Celebrating Outdoor Swimming

Combining two of my favourite activities- swimming and screen printing. My latest screen print offerings are a celebration of swimming.

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I’ve spent most of my life living by the coast and after moving to London 8 years ago I really missed the sea. I took up swimming again when I was living in Greenwich which rekindled my love of the water. There’s something restorative about moving in water. I hadn’t appreciated how important swimming was to me until lockdown when the pools closed and my one of my forms of escapism was taken away. 

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I was drawn to swimming outdoors last year starting off in Brockwell lido and trying the ponds at Hampstead Heath. Since moving to Crystal Palace I am now a regular at Beckenham Place lake (yes I am planning to go through winter… wish me luck!) Swimming in lakes, rivers and the sea this year has been incredible. Every time I get into that cold body of water with the ducks and ducklings it resets me and I feel reinvigorated when I get out. It’s just me floating in the water and I created this series of prints to try and capture these little feelings  and moments.

A few months ago I was feeling unmotivated and took the day off to sketch just for fun. I picked up two random pens and sat on the sofa in front of a film. The water in the final prints are exactly the shape of the sketches I made that day, little irregular puddle shapes that I would usually try to perfect but I kept them the way they were. I printed at Sonsoles Studio in Peckham, I highly recommend this printing studio if you want to get into screen printing, they are so helpful and friendly.

Each print is signed and numbered, a limited edition of 20.

Each print is signed and numbered, a limited edition of 20.

There are 3 designs; Sea Celebration, The Dip and Reset. Each design is a limited edition of 20 and I have signed and number each of them. They are A4 size (210 x 297 mm) printed on Somerset Textured paper and packaged with recycled backing board and packaged in a recyclable glassine envelope. 

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Outdoor swimming in London

It’s no secret that I am a big fan of swimming and with the increased popularity of wild swimming I’ve been discovering how easy it is to swim outdoors in London.

My top outdoor swimming spots in London (kind of) :

Beckenham Place Lake has become my new favourite place to swim. A sandy bottom purpose built swimming lake, with shallow areas for paddling. You have to wear a tow float whilst you swim (which you don’t notice at all) Recently the temperature has been 21c so a good choice for those fearful of cold waters!

Charlton lido is a winner in winter. When I first lived in London this was a favourite of mine, it had recently been renovated and the heated pool was a luxury!

Brockwell Lido is pretty special, the queues can curve all the way back around the building in the height of summer (even before covid booking was essential). 400 Rabbits have a great poolside cafe for a cheeky pizza after!

Hampstead Heath, Kenwood Ladies’ ponds is a classic London rite of passage, it’s in a really tranquil and secluded spot plus there are beautiful mandarin ducks that swim alongside you.

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Swimming Ladies

The Swimming Ladies are a series of illustrations that celebrate the magic of swimming. Whether a solo dip in a Tidal Pool, a chilled swim with your friends in the Ladies’ Ponds, hanging by the Pool with your Lido Lasses or running and doing a Cannonball on a hot summers day. Available as prints in a variety of sizes and also as a set of greetings cards.

Places I’m going try soon:

  • West Reservoir in Hackney, this has been on my list for a while and I hope it’s worth crossing the river for!

  • Divers Cove is a swimming reservoir that is definitely not in London but it’s a short car journey in a cute village called Godstone.

I would love to hear your swimming recommendations.