32. Weekly Roundup - Back from Cornwall!
Beach sketching, gallery visits, and packing light
Back from Cornwall!
Hello lovely sketchers! As promised last week, I'm back from my fabulous Cornwall adventure! It flew by, but was also long enough to see and experience some beautiful areas of Cornwall, and spend some time sketching, too! It felt lovely to have some time on holiday to sketch, rather than always thinking about the children and making sure they are all happy, fed and entertained.
A highlight for me was sketching on the beach on the Wednesday, followed by some beers at the beach cafe - something I would never usually be able to do with the children in tow!
Our Carbis Bay Base
We stayed at Carbis Bay, which is a lovely quiet coastal resort just outside busier St Ives. The beach was a short (but very steep!) walk downhill, and took our breath away - easily one of the most beautiful beaches in Cornwall.
It is very conveniently connected to St. Ives by the South West Coast path, which we walked one day, as well as the St. Ives Railway line, which we took advantage of to get back to our Airbnb. The train journey had seriously spectacular views as the line sweeps along the coast past golden sands before arriving at Carbis Bay station.
The proximity to St Ives made Carbis Bay an ideal base for exploring both the famous art town with its galleries and the Tate St Ives, while enjoying a quieter, more secluded beach setting.
We were really lucky with the weather - the first day was rather overcast, but we had clear skies and sunshine for the next two days. This was the first time we had been away together, without our kids since having our first child 14 years ago - so it was a real treat to just spend time together pottering around St Ives, The Tate and the beaches. It was chilled, but we did pack a lot in - and walked around 18k steps on the second day! We did laugh about how the boys would have moaned about that!
Sketching Adventures
I filled about 17 pages of my sketchbook, and surprised myself with how much I managed to sketch during the trip. I focused mainly on quick gesture sketches of the coastal scenes people on the beach, using watercolour pencils to capture colour.
My favourite sketch was one I made at Porthminster beach on the second day - we sat there for an hour or so soaking up the sun and people watching. I sketched a montage of the views rather than trying to capture the whole scene. I added colour back at the AirBnB and really loved how it turned out!
I was pleasantly surprised at how unselfconscious I felt sketching there. Everyone was so busy enjoying their own holiday that I didn't feel like anyone cared or was interested in my sketching! My husband was also brilliant at encouraging me to get my sketch kit out and sketch!
Tate St Ives
Visiting St Ives obviously called for a visit to the Tate, which I really enjoyed! What struck me most was how the building alone is worth a visit, with incredible views of the bay and some amazing circular architecture. The gallery was built to show works by artists who had lived or worked in St Ives, celebrating the town's artistic connections that date back to Victorian times when artists came attracted by its special quality of light.
My husband and I really enjoyed a relaxed wander around, with the work by local artist Alfred Wallis being my highlight. Alfred was a British fisherman and marine stores dealer who only began painting at age 70 after his wife's death, using household paint on scraps of cardboard to create naïve port landscapes and shipping scenes from memory. He was famously 'discovered' in 1928 by artists Ben Nicholson and Christopher Wood, who championed his direct, authentic approach to painting St Ives maritime life, though he remained poor throughout his life despite international acclaim.
Kit Lessons Learned
My kit worked well on the first day, where I sketched and painted on the beach at Carbis Bay. However, in all honesty it was a bit too heavy for lugging around the towns and beaches along with my other bits and bobs, so I really cut down what I took out to the bare minimum for the rest of the trip.
In the end, my small sketchbook and small pencil case with fountain pen, watercolour pencils and a waterbrush was what I took out with me, leaving behind my bigger Mini Sendak and other art supplies. I wish I had brought another smaller pencil case to carry the watercolour tin and a couple more pens, which would have been ideal. But actually, just that small kit was enough as I found making quick sketches with minimal supplies more convenient anyway!
Next time I'd pack a dedicated lightweight day kit - more on that next week!
Looking Ahead
Next week I plan to film a flip-through of my sketches made on location, as well as more sketches I plan to make from the copious amounts of photos I took whilst there!
This week is back to normal, getting into the routine of kids being off school. I am feeling really inspired to keep taking my sketchbook out and about with me on days out with the boys, as well as keeping an illustrated journal of the day to day at home.
I am also taking part in The Curious Sketchers month-long 'Quick Tiny Sketch of the Day' (#QTSOTDchallenge) over on Instagram - I will share my first week with you next week! You can follow along on Instagram if you'd like to see the daily sketches as they happen.
Until next week, keep sketching!
Emma x
Lovely to hear you had such a nice time away - did you find you had so much more time without kids around? 🤣 fab sketches as always!
Sounds like you had a lovely time in Cornwall Emma. Really nice sketches 😊