Rye – Colin Bailey

Rye is a small hill top town and in East Sussex, England, on the River Rother, and at the western edge of the Walland Marsh, part of the Romney Marshes. Notable buildings in the town include St Mary’s church, the Ypres Tower (pronounced locally “wipers”), Lamb House and many of the houses on Mermaid Street, Watchbell Street, and Church Square.

With its population of about 4500, which has remained constant since Tudor times, Rye has a small, close knit community. Its isolation on the edge of the Romney Marsh and its proximity to London has led to it being a favourite retreat amongst artist and writers:
Rye has attracted many literary figures including Henry James, Conrad Aitken, Joseph Conrad, H G Wells, G K Chesterton, whereas others like John Ryan, Malcolm Saville and Monica Edwards have dreamt up popular stories such as the swashbuckling adventures of Captain Pugwash. One of Rye’s most famous and best loved authors is probably E F Benson, a one time Mayor of Rye, and writer of the Mapp and Lucia series of books whose fictional town of Tilling was based on Rye.
Artists like Paul Nash and Edward Burra lived in Rye which, together with the surrounding coastline, has been painted by artists such as Van Dyck, Whistler, the Pre-Raphaelites and John Piper.

ACRYLIC PAINTINGS
Whilst in Rye I produced many small and medium sized paintings which I would exhibit in local art groups: Rye Tuesday Painters, Weald of Kent Art Group and Battle and District Arts Group. Most of these sold and it wasn’t until I finally bought a digital camera and small scanner in the early 2000s that I kept a record of them. Since moving to Hastings and using a large scale scanner I have been much better at saving images of my paintings and then using them to produce good quality Giclee reproductions. Most of my prints in Rye were etching that I printed on my own press and some of which I then hand-coloured with watercolour.

SLIP DOWN MERMAID STREET, RYE
Snow covering Rye's most famous street. A slippery trip down the icy, cobbled Mermaid Street, past the snow dusted sign of the Mermaid Inn on the right, and on to the orange glow of lights in the windows of Jeakes House. — SLIP DOWN MERMAID STREET, RYE- Limited edition giclée prints by Colin Bailey

SPRING UP MERMAID STREET, RYE
Spring sunshine on the cobbles walking up Mermaid Street in Rye, East Sussex. Jeakes House is on the right and the Mermaid Inn is further up on the left, round the corner — SPRING UP MERMAID STREET RYE- Limited edition giclée prints by Colin Bailey Prints Available

SLIP DOWN MERMAID STREET and SPRING UP MERMAID STREET were both painted just after moving to Hasting and exhibited at the Weald of Kent exhibition in Tenterden, where they sold as a pair. Luckily they were the first two paintings I had been able to digitally photograph and have been the flagships of my Rye Giclee prints.

DOWN MERMAID STREET, RYE
A view down the famous cobbles of Mermaid Street in Rye, East Sussex, one of England's most picturesque streets. On the right is the Mermaid Inn, once the notorious haunt of Smugglers! — DOWN MERMAID STREET RYE- Limited edition giclée prints by Colin Bailey Prints Available

WATCHBELL STREET FLOWERS
Spring flowers add to a splash of colour to the corner of Watchbell street and Church Square in Rye. In the distance the cobbles lead to the Hope and Anchor hotel and beyond that to the hills of Udimore. The end of Watchbell Street was once the lookout across the bay to Camber Castle and the sea - for warning of raids by the French! — WATCHBELL STREET, RYE- Limited edition giclée prints by Colin Bailey Prints Available

HYLANDS YARD, RYE
Hylands Yard leading to the back of the Mermaid Inn and the Cobbles Tea room from opposite the Olde Bell pub in the Mint, Rye, East Sussex. — HYLANDS YARD, RYE – Limited edition giclée prints by Colin Bailey

ST ANTHONYS, RYE
The Tudor timber framed building on the corner of Watchbell Street and Church Square opposite St Anthony of Padua, Rye’s Roman Catholic church. — ST ANTHONYS, RYE – Limited edition giclée prints by Colin Bailey

Last Post – Limited edition giclée prints by Colin Bailey Prints Available

HAND COLOURED ETCHINGS
i experimented on bringing colour to my etchings, either by applying different coloured inks to the plate, using separate plates or by simply hand-colouring the black and white print with watercolour. Technically I found that I needed heavily bitten plates to hold lighter coloured ink tones, but less tone and more a lighter touch for those being hand-coloured with watercolour.

THE OLD VICARAGE, CHURCH SQUARE, RYE
The Old Vicarage (the pink building) in Church Square, Rye. Limited edition hand-coloured etching — OLD VICARAGE, CHURCH SQUARE RYE Limited edition hand-coloured etching

DOWN MERMAID STREET, RYE
View past the Mermaid Inn down Rye's famous cobbled street.. Limited edition hand-coloured etching — MEERMAID STREET, RYE Limited edition hand-coloured etching

FISHING BOATS, RYE
Fishing boats moored next to the fish market on the Salts in Rye.
Limited edition hand-coloured etching — FISHING BOATS, RYE – Limited edition hand-coloured etching

CHURCH SQUARE, RYE
The churchyard of St Mary's church, the most prominent building in Rye.
Limited edition hand-coloured etching — CHURCH SQUARE, RYE Limited edition hand-coloured etching

WEST STREET, RYE
Crumbling stonework in West street leading from church square to Lamb House in Rye . Limited edition hand-coloured etching — WEST STREET, RYE Limited edition hand-coloured etching

Please see Etchings for some of the black and white etchings, and What is etching? for a explanation of the etching process

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