Chalk Lines — Drawings from the South Downs14 January - 18 April 2026Petersfield Museum & Art GalleryView information
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This solo exhibition, awarded to Lee as the winner of the 2025 South Downs Open, is the culmination of an ongoing series of works which Lee has been creating in response to her walks on the South Downs. The exhibition features new works created specifically for the show, alongside field notes and sketchbooks.
“By walking and through drawing, photography and text, I am responding and asking what our connections and responsibilities are to this landscape in the 21st Century. I feel it is now impossible to be an artist whose work is a response to the natural world and not be fundamentally concerned with climate change. The Downs are an optimistic and unique environment that supports a huge and often rare biodiversity. Today much of it is cared for and protected by numerous organisations, landowners and individuals who work to conserve it. Spending time there has reaffirmed my own conviction that we all have a role to play in enabling and allowing the natural world to be restored, revered and celebrated.”
— Sara Lee, 2025
Hawthorn, chalk path, rolling hillsGorse, sheep, cattleSunset, dark field, hollowayRooks lifting, sea below
West in a cold wind with lifting, shifting low cloud. It’s so atmospheric and the vista is free of detail — all line and blocks of shape. Up and over the high ground on the chalk. Hawthorn windblown and stark up here in this bitter wind. A ribbon of river below and the rolling downs unfolding ahead. Kestrel above and the sea beyond.
Sunshine and warmth on this sparkling day with beautiful light and a deep blue sky. There are primroses and violets and the blackthorn has tight white buds holding the promise of blossom to come. Skylarks and a bumblebee as I follow the high ground past a dew pond. White chalk lines describe the land, moving through the rising green. Up and past the high point, then west along the north escarpment into a milky sunset.
Cowslip, skylark, cloud shadow Lifting shifting hawk Chalk, flint, greening trees Red kite, violets, the may
Up on an exposed top path with the Weald expanding below. Rain this early morning and the landscape enveloped in mist. It’s lifting now and cloud shadows are moving across the downs, revealing white tracks and pale chalky fields. The sky above is blue with the mist far off now; soon sparkling sunshine fills the day. Red kites and skylarks share the sky. Tens of cowslips are in bloom in the old quarry just below the high copse. Along the hedgerows, there is campion and nettle in flower and the hawthorn is white with blossom. There are bluebells in the woods with the oaks a golden green.
Moving through the gentle evening light across a flint track with open views north and the sea distant to the south. As the way drops towards the glowing strands of water, countless butterflies, including Comma and Small White, are still lifting out of the meadows. The air is full of birdsong - blackbird, thrush and a hedge full of finches. Later, a big moon rising above the downs in the dark sky.
Ox-eye daisy, elderflower Eagle, whitethroat, thrush Reeds, honeysuckle, dog rose Grey green wheat
An early walk to see the full moon set, birdsong filling the air. Two herons lift and trail across the glistening water meadows as the sun comes up. Out along the river, the reeds are standing tall. There is rain falling, gently pitting the green water. Green is the colour of the day. The path winds around the roll of the down, up and out of the valley. A cuckoo sounds from the woods below, echoing across the land.
A wonderful walking day with a warm south wind, sunshine and shifting clouds. A day of big ups and sharp downhill tracks with woods through the middle. Elderflower and honeysuckle in the hedgerow, with daisies all along the edge of the fields of grey-green wheat.
Bullfinch, goldfinch, chaffinch Trefoil, wild carrot, vetchFoxglove, blackcap, blackbirdSkipper, fritillary, bee
Hot and humid but with a cooling wind, thank goodness and soon enough, cloud scudding across the blue of the sky. White butterflies by the tens all along the route to the top. Fields of linseed and red clover enter the palette. Rosebay willow herb is in bloom now and so much birdsong from the trees and hedgerows.
The cheep of a yellowhammer as I pass into the shade of the woods. Strong sunlit patches light the dark trees. Through deep forest in this magical dappled light – beech, oak and maple in full leaf. Walking late after the sun has gone down. There are wisps of cloud like smoke in the dimming light.
Cobnuts, sloes, blackberries The gold of harvested wheat. Scabious, majoram, willow herb Brimstone, keeper, blue
A hot, bright day, the blue sky full of skylark song. An old oak at the edge of the first mowed meadow, the grasses still lying where they had fallen on the golden ground. Out across the high downs, there are ripe berries and black sheep. Down a steep wooded path and then a climb back up to open farmland before dropping again to cross the water, before a steep climb with the rolling downs spreading out below.
A perfect walking day with sunshine broken by cloud and a cooling breeze. The hedgerows, meadows and downland are full of butterflies and wildflowers. Around and under the hill before dropping through farmland to the chalk stream. Then following a rolling path across harvested wheat fields and the final soft grassy push up to the top and on to the high beech woods.
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© Sara Lee 2026
