner, these makers create slow handmade sculptural pieces. They are represented by New Craftsmaker, London, and have had exhibitions at Make Hauser & Wirth, Somerset, Fabrica, Brighton and MarchSF San Francisco. The price tags match their star reputation and our tip is to sign up to their newsletter to be notified of the occasional studio sale and launches of new collections (which sell out very quickly). studioamos.co.uk thenewcraftmaker.com
“We’ve been growing our own willow for the last 15 years. It makes us feel firmly rooted in this place and connected to all the makers and growers who have come before us.”
Sphere today
Belinda Ferretter, Spheres
Mild steel, various sizes and prices, from 30cm (£250) to 180cm (£850)
Belinda Ferreter makes bespoke metal pieces, combining function with aesthetics, from her workshop in Litlington, in the Cuckmere Valley. Her spheres are hand-made in mild steel and designed to be left to rust naturally in a garden. They have been described as ‘striking yet quietly beautiful forms that bring a calm, grounded presence to any space’. She crafts them to order in 10cm size increments.
Land art literature
Chris Drury, Heart Soul Mind
Published by Cape Farewell, casebound in dust jacket, £40
Chris Drury’s new book offers a sweeping reflection on his 45-year international career, weaving together art, landscape and science. Across 192 illustrated pages, Drury explores walking in wild places, woven stick works, cloud chambers, and collaborations with medics, linking bodily systems to planetary ones. Essays and images chart his fascination with fungi, energy, and regeneration, presenting a deeply personal journey through land, life and art that embodies the heart,
soul and mind.