Mark Preston at the Lighthouse Gallery

By -
Sunshine and Showers, Longships Lighthouse, a painting by Mark Preston

Painter Mark Preston has been drawn to the rugged, dramatic coastline between St Ives and Lands End since he was a fine art student in the 1990s. For the past year, Mark’s work has focused on capturing the beauty of the land and sea of West Cornwall throughout the four seasons.

This exhibition of forty works, showing from the 6th to 21st September 2013, explores the Duchy in all its glory; sun, rain, storms, spring flowers, winter seas, enticing beaches and wild landscapes. Although based in Derbyshire, Preston is a devoted painter of the Cornish land, coast and sea, fascinated by the way in which the changing seasons affect these spectacular places.

May Evening, Hor Point, a painting by Mark Preston

Inspired to become a landscape painter through many painting trips to the Peak District, Cornwall and Scotland with his artist father, Rex Preston, Mark paints outdoors using acrylics, with relatively little time spent in the studio. Direct contact with the landscape and natural elements are essential for his painting. Working within the landscape allows him to observe subtle changes in colour, light and atmosphere, and to experience the encroaching tide, the fading light and approaching storm.

Perhaps because of this closeness to nature Preston’s work has a freshness and spontaneity, achieving a fine balance between the abstract application of paint and a retained sense of the subject.

For further information please contact Lighthouse Gallery in Penzance on 01736 350555 www.lighthouse-gallery.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lost Gardens of Heligan by Bike

By -
Image
I love the Lost Gardens of Heligan ! I need to plan another trip, it has been too long. I would normally travel by car but recently I realised there is another way. If you are a keen cyclist then there is a cycle route from St Austell or Mevagissey, and if you call in at the beautiful coastal village of Pentewan then you can hire a bike. What caught my eye recently is that they now offer electric bikes, and considering the hilly climb to these majestic gardens, that is a real temptation! For Cornwall bike hire Pentewan is pretty perfect, the friendly new owners have made a few changes, such as the addition of a great coffee machine. With ice-creams too, whether the weather is hot or cold the hire hut is welcoming and has a lovely picnic area by the river. There are a few different trails in Cornwall, the famous Camel Trail which although beautiful can be a bit busy. Further south you can travel around the old tram ways and see a more industrial but equally interesting...
Read more

Take Me To The Roseland

By -
Image
The Beach below the Hidden Hut, Porthcurnick on the Roseland © Emma Julian If there is one part of Cornwall that feels like an escape, to me it's the Roseland. Even the name given to this peninsular feels romantic! About 40 minutes from me but a world away, life stands still and I feel I'm immersed in the beauty of Cornwall.  There is still plenty of nooks I am yet to explore, and I do tend to stick to my favourite haunts, but it truly feels like the sun always shines and cares are cast away. Of course the sun is no guarantee, especially as we breeze in to October, but I spent an idyllic afternoon walking round some coastal path with my friend recently. The sun on our face, the waves lapping and the bunnies leaping. Yes bunnies, as we took a short cut over the fields, treated by a panorama of ocean view.  Delicious Spanish inspired chicken with chorizo and a warming tomato sauce. I had a gluten free roll instead of couscous, lovely. © Emma Julian The menu changes daily and is ...
Read more

Osborne & Osborne Pottery

By -
Image
I love local pottery, there is something quite wonderful about driving around Cornwall and discovering a maker's sign beside the road. It doesn't have to be pottery, I am intrigued by anything home or hand made. I just love the happenstance of it, I'm naturally nosey I guess, I want to peer in.   There is such a wealth of ceramics in Cornwall, our historic ties go way back. After all we have produced tonnes of China Clay for the world, a key ingredient in porcelain (you can find out more at the Wheal Martyn Museum). Perhaps the best known name in Cornwall might be Leach Pottery, associated with St Ives and that famous light, starting in the 1920s. Then of course there is Cornish Ware - not actually made in Cornwall - but associated with our sea and sky with its bold and bright blue brush strokes. I prefer, however, pottery that has the maker's marks more visible. I like pieces that feel like they could have been forged from the very ground. With glazes that are somewher...
Read more