Devon - A Painter's Coast
Why I Love the Devon Coast
There’s something about the coastline that gets under your skin.
The sea’s constant movement, the changing light, the wildness of it all - it pulls you in, and before long I find myself reaching for my paintbox.
For me, that pull has always been strong in Devon.
I first visited the Jurassic Coast years ago, not long after moving to North Wales, and the memory of those vast beaches and timeworn cliffs never quite left me. Places like Sidmouth, with its red cliffs and gracious Regency seafront, stayed in the back of my mind like an unfinished sentence. I went back often and, inevitably, I started painting it.
One of my earlier coastal pieces was “Bracing Day, Sidmouth” painted on a brooding windswept day in 2006, when the sea was crashing over the groynes and the promenade had barely a handful of walkers braving the breeze. I was drawn to the couple on the beach, leaning forward into the elements. It was a painting that seemed to come together all on its own. The way the sky opened up. The rhythm of the railings. The contrast of that fiery red cliff against the blue-grey sea. It’s the kind of scene you want to linger in.
A Picture Worth Revisiting
Around the same time I had been invited by a local shop owner in Sidmouth to take on a rather special challenge: to paint a contemporary version of the “Sidmouth Long Picture” - an iconic 19th-century piece showing the full sweep of the Regency seafront in all its splendour. It’s a huge undertaking, quite literally, and a real honour to be asked. At the time, though, Jon and I were knee-deep in opening our gallery in Snowdonia, and I had to set the project aside.
But it was never off the table entirely.
Now seems like the right moment to return to the part-finished canvas. Here’s a photo of me beside the early stages of the huge canvas. It’s a work in progress, but then, so is everything worth doing.
Alison with her Sidmouth Long Picture - in progress
A Painter’s Coast
What keeps drawing me back to the Devon coast isn’t just nostalgia or unfinished work. It’s the sheer variety.
Some days, the sea looks like it’s been hammered out of pewter. On others, it’s glassy and still, with just a hint of mist curling over the headlands. The light turns quickly, shadows race across the cliffs, and no two moments are ever quite the same.
For a painter, that’s a gift.
There’s the drama of the Jurassic Coast, where the red rock stacks rise like old guardians out of the water. There are quiet, hidden spots too, where the path dips down and suddenly you’re in a little cove with no one else in sight. These are the places where I do my best thinking, and often my best sketching.
And of course, there are the towns: full of charm, colour, and the steady rhythm of coastal life. Sidmouth, Dartmouth, Teignmouth, and the English Riviera to name but a few. Each one different, each one full of stories waiting to be told in paint.
Whether you know the Devon coast well, or you remember it from a holiday years ago, I hope my paintings bring back something of what makes it special. The space. The light. The sense of time stretching out like the horizon itself.
And who knows, maybe the next time you visit Sidmouth, you’ll see me working away on that Long Picture once again.
Thanks for reading,
Alison
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