The Cornwall Blog

Rocke & Nutter, a stylish new home and fashion accessories brand inspired by the timeless allure of North Cornish Coastal life, today announced the launch of their online store. Founded by Sophie Mason and Jay McInnes, the brand focuses on design-led, locally-sourced and ethically produced products. The store's inspiring range of gorgeous homewares aims to promote the work of the finest Cornish craftspeople - such as the handmade steam-bent lighting of Tom Raffield and the seascape-inspired ceramics of Charlotte Jones. The hunt for hand-made treasures has also led Rocke & Nutter further afield, to Ireland for the wool felt creations of Jamie Lewis and Paris for designer Nadia Dafri's stunning cut glass jewellery. The store also caters for beach-loving 'Little Nutters', with a range of animal-print wetsuits for children. "There's a freshness, a vibe and a purity about life on the North Cornish Coast that we love," says Sophie. "We're...

It's a land as famous for toiling tin in the past as tantalising tourists today. Surrounded by brooding waters and peppered with mines, Cornwall also houses some of the most creative minds in the country. With a relaxed and friendly attitude, the county boasts a rich diversity of businesses. From designers to wordsmiths and caterers to crafters, there is a focus on bringing the elements of Cornwall's unique aesthetic to the fore. Websites use images of the sea, whilst restaurants focus on provenance: incorporating what grows naturally. Artists gather natural resources to produce. Over time, many creatives cite the sea as an inspiration. From the anthropomorphic rocks to the inky waters, Cornwall's natural beauty weaves itself around those who visit and wraps itself inside those who live here; forever holding hearts. Its unique landscape: from the rugged rocks on the North Coast to the harsh hilltops on the moors, from the sandy arcs of St. Ives to the rattling flot...

On the lawns of Bude Castle this month, Saturday 20 September and Sunday 21 September, an open invitation is extended to readers to discover the class of culinary cleverness hiding around the banks of the old canal. Bude is well-known for its beautiful beaches; stunning sunsets and dramatic scenery. Now it’s time for food to come to the fore. Cornwall’s most up-and-coming seaside town boasts an array of local producers whose food is sourced with care, prepared with skill and delivered with pride – as the festival exhibits outstanding producers of local food. Local restaurants, pubs and cafés, pronounced by their provenance, have been involved in a Restaurant Trail, wherein visitors can collect stamps from participants around town. Come hungry to Bude for Food, as there will be the opportunity to sample everything from charcuterie to chocolates, brownies to handmade bread, pasties to preserves and much, much more. Over 50 local exhibitors will be showcasing their wares in the Art...

Britta Wengeler plate The 2014 Ceramics Trail Cornwall, which coincides with the St Ives September Festival, running from the 13th to 27th of September 2014. Coinciding with this year’s St Ives September Festival is the second Ceramics Trail Cornwall, which brings together twenty four professional potters and ceramic artists as part of a fortnight-long 'open studios' circuit. Visitors to the September Festival will be encouraged to visit the many talented potters based in the town of St Ives and to venture out into the surrounding towns and countryside to explore other pottery venues and some of the smaller, independent ceramic studios of West Cornwall. Linda Styles pot The potters and ceramic artists involved in the trail cover a very wide range of practices, styles and techniques ranging from traditional wood-firing, soda-firing and reduction firing through to the application of digital technologies.The trail will be promoted through a specially designed trail m...

Opening August Bank Holiday Monday and on show throughout September, The Picture Room at Newlyn Art Gallery presents Stupid Beauty, a selling exhibition by Contemporary Landscape painter Gareth Edwards RWA. A graduate of Goldsmiths College, a member of the Newlyn Art Society and an elected RWA Academician, London born Edwards is a tutor at the Newlyn School of Art and a resident of St Ives’ prestigious Porthmeor Studios. This new collection of small, exquisitely coloured oil paintings reflect the artist’s personal memory of places such as Nice, Mousehole, Lindisfarne, Antibes, Puglia, Kefalonia, Camargue, the Euphrates, Essaouira, Bergen, Iona and the Isle de Rhe. Created in a one-off performance of energised, wet into wet knife painting, these diminutive yet vibrantly powerful works are indicative of the artist’s intensely personal relationship with land and the subjective, sensorial experience of time and place. The show will also i...

Cornwall is such a diverse county from the wild North Coast to the hidden coves of the South. Today I want to draw your attention to the very centre, Lanivet. This little village has a great community with a pub, local store, fish and chips (essential!), a church and school and is very close to the legendary Bodmin Moor. Nestled in this Cornish village is Lanneves Cottage Holidays, a lovely self-catering holiday home where the owners have really thought of everything. The cottage is two hundred years old and boasts light and airy rooms with a double and twin bedroom. From homemade jam to welcome you on your stay and the chickens and help-yourself veg patch, it really is a home from home. Lanneves is a family friendly high quality cottage holiday with those modern comforts that make a holiday special. You can also follow the blog on their website for happenings in a Cornish home. Happy holiday makers say "Everything about the cottage was above expectations" and "...

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...