The Cornwall Blog

In January of this year, talented St Ives artist and Porthmeor Studios resident Lucie Bray died unexpectedly at the age of 39. An outstanding sea and landscape painter, Lucie held her first ever solo exhibition at New Craftsman Gallery St Ives in 2011 and has held regular annual shows at the gallery since that time. Lucie was working on her 2014 show before her death and this May, in collaboration with Lucie’s estate, New Craftsman will be going ahead with the exhibition as planned. Made up of both new and recent works, the event will be a celebration of Lucie’s talent and passion for the Cornish land and seascape. The exhibition will include contributions from key members of the St Ives arts community, in the form of handwritten submissions to be exhibited alongside the paintings, which respond to Lucie’s paintings and celebrate the subjects which inspired Lucie and her working practice. Lucie was extremely proud to have been part of the ar...

The Leach Pottery St Ives presents an exhibition of more than 80 pots by West Cornwall based potter Peter Swanson. An independent studio potter for the last four decades, Swanson is entirely self-taught and his distinctive and highly accomplished works have established him as one of the UK’s most respected contemporary potters. This exhibition marks 40 years since he moved from Hampshire to Cornwall to open a family run pottery at Penbeagle, St Ives in 1974. Swanson works in stoneware and porcelain using locally sourced clays and produces his own ash glazes from various natural materials such as oak, beech, lavender and granite dust. With a style inspired by Leach and set very much in the Anglo-Oriental tradition, he has travelled extensively in Japan and Korea, absorbing ideas that have greatly enriched his working practice, and has most recently visited wood-firing potters working in Australia’s NSW. In this brand new collection of work S...

Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose has been given the official ‘go ahead’ to hold an Air Day in 2014. The Cornwall based Air Station is pleased to announce that this year’s event will be held on Thursday 31st July. The event, which has become a firm favourite on the Cornish Event Calendar, enables the general public to experience the sights and sounds of one of Europe’s largest helicopter bases, whilst seeing a fantastic Air Display in the skies.  It’s the only day of the year when the public can ‘experience the world of Culdrose’ and see what happens behind the security gates.  The Commanding Officer of Culdrose, Captain Mark Garratt said: "Now that we have been given the official go ahead to hold an Air Day, my team are already starting to book aircraft for the Air Display and are working hard to make it a day to remember.  This year should be a really special event, with some very special visitors." He added: "Often our Air Day i...

"Tall Ships and Small Ships" - by John Dyer, the Festival's "Artist in Residence" A picture is telling thousands of words as school children across the country knuckle down to interpreting an oil-based celebration of one of this year’s great world Maritime events – the Falmouth to Royal Greenwich Tall Ships Regatta. Artist in residence for the Regatta, John Dyer, has unveiled his fireworks and fiesta painting, based on memories of the last Falmouth Tall Ships Festival in 2008, which, with the help of story-tellers, performers, a playwright and a hip-hop poet, is getting youngsters deeply immersed in their own paint and salty tales. Damian Dibben, creator of the world famous “The History Keepers” time-travel series is part of the creative team for the BIG Art & Storytelling Tall Ships Project says, “This is a brilliant, original competition. John Dyer’s picture is bursting with character, life and colour – I can’t wait to see what stories it inspire...

The North Coast of Cornwall has so much to offer, and a real variety of accommodation too. When I think about holidays I think home from home, I want luxury but also privacy. A really lovely cluster of holiday cottages in the little village of Chaple Amble provides just that, Rooke Cottages. Nestled in the rolling hills of Duchy farmland these beautifully renovated cottages provide an ideal base to explore North Cornwall. Within easy reach are the popular destinations of Padstow, Port Isaac, and Wadebridge. You can cycle the camel trail, surf at Polzeath beach or sit with a glass of something cold in a lovely harbour side restaurant in Padstow.  The farm has seven cottages all with private gardens and one beautifully furnished apartment in Wadebridge. The farm cottages have wood burning stoves for cosying-up after a healthy dose of fresh air. They even provide a room to dry wetsuits and parking for your boat (or car)! Little ones are well catered for with a playground an...

In January 2013, the government launched a scheme to provide free boilers with free installation to eligible applicants as part of the Energy Companies Obligation (ECO) – £1.3bn project to reduce our energy consumption and pull individuals out of fuel poverty. Part of the ECO is the Affordable Warmth Obligation scheme, which helps individuals who couldn’t otherwise afford it, to install more energy efficient systems. This should result in reduced energy costs through the use of for more efficient boilers than older models. Penryn based Blue Flame Heating Solutions are recognised installers for Cornwall and have already seen success in working with customers to help them review their eligibility, and then installing brand new boilers into properties in the area. They provide no obligation consultations to find out if a free boiler is available for customers, based on whether they are receiving certain qualifying benefits. Funding for the scheme ends in March 2015, so it’s import...

Beginning their 2014 exhibition schedule, Leach Pottery St Ives present and exhibition of work by British potter Mike Dodd showing from the 15th February to the 30th March 2014. A largely self-taught artist whose work has received widespread critical acclaim, Dodd studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge and a one year ceramics course at Hammersmith College of Art before setting up his first studio in Sussex in 1968. In 1975, along with friend and potter Peter Schofield, he founded the Cider House Pottery at West Cornwall’s Godolphin estate, where they built a small wood-fired climbing kiln, and later constructed and worked with a traditional Thai kiln. Dodd remained in Cornwall until 1980, when he travelled to the central jungles of Peru to build a wood-fired Anagama kiln for an Amuesha Community, in a project funded by Oxfam and Survival International. He now works from his studio near Glastonbury in Somerset. Producing work that has been referred to as ‘pottery without ego’, ...