This Christmas, Give a Child the Life-long Gift of Art Appreciation…

The effect of simply looking at a piece of art which ‘speaks’ to us is well known to the art loving community. In these blogs we’ve already talked at length about the powerful, palliative effect art can have on the receptive viewer, actually producing chemical changes in the brain which improve emotional, mental and physical health.   But if you already have a passion for the intense pleasure of engaging…

Festive Events on the Roseland Peninsula – The Magic of a Cornish Winter

Winter is well on its way. Days on our Roseland Peninsula are growing shorter and nights longer. Sunlight grows paler and weaker as life slows down and the bustle of summer and the liveliness of autumn gives way to a slower pace of life.  Looking around at the bare trees of Kernow, the empty beaches and quiet hedgerows, it is easy to feel that we are also entering a silent,…

Made in Cornwall Christmas Fair: Five Reasons to Shop Locally this Christmas

Are we allowed to say the C-word yet? Well, we’re gonna, because we couldn’t possibly have any of the St Mawes blog readers missing the amazing Made in Cornwall Christmas Fair this year! Held in Lemon Quay, Truro from the 28th November – 2nd December, this is the perfect place to pick up all your Christmas gifts and support local talent in one fell swoop.   With just under a…

Considering a new colour scheme? Let wall art lead the way…

Bought a new house or thinking about redecorating your current one? If so, then colour schemes are probably at the forefront of your mind. Armed with swatches at the ready, anyone planning their décor will be faced with the tricky decision of getting that wall colour just right, but later, when it comes to hanging artwork you may find you’re faced with another dilemma – does the colour palette of…

Experience Inter-World Travel Through the Eyes of an Artist…

We tend to assume that we all live in the same world, all see the same things and all experience them in much the same way. It’s a very helpful assumption. For one thing, conversation would become extremely tricky if we couldn’t assume that the people we are speaking to will understand the things we talk about in the same way that we do.   Of course, the fact is…

Turning of the Light: Cornwall’s Golden Hour is a Constant Inspiration for Artists

Light and art are more than inseparable: they form a continuum. Quite simply, it is light that is captured on canvass or paper, in paint or through the lens of a camera and the quality of light in Autumn, particularly here in Cornwall, is unique to that season. It has inspired artists for centuries.   In the Northern hemisphere, Autumn begins at the moment when the sun crosses the ‘celestial…

A Cornish Autumn: Some of Cornwall’s Best Kept Autumnal Secrets

At home in Cornwall hurrying autumn skies Leave Bray Hill barren, Stepper jutting bare, And hold the moon above the sea-wet sand. The very last of late September dies In frosty silence and the hills declare How vast the sky is, looked at from the land. From ‘Back from Australia’ by John Betjeman The crowds of sightseeing tourists throbbing through Cornish towns and villages have dissipated. The frantic busyness of…

When Photography is Art – A Battle Fought and Won in Art History

Modern photography is generally agreed to have begun with the invention of the Daguerrotype in 1839. At that time art served a dual purpose, that of providing an aesthetic experience and that of accurately documenting people, places and historical events for posterity. The camera was very soon capable of a far greater degree of accuracy than the human hand and at far greater speed and, equally quickly, it was regarded…

Anthony Horth Photography: Not Only An Artist, But A Major Talent…

This week, the gallery is buzzing! Internationally renowned Australian fashion photographer, landscape photographer and New York gallery owner, Anthony Horth is joining the artists exhibited at St Mawes.   This is a new direction for us and it’s one that’s as exciting as it is challenging. Challenging because photography is so very different in its medium and execution from painting or sculpture.   It is a comparatively recent format, one…

How Artists Are Cleaning Up Cornwall and Beyond with Marine Litter Art

The relationship between art and Cornwall’s coastline, its seas and sands, its rocks and cliffs, is a theme that we return to again and again, not surprisingly! The Cornish seascape has inspired artists for centuries and, if anything, that inspiration has only become stronger over time. (An online search for Cornish art or Cornish artists will produce thousands of examples of paintings and painters of these shorelines, from every imaginable…