The Cornwall Blog

Looking for a fun way to spend the day? Want to learn more about our wonderful Cornish wildlife? Join our knowledgeable staff and students to explore and survey the wildlife around Penryn campus on Saturday 21st May from 10am-5pm. This FREE event is open to all ages and is brilliant for families who are looking for entertainment with an educational focus! Activities will include nature walks, small mammal trapping, treasure hunts, moth trapping and many more. Enjoy our raffle with amazing prizes, make your own wildlife with our arts and craft stalls, get your face painted and have a jump on the bouncy castle! Wildlife and charity organisations from all over Cornwall will be joining us with loads of exciting stalls, activities and opportunities for you to get involved in. Food and drink will be available to buy from a range of local suppliers, and in the shops on campus. This is the fifth annual BioBlitz and following the success of the previous events, this year’s is set to be

With ceramics by Adam Buick and Rowena Brown 25 March to 6 May 2016 Porthminster Autumn by  Emma Jeffryes New Craftsman St Ives open their 2016 season with an exhibition of work by St Ives artist Emma Jeffryes, Jerwood Makers prize winner Adam Buick and ceramic artist Rowena Brown. In recent years Emma Jeffryes has established herself as one of St Ives’ most distinctive and well-loved painters. Her naive paintings of the town’s unique landmarks and vistas draw on a palette of vivid ocean colours and her lively brushwork conveys the vibrant energy of this busy coastal community. Ceramicist Adam Buick, who has shown at New Craftsman since 2010, was one of only five artists selected for the prestigious Jerwood Makers prize in 2013. His beautifully understated, Korean inspired Moon Jars are created from clays, grit and metal ores sourced directly from the land around him and focus on the individual’s subjective experience of landscape. Ceramics by Rowena Brown 

Join us for this FREE Community Event on Saturday 12 March 2016 Come along to the Leach Pottery on Saturday 12 March and help us decorate tiles for a new mural we are creating for Smeatons Pier. The mural will decorate the pier’s newly refurbished sheltered seating area as part of the St Ives regeneration project, and you can be a permanent part of it by creating your own unique design. During the session you will be asked to create a design on paper, before transferring it to your tile and painting it. Finished tiles will be fired at a later date and successful designs will be included as part of the mural project. We are running four one-hour sessions throughout the day. All ages and abilities welcome. Sessions will run from 10-11am, 11.30am – 12.30pm, 1.30 to 2.30pm and 3-4pm. This event is FREE but booking is essential. Maximum two tickets per booking. See our Eventbrite page via www.leachpottery.com or direct at www.eventbrite.co.uk to book your place now. Leach Pot

Barry Krzywicki | Group of porcelain sake cups on a tray The Leach Pottery begin their 2016 schedule with a varied exhibition of contemporary pots selected by John Bedding, a one time student of Bernard Leach, ex Leach potter and current Joint Acting Director of the Pottery. The works of individual studio potters are highly unique. Each have different strengths to their work: some makers adhere strongly to tradition; some, through the repetition of familiar shapes and glazes, make pieces which evidence their expert craftsmanship; others have an inquiring mind and are strong on innovation and experimentation; still others have a strong sense of design, creating works that are clean, sharp and precise. As a well-known collector and authority on contemporary ceramics, John has chosen works which define these varied qualities and demonstrate the breadth of skill and creativity to be found in pottery today. The exhibition includes traditional stoneware by Phil Rogers and John Jelf

Cornwall is just the perfect location for a wedding. We might not be able to guarantee the weather but we can the scenery! The good news is there is not only great choice with venues and photographers and caterers, but makeup artists in Cornwall too. Nicky Law is one such artist who covers all of Cornwall and some of Devon. She specialises in wedding and bridal makeup but also brings her expertise to your home for special occasions, fashion shoots and proms. With such a romantic setting there is plenty of scope to make that special day one to remember. Nicky says "Creating your bridal look should be an exciting and enjoyable experience and by working together and using quality products is how this will be achieved!" She is a local girl, growing up in Port Isaac and her love for the county is infectious. She recently was wed herself so knows how important the experience of getting ready can be. Bringing out your natural beauty and giving you that confidence is so important

There is so much to see and do in Cornwall this time of year! Many people see Cornwall purely as a Summer holiday destination, but the magic of a Winter in Cornwall is the moments of beauty that you can have all to yourself. The light is just so spectacular - unwind with a stroll through the Wind and the Willow woods in Lerryn, or perhaps explore Bodmin Moor, or have a wind swept beach all to yourself. The peace and stillness is just so beautiful, however, if you prefer a little more bustle every little town is alight with Christmas markets and entertainment at the moment. With late night shopping, mulled wine and mince pies galore communities come alive this merry season. If you are not lucky enough to call this little piece of England your home, there are some beautiful places to stay. Imagine a country cottage with a farmhouse kitchen, chunky stone walls and cosy log fire! If you want fashionable North coast of Cornwall and 5* luxury you can do no better than Rooke Cottages.

  From the 28 November 2015 to 16 January 2016 the renowned St Ives ceramic studio Leach Pottery are hosting an exhibition. Douglas Fitch and Hannah McAndrew present A Love Affair with Clay, these established potters have lectured in Japan and the USA and are presenting their new work. Now partners in marriage as well as ceramics, much to the delight of the pottery community, you can see their shared influences of English pottery. They share their time between Hannah’s studio in a quiet corner of rural Galloway, Scotland, and Douglas’s studio in mid Devon. Hannah loves pots that have a purpose and Douglas decorates his with appliqué decoration or sgrafitto, using traditional slips made from local materials. Founded in 1920 by Bernard Leach and Shoji Hamada, the Leach Pottery, St Ives, is among the most respected and influential potteries in the world. Over the last hundred years it has forged the shape of Studio Pottery in the UK and beyond. So for something a