The Sussex artist behind Glyndebourne Christmas cards

While Glyndebourne’s beautiful grounds are usually associated with summer picnics, they provide year-round interest for Eastbourne artist Julian Sutherland-Beatson, including inspiration for Christmas cards

Think of the 12-acre gardens at Glyndebourne and it’s likely to conjure up a classic image of opera lovers in black tie and evening dress picnicking in the sunshine on the rolling Ha-Ha lawn. However, at this time of year you’ll find Julian Sutherland-Beatson, warmly wrapped up in winter clothes, walking around the estate near Lewes with nobody else in sight.

Visiting the world-famous Sussex opera house out of season provides Julian with inspiration for his own impressions of Glyndebourne, which are portrayed in evocative images including Christmas cards.

‘It’s an opportunity to create paintings that somehow encompass both the spirit of Glyndebourne and Christmas,’ says Julian, who was artist in residence at Glyndebourne in 2011. ‘The subjects tend to choose themselves: a piano in the old green room, a bouquet of Christmas flowers in the organ room, the first snow on the lake, reflections in the organ room’s leaded light windows, and so many more.

Julian creates beautiful Christmas cards from his winter study of Glyndebourne. ‘Glyndebourne has a completely different feel after the festival in the summer and autumn season. Though many of my festival paintings feature people in some way, either as visitors, performers or Glyndebourne staff, the Christmas paintings are people free, leaving the spirit of the place to, hopefully, shine through.’

The former graphic designer, who lives in Eastbourne, forged links with Glyndebourne in 2008. He had embarked on Sussex 365, a testing, year-long project comprising 365 daily paintings of East Sussex, and was looking for somewhere to exhibit the resulting works.

‘I sent a proposal to Glyndebourne and after meeting with them and viewing a selection of the paintings they agreed to host the exhibition in 2009,’ he says.

Julian set his artistic sights on the Sussex 365 venture after reading Canadian journalist Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers where the author says it takes 10,000 hours to achieve a high level of expertise in various areas of human endeavour, including writing, sport and music.

Glydebourne operagoers ‘I found that committing to the practice of a daily painting was my way of “doing the hours” and I have found that the more I do, the looser and more natural my work becomes,’ explains Julian, who mainly paints with acrylic on board.

While he studied at the former Eastbourne College of Art and Design under renowned illustrator and printmaker Robert Taverner, it wasn’t until later in life that Julian pursued his original ambition.

‘I was really keen on art at school and found it was one thing I was OK at,’ he recalls. ‘My parents weren’t particularly artistic though they were very supportive when I decided to go to art college. After four years I finished, hoping to work as an illustrator. It didn’t really happen and after a few years working in a variety of jobs including selling books at Foyles in London and running my own craft, and then vintage clothing, shop I returned to college to do a graphic design course.’

Afterwards, Julian was taken on by Conran Associates in Covent Garden and two years later launched his own design studio back in Sussex.

Glyndebourne House at Christmas. ‘After 30 years working on a wide variety of design projects I started to consider life as a professional artist,’ he continues. ‘Working as a graphic designer was approximately five per cent creativity and 95 per cent admin and I wanted to reverse that statistic.

‘Out of the blue, I received information from an ex-teacher friend about an open call from the House of Lords to produce new paintings in the style of 1930s travel posters to complement a collection of original pieces in their collection. I entered two, which were both chosen. On the journey back from the launch in London I decided to produce a collection of 12 new paintings all based on images of East Sussex. I sold five at the launch in a gallery in Eastbourne and it was at this point I realised it could be commercially viable.’

Julian, who also exhibits work at the Fairfax Gallery in Tunbridge Wells, and London’s Panter & Hall gallery, sells work through his website which includes some of his Glyndebourne paintings priced from £240. He has also exhibited four times at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, during the first two years of the Sussex Contemporary exhibition, launched in Brighton in 2022, and his paintings have sold around the world, particularly in America.

He describes much of his recent work as the celebration of a specific time and place. ‘With my current paintings I aim to mark the changing mood and seasons that I see in the world around me,’ he explains. ‘The work reflects the prevailing seasonal conditions yet is also affected by my emotional mood and my need for say, sun, cold, or just something different. This is particularly true with the paintings I make at Glyndebourne.’

Julian was the Glyndebourne artist in residence in 2011. Following his residency at Glyndebourne he created a painting for each day of the annual summer festival from 2011 to 2022.

Unsurprisingly, Julian is also inspired by Sussex as a whole and describes the county as being a source of constant inspiration.

‘I feel very lucky to live in such a wonderful area,’ he says. ‘There’s such a variety and I always tell visitors they must take in Beachy Head, Lewes, Rye, Hastings, the De La Warr Pavilion and Cuckmere river. I have always been drawn to the sea, wherever in the world that may be. Just after lockdown I was lucky enough to open a small studio and gallery on the promenade in front of the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill. Opening up every day was in itself a treat, being literally a couple of dozen feet away from the beach and the sea.’

Julian now works from a studio at home and his creative process begins with taking photographs.

‘I use photographic reference where appropriate as I aim to achieve a kind of loose photo realism,’ he says. ‘The creative process really begins when I am framing within the camera viewfinder. I am particularly interested in the graphic composition of a painting, and once I have described the basic layout the rest is largely intuitive. I just keep working and see what develops. I have found that when this is done with an air of confidence and expectation, the resulting work is better and less contrived. I also welcome the “happy accidents” that occur whilst painting and am pleased to have developed the ability to leave things alone. I always know when a painting is complete. I predominantly work in acrylic on board as I tend to work quickly and acrylic paint dries much faster than oils.’

The artist and his dog Layla A typical day will begin with taking his lurcher, Layla, for a walk in the park before returning to start a morning session in his studio, which is also Layla’s room.

‘I tend to have Radio 4 on throughout the day and really can’t remember when it wasn’t part of my life,’ he says. ‘After a break for lunch I’ll work again through the afternoon, taking in The Archers and the afternoon drama before taking Layla out again, probably to the seafront. I have found that working as a graphic designer has really helped in terms of discipline and meeting deadlines.’

Julian says one of his favourite quotes is: ‘Though we travel the world to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not’, written by American philosopher, poet and essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson.

‘I aim to create something in my paintings that resonates with people emotionally,’ he adds. ‘It can be a memory of the past or a hope for the future. At Glyndebourne there have been so many wonderful memories for so many generations of operagoers. I love to be a small part of that collective memory.’

• Christmas cards featuring Julian’s paintings cost £10 for a pack of eight and are available from the Glyndebourne online shop glyndebourne.com