Maggi Hambling’s Scallop, Aldeburgh. (photo © Mari French)

A drive of 86 sunny miles to Aldeburgh in Suffolk earlier this week, I’d been invited to take a selection of my artwork to Thompson’s Art Gallery on High Street.

They are a well-established gallery, with several large light-filled rooms on two floors and a reputation for showing quality contemporary art; they also have a gallery in London.

It was worth making the journey – Graham, the manager, and Devi, chose six of my abstracted mixed-media landscapes to hang there.

Thompson’s Gallery, Aldeburgh (Photo © Thompson’s Gallery).

Later I had time to wander round the town and seafront. There is quite an art presence in Aldeburgh with several galleries and Maggi Hambling’s famous ‘Scallop’ sculpture right on the shingle beach. The words cut into the metal are taken from Benjamin Britten’s Peter Grimes opera.

On the seafront the interesting structure of the old South Lookout tower is now an art project/exhibition space run by Caroline Wiseman. What an amazing place for an artist! I loved the effect the shadow of its spiral staircase was making on the walls.

Aldeburgh is definitely well worth a trip for artists and art lovers.

South Beach Lookout, Aldeburgh © Mari French 2013