Tour Sussex with us (without leaving the gallery!)

Come and visit us in Sussex this summer.

So many artists have found inspiration in our beautiful corner of the country, so we thought we'd give you a few tips for a truly artful adventure - all helpfully illustrated by some of our brilliant exhibiting artists here at Atelier.

Arriving by train? Take a moment to look up and admire Brighton's elegant Italianate station. It's an artwork in itself and the inspiration for Brighton-based printmaker Janet Brooke's Away Day.

Just a ten minute stroll south and you'll be with us here with us on the beach. Start your day in Sussex by taking in our Atelier OPEN, pick up an original artwork from one of our 150 exhibitors, and vote for your favourite piece. The show is open every day, 11am-5pm, until 3rd September, or you can view the work in our online gallery any time.

We've had our fair share of piers in Brighton. John Constable painted our Chain Pier shortly before it was swept away by a storm in 1889, and our beloved West Pier didn't fair much better before it was finally lost to fire in 2003.

Its skeleton remains as much a part of our skyline as the pier ever was, and still inspires countless artists and photographers, as here, in Paul Dwyer's The Old Lady.

Fortunately, our Palace Pier is still very much open for visitors, and all its flashy lights, sugar highs and heady amusements are perfectly captured in Along the Pier - by Louise Lockhart. Just one of the brilliant books by Design for Today available at ABtS.

Breeze out of Brighton

If it's countryside you crave, head out of town on the 77 bus and take in the sweeping views of the coast to the south, and the Weald to the North, as Serena Sussex has in her painting Devil's Dyke South Downs.

Or take a bus east to visit the Seven Sisters Country Park. Stop off at the iconic Coastguard Cottages (captured here by Ruth Waters) and admire the chalk coastline - probably one of the most painted views in the world?

Buses depart just a few minutes walk from the gallery.

The Ouse valley is easily accessible by taking the Seaford train from Brighton and jumping off at Southease station. Head up the valley towards Lewes and you'll soon find the village of Rodmell - home of Virginia and Leonard Woolf - who probably walked this Country Lane near Rodmell, more recently painted by John Haywood.

Alternatively, head up and over Itford Hill, and you'll be on the way to Firle and Charleston Farmhouse - home of the Bloomsbury Set - beyond. Drop down on to the Old Coach Road and look our for Firle Tower (illustrated in this print by Ian O'Halloran) on your way.

Why stop at Sussex? Make like Degas, Whistler and Sickert before you, and head for Dieppe and the continent beyond.

Admittedly you'll not be steaming out on the Queen Elizabeth - rendered brilliantly here in porcelain by Nick Bowering - but the cross channel ferry from Newhaven will probably get you there much faster.

Speaking of the cross-channel ferry, follow in the footsteps of Eric Ravilious, who so famously and fantastically captured the Sussex landscape. There's a public art trail or his paintings in Newhaven this summer, if you're passing through.

We've got some of his most iconic images in amongst our huge selection of greetings cards here in the shop.

If fact, you could easily tour the whole of Sussex by browsing our vast selection of contemporary Sussex landscapes, captured in print, photography and paintings by our talented lineup of artists, or by picking up one of our many guidebooks by Snake River Press.

What's that? You didn't realise we were tour guides as well as gallerists? We're as passionate about Sussex as we are about art.

It's all part of the service at Atelier Beside the Sea.