PAINTING IN ST IVES
It is a lazy cliché to say that the ‘quality of light’ attracts painters to St Ives. There were more prosaic reasons: in the late 19th century the railway reached west Cornwall, improving access. What has since become known as the ‘St Ives school of art’ dates back to the 1920s and fisherman artist, Alfred Wallis. Wallis documented the end of the sailing ship era on scrap wood, using a limited palette of paint from chandlers. His work was championed by painter Ben Nicholson, who settled in St Ives with sculptor Barbara Hepworth. Today you can’t flick a paintbrush without it spattering an art gallery or an artist. Tate St Ives re-opened in late 2017 after a multi-million pound extension taking 18 months. All this art might inspire you. Luckily there’s somewhere to learn - or develop - your technique, and it’s no new upstart: St Ives School of Painting was 80 last year and runs short courses for budding artists.
DAY ONE
9.30AM BACK TO SCHOOL
I walk from my B&B through the cemetery where Alfred Wallis is buried, past Tate St Ives,
