Where the paintings begin

The coast path is where so much of my work begins.

Living and working in Cornwall, it's the stretch out towards Pendeen, Zennor and St Ives that I love most. The drama of the cliffs, the sea calm one moment and wild the next, the joy of turning a corner and finding a beach you didn't know was there. It's where I go to think, to sketch, to let my mind wander, to feel the landscape all the way through.

There's a particular walk on the high cliffs where you can hear the sea before you can see it, an enclosed stretch that suddenly opens out to a beach rolling away below, with nobody there but a gull drifting on the wind. Moments like that are where the paintings start. This one became the painting on the cover of Language of Paint.

I've wanted to do something for the path itself for a while, and this print is that. A limited run, made in Cornwall, with every penny of profit going to the charity that keeps this trail open for the rest of us who walk it.

ABOUT THE CHARITY

The South West Coast Path Association looks after the 630 mile trail that runs the length of the south west coastline, keeping it open, signed and cared for. It costs £1,700 per mile every year to maintain. All proceeds from this print, after costs, go directly to their work.

The South West Coast Path has been named one of the world's greatest walks by Lonely Planet, included in National Geographic's 100 Hikes of a Lifetime, and voted Britain's Best Walk twice by readers of Walk magazine.