Produced by the Guardian in association with Cornwall Arts Marketing

LIVING ON THE EDGE

Discovering Cornwall’sarts in autumn

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The holiday rush is over, and across Cornwall therich autumn colours and the roar of the waves arestarting to replace the sights and sounds of thehectic summer months.

Many people who live in or love Cornwallbelieve this is the best time of year to be in thecounty. That the light — always beautiful, alwaysspecial — is particularly compelling as the sea-sons change. The sunsets especially are reckonedto have a quality of light not known “up country”.

A CHANGE OF SEASON

Cornwall Arts Marketing is part of Cornwall ArtsCentre Trust Ltd, charity no 292138, a projectpart-funded by the European RegionalDevelopment Fund Objective One. This supple-ment has been produced as part of its “SEENCORNWALL” campaign in order to promote theCornish Arts. For more information see SEEN-CORNWALL.com

CONTENTS

4 MAKING IT IN CORNWALLWhy people in the creative industries are finding that staying in Cornwall now makes better career sense than leaving

8 WRITE ROUND THE COUNTYCornwall has been a muse for centuries of writers. But what’s going on for writers (and readers) now?

10 AUTUMN LIGHTSThe seasons are changing:how does the light affect the county’s visual artists? Plus:places to watch the sunset and fun seasonal stuff for kids

14 STATES OF INSPIRATIONThe beautiful places that inspire Cornwall’s artists

18 LET’S GO SHOPPINGOne first-time art buyer takes a trip to Cornwall to find out how far £500 will go.Plus: your chance to win two Bob Crossley prints

22 END OF SEASONA new short story,commissioned especially for this supplement

24 NORTHERN EXPOSUREHow does the north of the county differ from elsewhere? We take a look at the area tourists often miss

27 WHAT’S TO DO?How one Falmouth student likes to spend his free time

28 PICK OF THE BESTWant an excuse to come to Cornwall? Here are some events to whet a range of cultural appetitesAnd now that the mass of tourists has gone, the

county can settle back to its wilder self.In this supplement, the second in a series of

three about the arts in Cornwall, entitled Livingon the Edge, we take a look at how you can enjoyCornwall’s arts in autumn. Do you want to knowhow to buy a work of Cornish art, where to see thebeast of Bodmin being burnt, how to make it as acraftsperson, or where to become a professionalwriter? Read on.

EDITOR SUE GEORGE DESIGN EMMA TRACEY PICTURE EDITORS JILL MEAD, MARISSA KEATING PRODUCTION JENNYBOX REPRO DIGITAL RESPONSE PRINTED BY POLESTAR GROUP LTD COVER PHOTOGRAPHY ADRI BERGER (GILLANCREEK, NEAR HELFORD PASSAGE) PRODUCED BY THE GUARDIAN DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT

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This page: Praa Sands. Opposite page, clockwisefrom top left: jewellery by Nick Wild; St Enodoc’schurch; Rupert Smith talks to Alexandra Dickens;Carnglaze Caverns; artist Kathy Todd

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Until recently, creative people had to leave in order to become successful. But now staying in Cornwall can prove an even better career move

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‘‘IIcan’t imagine ever going back toLondon,” says David Major, lookingout towards St Michael’s Mount offthe coast of Penzance. Major came toCornwall for a surfing holiday, but

ended up staying and building a marketingbusiness whose clients now include Tesco,Dunhill and the National Trust. “I’ve out-grown London,” he says.

A couple of miles along the shoreline, in thefishing village of Newlyn, Norwegian artistKristin Vestgard describes her attachment toCornwall. “I’ve tried to paint in Norway and inLondon,” she says. “But it’s here that I find myinspiration.”

Cornwall is on the crest of a creative wavethanks to Major, Vestgard and thousands likethem: artists, designers, illustrators, craftmakers, film-makers and digital media consul-tants who are choosing to live and work in thesouth-west.

Not so long ago, Cornwall had a split per-sonality — economically depressed for ninemonths of the year, then sunnily upbeat forthe summer when the holidaymakers camecaravanning down the A30. But lately visitorshave been reporting a new year-rounddynamism and confidence. Cornwall is fastbecoming a cultural haven and arguably thecountry’s coolest county, with an image that ismore California and surfing than caravans andcream teas.

Cornwall has long fascinated people with a

creative streak, giving them inspiration in itslandscapes and coastlines. For generations,this peninsula of big skies, swelling seas andbright light has beguiled colonies of artists —Cornwall has the same number of artists perhead of the population as London. Its highlyregarded Falmouth College of Arts attractsclose to 2,000 students with its internationallyrenowned art, design and media programmestaught by top industry practitioners.

Many of its graduates are snapped up byblue-chip employers in London and else-where. But where once they might only havereturned in order to retire, an increasingnumber are finding it possible to forge credi-ble careers at the forefront of their fields whilecontinuing to enjoy Cornwall’s inspirationalenvironment.

Established artists and designers from else-where in the UK are also being lured to thecounty. “My top-selling designers have relo-cated from places like Essex, Sussex andLondon,” says Diddy Reeve, a young entrepre-neur benefiting from the Cornish boom.Reeve has just opened a second contemporaryjewellery outlet in Truro, following a success-ful first year with her gallery in Padstow. “Thedesigners I deal with tend to be more laidbackthan elsewhere — most have come toCornwall for a better lifestyle,” she says. “Butthe quality of their work is just as high. Mycustomers wouldn’t accept anything less.”

Much of Cornwall’s population still depends

MAKING ITIN CORNWALL

on low-paid seasonal work — average earningshere are almost 30% below the national aver-age. But the creative industries are playing asignificant role in helping to regenerate thelocal economy. More than 8,000 people workin these sectors in Cornwall, according toresearch by Nottingham Trent University —that’s 4% of the population — and they con-tribute £250m to the local economy everyyear. In fact the south-west has more peopleemployed in the creative industries than in anyother region outside London.

Cornwall qualifies for EU Objective Oneinvestment. Some of this money has beenused to create a handful of key arts agencies,charged with regenerating the local economyby helping people start up creative enterpriseswhile supporting and developing existingones.

For instance, Creative Skills offers profes-sional development advice and financialinvestment to the full range of creative industries practitioners, whether they’reglassmakers or painters, while CreativeKernow provides hands-on business adviceand support for small firms and individuals in

THE SOUTH-WEST HAS MORE PEOPLE EMPLOYED IN CREATIVEINDUSTRIES THAN IN ANY OTHERREGION OUTSIDE LONDON

specific growth sectors of Cornish creativeindustries.

Cornwall’s remoteness is part of the coun-ty’s appeal, but it creates problems too for cre-ative workers and businesses. The internet issupposed to mean the “death of distance”, butthe roll-out of broadband in Cornwall hasbeen slow. However, by the end of the year,80% of Cornwall’s businesses should haveaccess to ADSL.

Transport links remain a concern for thosewho have to physically connect with clients orsuppliers across the Tamar, though there arenow five flights a day from Newquay toLondon. And rising property prices, fuelled byholiday-home buyers, are a bug-bear foreveryone.

So what, then, are the unique characteristicsthat make Cornwall so enticing? Practitionersand successful business owners tell their sto-ries on the following pages: 5

Sarah Bayley makes bags from recycled industrial waste

A necklace designed by Nick Wild

Agency owners David and Kate Major

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“I didn’t think I could make a living inCornwall through my art, but since I’vereturned I’ve been very really surprised, bothby the level of support that’s here, and the crit-ical mass of other makers,” says Poppy Treffry,a textiles artist/maker. Based in Penzance, shestudied at Falmouth before leaving Cornwallfor Winchester School of Art to do a degree intextiles and fashion design.

Creative Kernow helped Treffry find fund-ing from the Prince’s Trust and took her to herfirst trade show, the British Craft Trade Fair inHarrogate. She has been busy ever since andnow supplies her stitched bags, many with aCornish sea theme, to shops and galleriesacross the UK.

“To be a successful artist, I need the rightspace to work that isn’t costing me an arm andleg, the time to be able to think about the workI’m doing and other crafts people I can talk toabout the technical stuff like sanding andstitching. I didn’t expect to, but I’ve been ableto find all three in Cornwall.

“Of the 60 people I studied with atWinchester, only a very small percentage areworking in textiles or fashion. Some are work-ing for commercial studios in London but arenot being well paid. Only a couple of us havemanaged to set up our own businesses.”

Nick Wild, who makes contemporary jew-

ellery, grew up in Blackpool and studied furni-ture design at Leeds Polytechnic, but wasdrawn to Falmouth after visiting his brother,who was a student there. “There’s an ‘under-ground’ scene from the art college inFalmouth, as well as it being a nice place tolive. As beautiful as the countryside and coastis, I really need to work in a place where thereare some real characters, and Falmouth is fullof them,” he says.

“So much has changed in Cornwall in thelast 10 years: there are now galleries of signif-icance, like Badcocks in Newlyn and AvantGarde in Truro and Padstow, where I can putmy artwork. But I’ve also been selling inLondon, Edinburgh, Brussels and Tokyo.

“It’s difficult to survive as an artist — I’ve beenhanging on a thread financially for the last sevenyears, just trying to meet the payments for mystudio. But organisations like Creative Kernowhave given me the confidence to deal with gal-leries and say things like, ‘hang on a minute,I’d prefer if you bought my jewellery ratherthan take it on a sale or return basis’.

“Artists isolate themselves: my studio is inthe middle of Falmouth and there’s no fencearound it, but it becomes an oasis and you getstuck in, so it’s good that people like CreativeKernow come knocking on the door and makeus aware of the outside world.”Cornwall Arts Marketing has 10 necklacesdesigned by Nick Wild to give away. For moredetails, go to seencornwall.com

Norwegian painter Kristin Vestgard studiedfine art at Falmouth College of Arts and, afterselling out her degree shows, has had her workexhibited at Badcocks gallery in Newlyn and atart fairs in London and New York.

“I hardly dared believe I could paint full-time,but I had a very successful degree show — thecollege actually bought one of my paintings —and my relationship with Badcocks and othergalleries has given me confidence,” she says.

“I returned to Norway for six months andthen tried renting a studio in London forthree months, but I missed Cornwall. I didn’tfeel I was near my inspiration and it didn’tseem necessary to be in London. I knowCornwall is good for me. I found a studio in anold telegraph building in Penzance wherethere are another 11 artists working. We geton very well and organise open studiostogether.

“I paint with oils on canvas and have beenworking with a figure and the space around thefigure. My work is about being in one place phys-ically while the mind and the emotions drift offinto a world of memories, feelings and moods. Iwould like to spend all my time painting: I don’tlike the commercial side. But I’ve had verygood advice from people at Badcocks andCreative Skills. That’s why it’s good to be here.”Ian Wylie

David and Kate Major established a suc-cessful London advertising and marketingbusiness among blue chip clients likeNatWest and BAA — then quit the capital forCornwall 12 years ago. They now run a “fullservice” agency, offering design, marketing,PR and multimedia in Lanhydrock, nearBodmin.

“Cornwall was hard to crack,” admits David.“Businesses here didn’t understand theimportance of marketing and we spent a lot oftime educating people. For example, we camedown thinking we’d land hotel work becausewe had a great portfolio of hotel work andwe’d done the Grosvenor on Park Lane — butit was almost too grand for businesses here.

“But now 70% of our client base is in thesouth-west. And our work has changed. Wedo less financial work but much more leisurework. We do a lot in the hotel business, fromtrendy boutique hotels to grand manor-househotels and sea-based hotels, and our PRclients are featured regularly in Sunday sup-plements and magazines like Vogue andHarpers & Queen.

“The variety of the work is much greaterthan we would get in London and that keepsus fresh. But we’ve also learned not to begreedy. The south-west has more peopleemployed in the creative industries than in

any other region outside London. You don’thave to do as much work here to cover youroverheads.”

Greg Dyer and Mark Noall, from Helstonand St Ives respectively, cut their teeth inLondon and the M4 corridor with clients suchas British Rail and the BBC, but now run adigital media consultancy, Light Circus, fromtwo studios in Penzance.

“There was an automatic assumptionamong my generation that you’d move awayfrom Cornwall to carve out a career and learnyour trade,” says Greg. “But that’s no longerthe case, I’m glad to say.

“When I moved back to Cornwall five-and-a-half years ago, I missed the professionalbuzz that you get from London, but I now getthat through networking organisations likethe Digital Peninsular Network.

“And because the bottom line is so low here,we can consider doing work just on its creativemerit. Yes, we have big-name clients whobring us in as digital specialists, but we also dowork for one-man-bands who want a new logoand letterhead. We can be highly profitable atboth ends of that spectrum.”

‘THE VARIETY OF THE WORK IS MUCHGREATER THAN WE WOULD GET INLONDON AND THAT KEEPS US FRESH’

Space, time and people:the craft makers

Forget turnover“It’s not about turnover, it’s about profit – we havelearnt what makes us profitable and we stick to that.”David Major, Creative Direction, Lanhydrock

Too far away? Get over it!“When I lived in the south-east, Cornwall seemed sofar away. But when you live here, the distance meansnothing.”Sarah Bayley, Falmouth, who makes bags and fashionaccessories from the recycled industrial waste ofCornish businesses

Network“The network of people in Cornwall is just as good orbetter than in London – because the network issmaller, you have greater access to the people in it.”Elizabeth Haven, of graphic designers Empress Design,Falmouth

Refuse to compromise“The truth of my design is more important to me thanchanging my work to suit someone else.”Nick Wild, contemporary jewellery-maker, Falmouth

Revise your chemistry“When you’re working remotely from clients,chemistry is hugely important. Relationships are basedon your acumen, your expertise and your attitude.Youlearn the skill of deciphering threads of meaning whileremote working.”Greg Dyer, Light Circus, Penzance 7

HOW TO MAKE IT IN CORNWALL

Variety and fresh directions:the agencies

Inspiration and guidance:the artist

Poppy Treffry’s witty bags Fantastical imagery: graphic designers Empress Design

On My Table, Kirsten Vestgard

Virginia Grahamteapot, from DiddyReeve’s gallery

The dramatic landscape and colourful characters are no less important to Cornwall’s literary scene than they are to its visual arts

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HHigh on a headland aboveFalmouth sits the bleak andbeautiful Pendennis Castle: afortress since the 1540s andthe atmospheric venue for

the three-day Falmouth Festival of Literatureand Arts on September 10-12. “Places choosethemselves,” says Kirsten Whiting, one of thefestival’s directors. “Pendennis Castle is a greatsetting with a great atmosphere for our diversemix of local and international authors.”

It’s well known that the landscape ofCornwall affects the county’s visual artists, butthis is no less true of its writers. Most famous ofthese is, of course, Daphne du Maurier. Authorof novels including Rebecca, Jamaica Inn andFrenchman’s Creek, du Maurier lived aroundFowey for many years. Most of her novels,including these three, are redolent with thescenery and characters of Cornwall.

However, Cornwall had an impact on thework of other significant writers too. As ayoung architect, Thomas Hardy was sent in1870 to oversee renovations to the church at StJuliot, near Boscastle, and lodged with therector. He became instantly smitten with hishost’s sister-in-law, Emma Gifford, and thetwo were married in 1874. It was never ahappy union, but this period was the inspira-tion for many of Hardy’s best-known poems.The Rectory where he stayed became theEndelstow Vicarage in his novel A Pair of BlueEyes. It is now a charming B&B, and you canstay in the room where Hardy lodged.

St Juliot itself is a charming little church,easily reached on a not too strenuous four-milewalk up the wooded Valency Valley (hopefullyreopening soon). Another short walk takes you to

the top of Beeny Cliffs, which lend their name toone of Hardy’s poems.

Like people today, many writers of the pastspent long holidays in Cornwall: VirginiaWoolf, for instance, spent childhood summersin Talland House, St Ives. Her novel To theLighthouse is set in the Hebrides, but theeponymous building is, in fact, GodrevyLighthouse, which stands near the small vil-lage of Gwithian, just outside Hayle.

DH Lawrence and his wife Frieda came toZennor, a hamlet near St Ives, in 1916, in anattempt to find respite from the war. “I felt wewere coming into the promised land,” saidLawrence. It was here that he wrote Womenin Love, but the pair failed to escape the con-flict and were forced to leave 18 months later.

Other writers spent much of their lives inthe county: poet laureate Sir John Betjeman,for instance, regarded Trebetherick, near Rock,as home. He is buried at St Enodoc’s church.

Now, of course, the list of writers with closeconnections to Cornwall is legion: from the oldergeneration of established writers, such as JohnLe Carré, to younger, award-winning writerssuch as Helen Dunmore and Philip Marsden.

Many of these writers can be seen at one ofCornwall’s literary festivals. The WonderfulWords festival, for instance, which runs acrossthe county throughout September and October,features writers who appeal both to adults andchildren, plus a week of poetry. For an on-sitefestival with camping, you’ll have to wait till nextsummer for the Port Eliot Literary Festival —possibly the most eccentric in the UK — on theidyllic estate of Earl St German, near Saltash.Disarmingly friendly writers lecture, DJ, takeyou for walks, or just lie on the grass and chat.

WRITE ROUNDTHE COUNTY

DH LAWRENCE TRIED TO FINDRESPITE FROM THE WAR. ‘I FELT WE WERE COMING INTO THEPROMISED LAND,’ HE SAID

With all that, it’s not surprising many peoplechoose Cornwall as the place to develop theirwriting. Travellers’ Tales, short courses con-nected with the London-based magazineTraveller, uses Zennor as its Cornwall venue.

“I take students to Zennor because itchanges their writing and their mindset,” sayscourse leader Jonathan Lorie. “Zennor is aremote village beside wild cliffs and sweepingmoorland. It feels free and raw and real —qualities that emerge in the students’ writing.”

Until this year, Indian King, in Camelford, wasa Cornish writing landmark and had an extensiveprogramme of courses. It’s now for sale.

“There must be someone who wants to relo-cate to this wonderful part of the country,” saysHelen Wood, who has run the centre for the pasteight years and now wants to concentrate on herown work. It’s tempting: £350,000 for an estab-lished writing centre, accommodation included.

Those seeking more formal training might trya postgraduate course at Falmouth College of

Arts. Christina Bunce runs the diploma/MA inprofessional writing. “My programme is for peo-ple who want to make a living from it,” she says.“It’s designed so students become proficient inone form of writing such as features or corporatecommunications. Then they will have the where-withal to do their novel in the background.”

Something very different is the MA inIllustration: Authorial Practice: the only courseof its kind in the UK. The Valley of Secrets, whichhas been described as the new Harry Potter, is acollaboration between author Charmian Husseyand Christopher Crump, who is studying on it.

According to Pauline Sheppard from Scavel anGow — the county’s seven-person collective ofprofessional writers who perform, publish andconduct workshops — the sense of working fromCornwall is significant to all they do.

“Cornwall has a very specific voice and veryinteresting stories to tell, but they are also univer-sal,” she says. In July, their stories were on Radio4 every day for a week: “Two years ago, we did a

series called Dream Atlas, and this time we werecommissioned to write Island Tales about ourexperiences working in the Scillies.”

The group also works with poets using Cornishdialect and even Kernewek, the Cornish lan-guage. Kernewek has a new champion, being fea-tured in next Christmas’s episode of a popularcartoon. “If it’s good enough for Lisa Simpson,”says Sheppard, “it’s good enough for we!”Sue George

To find out more:Falmouthfestival.co.uk, 01326 319777Wonderful-words.co.uk, 01288 359242Porteliotlitfest.comThe Old Rectory, Stjuliot.com, 01840 250225Indian King Centre, 01840 212111Travellers-tales.net

Cornwall Arts Marketing has 20 copies ofScavel an Gow’s book Dream Atlas to giveaway. For details, go to seencornwall.com

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A steep trek up Beeny Cliffs, inspiration to Thomas Hardy Godrevy Lighthouse, seen across Gwithian Bay

Arthur Smith takes the audience on a walk at the Port Eliot Literary Festival

Drinking from the stream in the Valency Valley

The quality of light in Cornwall has been an inspiration toartists since Turner’s time. But what sort of impact doesit have on them today?

CCome September, Cornwallchanges. The bucket andspade brigade shuffles offhome, and for the few strag-glers that linger, Cornwall

becomes a foreign country again. The sky soft-ens and the shadows lengthen, yet the summerweather endures. It’s in this early autumn lightthat visitors see the best of Cornwall, and thebest way to see beyond its picture postcard vis-tas is through the eyes of its prolific artists.

Cornwall has always been a popular retreatfor British artists, and there’s a lot more to itscultural heritage than Tate St Ives. A centurybefore Barbara Hepworth, Turner travelledhere with his sketchbook, but the artists whoreally put Cornwall on the map were a group ofVictorian painters known as the NewlynSchool. There’s a wonderful selection of theirwork in Penzance, in a palatial Victorian villacalled Penlee House. Surrounded by palmtrees, it’s the perfect place to start an autumnaltrek around the artistic haunts of westernCornwall — and along the way, you’re boundto see plenty of the panoramic views theseartists painted.

Over the last century, Newlyn artists likeWalter Langley and Stanhope Forbes have flit-ted in and out of fashion. In the 1880s, Langley’swatercolours sold for hundreds of guineas, yetafter the Second World War, some Newlynpaintings were changing hands for as little as£30. Latterly, they’ve been overshadowed by

the modernists of St Ives, but now they’rebeing rediscovered by a generation starved offiguration. A few years ago, a Forbes made wellover a million pounds at auction. Today, the sub-tle landscapes and perceptive portraits of theNewlyn School are on the up and up.

These artists became known by the name ofthe rugged fishing village where they paintedand, although it’s walking distance fromPenzance station, Newlyn still feels like a sep-arate place today. It’s even got its own artgallery, built over 100 years ago. Today it offerspainting courses for aspiring artists, andinterest-free Arts Council loans for aspiringcollectors, enabling people to buy paintings bymodern Newlyn painters, just like they did inForbes and Langley’s day. Unlike a lot ofLondon galleries, it doesn’t feel fashion-conscious or elitist, yet the work on show isprovocative and cutting-edge.

Forbes called Newlyn Art Gallery “a publicinstitution, not an artists’ club”, but there is anartists’ club in Penzance — the Penzance ArtsClub. This bohemian private members’ clubdoubles as an ad hoc art gallery, with mem-bers’ paintings displayed all around the walls.Many of the artists who hobnob here are par-ticipating in a scheme called Open Studios,whereby prospective buyers can visit artists inthe atmospheric places where they work.

Open Studios is a great way to meet work-ing artists, and see their work in progress. It’salso a great way of seeing another side of

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THE PLACES IN THEIR PAINTINGSARE THE PLACES THE REST OF USCOME IN SEARCH OF, BUT OFTENFAIL TO FIND

Cornwall. It’s a thrill to see these pictures inthe raw, rather than in the confines of a gallery,and by seeking out these studios, you’ll see aside of Cornwall you’ll never find on theseafront. Nobody perceives Cornwall’s shiftingseasons as acutely as its artists, and the places intheir paintings are the places the rest of us comein search of, but often fail to find.

I started my Open Studios mystery tour a fewmiles from Land’s End, in the sleepy hamlet ofBotallack. Adrian Smith used to be a prisongovernor. Like a lot of artists, he’s paintedthroughout his life, but only found time to pur-sue his passion properly after he moved here afew years ago. He lives and works in an old tinmine captain’s house, where he also runs asplendid B&B. His studio is tucked away in acorner of his conservatory. Beyond his lushgardens, the husks of ruined tin mines standsilhouetted against the sea and sky.

Surrounded on three sides by water, thispart of Cornwall is more of an island than apeninsular. “We’re sticking out into 3,000miles of ocean,” says Adrian. “You can see thenext front coming in.” Reflected and refractedby the water, sunshine bounces off the Atlantic

ARTIST OF THE MONTH Trevor Bell

“I try to keep moving,”says Trevor Bell,“not just consol-idate what I’ve learned before.” After five decades asan internationally exhibited and admired painter, it isBell’s restless innovation that ensures he stays in thepublic eye, and there’s a new opportunity to see his lat-est work alongside pieces from the 1960s and 70s.

Bell lived and worked in St Ives from 1955-60 —“when it was a place,not a method”— and returned tothe area in 1996. It was while he first lived in Cornwallthat Bell started to construct the irregularly shaped can-vases for which he is famous. He continues to refine thischaracteristic feature of his work, dramatising the rela-tionship with the surrounding space, while his device ofbevelling the edges and painting them with intensecolours that vibrate on to the wall, extends the impact.

The spectacular exhibition space at the Tate St Ivesshould enhance the drama of the 12 works being fea-tured in the show, which include one print and twoseries of paintings, most with Cornish links. There arenautical subjects like Keel (1967) and Split Jet (1970),andthe blue,black and white palette of these and other worksis redolent of the Cornish coast.While this is not a retro-spective,a link between these early works and the core ofthe exhibition, Passage — The Quiet Five, 2004, whichwas commissioned by the Tate specially for the show, isprovided by Tall Seven, 1975-6 (pictured above), a seriespainted when Bell first moved to Florida and began toexperiment with tall shapes in series, flooded with incan-descent colour.

The monumental canvases of Passage — The QuietFive soar upwards in attenuating rectangles. They arenot abstractions in the true sense, since they are not“taken from” recognisable forms and interpreted intonew ones. They are expressions in colour, texture andshape,and chart the evolution of emotions in response tobereavement.They resonate for anyone with experienceof loss, perhaps most poignantly in the quiet, predomi-nantly white canvas. Although the intensity of hue inothers in the series is informed by the years in Florida,the dominant gesture is stillness rather than drama.

This is something new in Bell’s work. “Now I wantthings to be as deep as possible, to keep the calmness,”he says.“I want not to impose on the work, to let therebe a sensation of depth, of density, and to allow thepainting to be itself as an object.”

Beyond Materiality — Paintings and Drawings 1967-2004,Tate St Ives, October 9 to January 9

For further examples of Trevor Bell’s work, go toguardian.co.uk/arts/cornwallartistofthemonthViv Lawes

Adrian Smith, who lives and works in a tin mine captain’s house

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in the morning, there was no wind and thewaves were crashing in,” she recalls, with won-der. “It was silent — apart from the waves.”

Down the hill in Penzance, in the old tele-phone exchange, American artist Kathy Toddpaints more tranquil, meditative paintings.She came to Penzance last year, after 12 yearsin the Scilly Isles. “That’s where I developedmy style of light-filled paintings. You get a lotof reflected light coming up off the ocean andmingling with the air.” Cornwall is built on gran-ite, which sparkles in the sunlight — the rockson the beaches, and even the sand beneath thewaves. “It’s a painter’s dream,” she says.

Across the bay in Newlyn, there’s a whole

cluster of studios, hidden in the alleys thatsnake up the hillside above the harbour.Several artists work in the old orchard gardenof Geoffrey and Jill Garnier, who studiedunder Stanhope Forbes and painted herebetween the wars. Annie Metcalfe and RosSalter paint side by side in the same studio, buttheir work is utterly distinctive — even thoughthey both paint seascapes in a bold, expres-sionistic style. “Everybody says about the light,and then up country they think ‘well, does itreally exist?’ But I stand here, especially in thewinter, and it changes by the minute,” saysMetcalfe, who’s originally from Scotland.

“There are scientific reasons why the light isspecial here,” says Salter, who’s lived here allher life. “There’s less pollution.” But there’smore to it than that. “Cornwall takes no pris-oners,” she says. “It’s still got that raw energy,and I think it’s epitomised by the force of thesea. When you live here all year round, and yousee Cornwall in all its different cloaks andguises, it’s a very beguiling place to live — butit’s a harsh place.” And that’s precisely itsappeal, for intrepid visitors as well as artists.“You can never quite gentrify Cornwall,” shesays. “It’s got a hard edge to it.”

Just around the corner, in her small andsimple studio, Jane Tressider paints precise,but powerful, paintings of the local landscape.Like Salter, she’s Cornish, but she studied atthe Slade in London, where many pioneeringNewlyn painters also learnt their trade. “I was

heartbroken all the time that I couldn’t comeback,” she recalls. “My Cornishness is very pre-cious and important to me.”

A few miles inland, the landscape becomes amaze of meadows and hedgerows, and in theirmidst is the cottage where Peter Freeman livesand works. Freeman doesn’t paint the light —he paints with it, creating huge light sculp-tures bound for city centres a world away fromthe romantic idyll he discovered a decade ago.He’s not throwing open his studio — given thenature of his work, there’s no easy way hecould do — but his installations are a reminderthat for every sentimental seascape in aseafront gallery, there’s an avant-garde artistlike Freeman toiling away behind closed doors.

Although Freeman’s light sculptures tend toend up in urban spaces, the Cornish light is aconstant source of inspiration. “You’re gettingair from the Atlantic that’s been washed of allthe dust, so there’s a fantastic clarity to it,’ hesays. “In London, it’s filtered by all the dustparticles.” And in London, you never see theopen sea. “The beauty for me is when youstand over the sea and you see how the lightplays between the sea and the sky,” he says,“and you just watch the changing shades andpatterns and colours.”

Several miles north, the landscape changesyet again, as you emerge from the leafy valleysof the hinterland into the very different lightand landscape of the north coast. St Ives hogsthe headlines along this shore, but the entire

CORNWALL TAKES NO PRISONERS.IT’S STILL GOT THAT RAW ENERGY EPITOMISED BY THE FORCE OF THE SEA

There are fine views across Mount’s Bay fromthe Penzance Arts Club, a Georgian town-house that originally housed the

Portuguese Embassy.You can buy a week’s mem-bership for £10, or stay here from £35 a night —less, if you’re a member. Despite its grandantecedents, the atmosphere is wonderfully laidback: more Chelsea Arts Club than Groucho Club.It offers painting and writing holidays, plus lifedrawing,poetry and play readings and guided walks.The restaurant serves organic Cornish meat, fishfrom the harbour and foreign specialities from thedeli across the road. Chapel Street, Penzance(01736 363761, penzanceartsclub.co.uk).

The Abbey is one of the very best places in WestPenwith to eat or sleep, combining a modernrestaurant and historic hotel, side by side on thesame steep sidestreet. The 17th-century hotelboasts a beautiful walled garden and a handful ofplush, but cosy, bedrooms. With its idiosyncraticantique décor and convivial communal spaces, itexudes the ambience of a slightly eccentric statelyhome. Doubles from £120 (including breakfast) inSeptember.

The restaurant next door is a striking contrast.The exterior is stark but the interior is stunning —from the cavernous crimson foyer to the light andairy dining room upstairs. The ingredients arelocal but the menu is international — contempo-rary continental, with a distinctive Cornishflavour. A three-course lunch costs £20, three-course dinner about £30, without wine. Ask for atable (and a bedroom) with a view of St Michael’sMount. Abbey Street, Penzance (01736 366906,theabbeyonline.com).

If you want to watch the sunset over open fieldsrather than rooftops, and you’d prefer a smart,secluded guesthouse to a more formal hotel, thenyou should enjoy this intimate, upmarket gay-friendly bed and breakfast. Tremorran is run bypainter Adrian Smith with his partner, a musician,and the clifftops he paints are just a short walkaway. B&B from £25 pppn (01736 787169).

WHERE TO WATCH THE SUNSET

and lights up the Cornish sky. No wonderAdrian’s seascapes are becoming more impres-sionistic. “What I love is the elemental thingabout this area,” he says, “where earth, water,wind — the elements — fuse”. All artists start offimposing their style on Cornwall, but Cornwallalways ends up imposing its style on them.

My next stop was the studio of SarahPoland, a young Scottish artist with a growingreputation. The farm where she works feelsremote, but it’s only a few miles fromPenzance. The countryside appears primeval,but in these weatherbeaten farmyards, a quietrenaissance is taking place.

Sarah’s edgy paintings certainly don’t con-form to any of the usual seaside cliches. Evenher still lifes are full of fire. Lately, she’s beenworking on a big abstract piece inspired byPorthmeor beach in St Ives. In midsummer,Porthmeor is awash with tourists, but the viewthat prompted this restless picture isn’t theone most holidaymakers see. “It was 10 o’clock

coastline is littered with working artists, and afew miles east, in Carbis Bay, Rosie Scottpaints delicate, dreamlike paintings, like illus-trations for a book of fairytales yet to bewritten. Scott was brought up in Cornwall, butmoved away to work and study — yet like somany Cornish artists, her own work has onlyflourished since she finally came home.“When I grew up here, Cornwall was muchmore remote from the rest of England,” saysScott. “You wouldn’t have regarded it as hav-ing an arts scene.” By the time she returned,an awful lot had changed. “There’s a history ofartists being here,” she says. And not just ahistory, but a future too.

The autumn light in Cornwall is enigmaticand elusive. When you’re there, it soon seemsnormal. After a few days, its invigorating influ-ence feels like the way things ought to be. It’sonly when you leave, and the sky closes inagain, that you realise what an uplifting effectit has, and not only on local artists. Anywhereelse in Britain, their pictures of the open skywould look fanciful. It’s only once you’vetravelled here, and seen the same dazzlinghorizons, that you realise Cornwall’s paintersreally do paint exactly what they see.William Cook

To find out more: Cornwall Open Studios continues over theweekends of September 4-5 and September11-12. For a brochure, call 01872 273344

WHERE TO TAKE THE KIDS

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Painter Annie Metcalfe sees the light constantly changing

Installation artist PeterFreeman, inspired by theclear Cornish light

Sarah Poland creates edgy paintingsfrom her remote farm

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The school holidays may be over, but children still needentertainment and stimulation. Here are some ways totake advantage of the sights and sounds of autumn:

Cornwall Wildlife Trust organises regular kids’events.This month’s treats include a seashore treasurehunt in Polzeath (on Wednesday 8) or a wildlife safariin Tregellist — bugs and butterflies rather than lionsand rhinos (Saturday 18). Or in early October, there’s a seasonal hunt for fruits, nut, berries and leaves inSaltash.You can join their junior Fox Club for £5 pa,or make a donation on the day (01872 273939,cornwallwildlifetrust.org.uk).

Penlee House and Newlyn Art Gallery both put oncreative activities for children, from fancy dress to storytelling to parent-toddler activities. Penlee House,01736 363625, penleehouse.org.uk. Newlyn ArtGallery, 01736 363715, newlynartgallery.co.uk.The Royal Cornwall Museum runs holiday workshopsfor children and families often relevant to currentexhibitions. Royal Cornwall Museum, 01872 272205,royalcornwallmuseum.org.uk

Kids Cornwall is a book full of child-friendly tips from local parents. It costs £3 (plus 50p p&p) from PO Box 191, St Austell, Cornwall PL26 6ZX or via kidscornwall.co.uk

How far does £500 go when it comes to buying art? A triparound some of western Cornwall’s galleries shows onefirst-time buyer it can stretch further than you’d think

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FFor the uninitiated, the prospectof buying art is fraught withterror. Snooty, grasping galleryowners are only marginally lessoff-putting than the pricey con-

ceptual nonsense hanging on their walls. Let’sface it, if you’re going to part with a few hundredof your hard-earned quid, you want somethingthat doesn’t make you feel stupid, nauseous ordepressed every time you look at it.

So it’s with some relief that I can report thatall this nonsense evaporates west of the riverTamar. Galleries and artists in Cornwall seemsuspiciously interested in the quality of thework they sell, and in the unfashionable con-cept of value for money. There are an awful lotof galleries in the county, and plenty of them sellnasty pictures of local beauty spots. But anincreasing number sell high-quality work at sen-sible prices, making Cornwall a popular destina-tion for potential collectors on an “art safari”.

The Guardian has sent me to Cornwall with£500 in my pocket, on a mission to survey theterrain, sift gold from dross and bag somethinggorgeous, interesting and worth the money. Atthe outset, I only have negative criteria: I don’twant anything that looks like it was painted inan evening class, and I don’t want anything fea-turing fuchsias, gulls or wise old seadogs. After a36-hour whistle-stop tour, I’ve got a shortlist ofsix works, any of which I would gladly buy withmy own money and probably will.

LET’S GOSHOPPING

Truro, now establishing itself as the centre fora new, forward-thinking, local-focused art mar-ket, is the first port of call. The Lemon StreetGallery, generally acknowledged as the mostprestigious in the county, shows work by artistsfrom inside and out of Cornwall, and proudlyhangs college leavers alongside internationallycollected art stars such as John Hoyland. LemonStreet is the main dealer for Kurt Jackson, theking of modern Cornish landscape painters.Jackson’s work is way beyond my budget butas an introduction to the quality of work inCornish galleries, you couldn’t do better.

“Because Truro is a city, and a big economiccentre, we can afford to be more eclectic,” saysLemon Street’s Louise Jones. “While St Ivesgalleries tend to be about dead artists workingin the abstract tradition, we’ve got a wider mixof new artists and figurative work alongsidethe more established stuff. Serious collectorswill come here, but we also get a lot of youngcouples who are buying to furnish a newhome. They can get several square feet of goodart for their money.” Higher-end galleries suchas Lemon Street are benefiting enormouslyfrom the government’s ArtCred scheme, offer-ing interest-free loans of up to £2,000 forpurchases from participating galleries.

At the other end of the spectrum, a newTruro gallery just out of the city centre showsjust how affordable (art is never “cheap”, it’s“affordable”) good local work can be. Jake Bose,

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the owner of Vitreous, has chosen to show work“which I love, and which I could afford. This is avery new gallery, and I’ve deliberately pitched itas an entry-point for new collectors as well asnew artists.” You could walk out of Vitreouswith a very nice painting or ceramic for less than£100; it’s by far the most affordable of the lotand, comfortingly, more like a shop than agallery. The quality is astonishing, irrespective ofprice, especially when compared to some of thenaff tourist traps that sell twee tat.

These are to be found, alas, clustering in thenarrow shopping streets of St Ives, where it’spossible to find revolting daubs just across thestreet from real masterpieces. It does, howev-er, have the heritage (Barbara Hepworth, BenNicholson, Alfred Wallis) and the reputation;not for nothing did the Tate Gallery pitch campon Porthmeor beach. Once you get there, it’s justa question of picking your galleries wisely. TheNew Millennium, for instance, offers a safechoice of extremely prestigious work by artistssuch as Neil Canning, whose huge abstractcanvases would appeal equally to rich privatecollectors and corporate buyers. But for those ofus with a modest budget, it’s got little to offer.

The subjects of pricing and return on invest-ment are greeted with varying degrees offrankness. Asked straight out whether a £500expenditure would reap financial rewards,most galleries are rather shocked. The standardline is: “You’ve got to love the work; monetaryconsiderations come second”. If you’re payinghundreds rather than thousands, it’s unlikelythat you’re going to end up with a nest egg. Allwill admit, however, that their prices includean unspoken guarantee that anything they sellis worth the money — and that’s how they jus-tify their 30% to 50% cut.

If you want to bypass galleries altogether, StIves has plenty of artists selling direct to thepublic. Alexandra Dickens, a former fashionmodel who took up painting as a way of recov-ering from ME, is a one-woman business whocreates and sells from her own St Ives home.Her semi-abstract acrylics are priced accord-ing to size, from £95 to £575.

“People come and see my work, which ishappy and vibrant, and they see the way I live,and they want to buy into a bit of my lifestyle,”she says. “My work is decorative, and I don’thave any hang-ups about whether or not peopleregard it as ‘art’.” Some clearly do; in the pastyear, Dickens made well over 100 private sales.

But for most novice buyers, the imprimatur

HIGHER-END GALLERIES SUCH ASLEMON STREET ARE BENEFITINGFROM THE GOVERNMENT’S ARTCREDSCHEME, OFFERING INTEREST-FREELOANS OF UP TO £2,000

Bob Crossley with hispainting Untitled, 2002

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of a gallery makes an art purchase feel safer.Context is all; a gallery with dismissive staff, orwith stacks of unsold stock, just doesn’t get theshopping juices flowing. Of all the St Ives gal-leries, the one that strikes the most appealingbalance between style and attitude is theBelgrave, where a consciously laid-back salesstyle contrasts with the heavy-duty wares.

The Belgrave is the best hung of all the gal-leries I visited: it looks like a show, rather thana shop, and, on a subjective note, it happens tobe full of just the sort of stuff I like. Magisterialabstracts by Bob Crossley hang on the walls —well beyond budget, but there are prints of histhat would do the job nicely. And just as I’mbeing told Crossley’s story — he’s 92 years old,and only gave up cross-country skiing last year— the artist himself walks into the gallery.

“In art,” he says, “it’s not the idea that counts,it’s the execution. Anyone can have an idea. Noteveryone can turn it into something worth-while.” My thoughts precisely.

Alongside the older masters are young,untried talents such as Michael Broughton, alocal surfer and, of all the young artists I’veseen on this trip, the most outstanding. A hugenew Broughton canvas, still smelling of linseedoil, hangs at the front of the Belgrave. But morein keeping with our budget, and easier to fit intoan average house, is a mini-version of the samething — a hugely desirable painting of desert-ed tables and chairs by a daylight window.

The ripple effect from St Ives has created

thriving gallery scenes in Newlyn, Porthleven,Falmouth, Penzance and beyond. “It’s hard tomaintain the balance between being a shopwhere summer visitors can buy a nice souvenirof Cornwall, and a gallery where good artistswill want to show their work,” says Fiona Grayof Badcocks Gallery in Newlyn. “We’ve done itby diversifying — there are big, serious paint-ings for sale alongside the crafts and jewellery.”

Diversification, both of style and price, is thekey to success in Cornish galleries, and it’s whatmakes them a safe bet for would-be art buyerswho want something that will look good oncethey get it home, without blowing the savings.“There are three basic reasons why people buyart in a gallery,” says Chloe Wild from Beside theWave in Falmouth. “They find something thatmakes them feel good, they admire the artisticqualities, and they want to make an investment.We do 14 exhibitions a year, all the stuff we showis work that I love and admire, and not a singleartist we’ve shown has ever decreased in value. Ican’t give you any more sales patter than that.”Rupert Smith

Catherine Hill, 40, university law lecturerMy partner and I go on frequent walking holi-days to Cornwall, and we always end up buy-ing art. We’ve bought so much over the yearsthat our house in London is too small now!We’re on several mailing lists, so we knowwhat to look out for and which galleries to visitwhile we’re there. This summer we bought aprint by Maggie Matthews from the GreatAtlantic Gallery in St Just. She’s an abstractcolourist, very much in the style of myfavourite artist, Patrick Heron. The first time Isaw her stuff, a couple of years ago, I fell inlove with it. She had a one-woman show at theGreat Atlantic, so we decided to buy a piecewhile we can still afford it. Even though it is anabstract, you can see that the colours andforms come from the Cornish landscape. Herprices are rising fast, and a reasonable-sizedprint cost us £450. Bought from: the Great Atlantic Gallery

Sue Sampson, 48, displays organiserI bought a still life by Jason Walker fromArtonomy, an agency and consultancy in Truro.I got in touch with them because I’d seen somework by Jason, and they represent him. I lookedat the website, then they emailed me moreexamples of his work, and I fell in love with one.Then Steve from Artonomy actually brought thepainting in his car all the way from Cornwall toour house in Gloucestershire, so we could see itin the living room. You just wouldn’t get servicelike that from any other gallery. I bought thepiece for my husband; it cost £3,500, and thatis incredible value for money.

This is our first major art purchase. I’m justan ordinary person who likes art and I don’tlike all the mystique that surrounds it. NowI’ve got a relationship with Artonomy, I’d neverbuy art anywhere else. It saves time and effortand the enthusiasm of the guys is overwhelming.Bought from: Artonomy

Peter Gosling, 35, runs his own propertymaintenance businessWe buy a lot of art — I’d buy something everymonth if I could afford it. Most of our stufffrom Cornwall is pottery or sculpture, andrecently we found a bronze by an artist calledPeter Ward called Fan Wave. He died veryrecently, a contemporary of Terry Frost andBarbara Hepworth, but not nearly as wellknown as them because he didn’t really pushhimself. We’d gone into the Belgrave Gallerylooking for a piece by Wilhelmina Barnes-Graham, but it had already been sold. Then,when we were looking around, we saw this Wardpiece, and fell in love with it. It cost £500, whichseems like good value for a piece like that. Hisreputation is building now, and if they do aretrospective of his work then it will increase invalue, but, to be honest, I don’t think too muchabout the price when I buy something I love. Bought from: The Belgrave Gallery

HAPPY CUSTOMERS

JUST AS I’M BEING TOLD CROSSLEY’SSTORY — HE’S 92 YEARS OLD, ANDONLY GAVE UP CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING LAST YEAR — THE ARTISTHIMSELF WALKS INTO THE GALLERY

THE WISH LIST

Out of all I saw, these are the pieces on which I’d mostlike to spend £500:

Two silkscreen prints by Bob Crossley, Two Reds (1976)and Red Recess (1970), Belgrave Gallery. Crossley (born1912) boasts an extraordinary career spanning over halfa century of British painting.Coincidentally,he was greatlysupported in his early years by the Guardian, whose criticnoted, in 1958, his “tremendous enthusiasm and devo-tion to the practice of painting”. His brilliantly colouredprints feature in several major collections. (See right fora chance to win them.)

Tables and Chairs (2004) by Michael Broughton, oilon canvas, Belgrave Gallery. A very close second —beaten only because Broughton, as an emerging artist,has less history and is consequently a less safe invest-ment. In terms of loving the art, though, he’s a jointwinner; his paintings of empty social spaces, where heworks at night, are eerily beautiful.

Come On Sam and My Turn (2003) by David Pearce,oil on board, Beside the Wave. Pearce, like Broughton, isa surfer, who gave up a career as a dancer to paint fulltime. His paintings are crude and childlike, and, as such,not for everyone — but of all the work I saw inCornwall, these are the two that made me happiest.

Group of three stoneware figures by Carolle Blackwell(2004), Vitreous. Despite Cornwall’s noble tradition ofplastic and ceramic arts, these were the only three-dimensional objects in the price range that I reallywanted. Blackwell’s enigmatic little creatures, about18in in height, are based on Japanese “haniwa” figures.

Black Series IV by Barrie Cook, acrylic on paper,Lemon Street Gallery. Cook specialises in spray paint-ing, using hundreds of coats to achieve intense imagesthat actually start to hypnotise if you look at them forlong enough. His works on canvas go for many thou-sands of pounds.This,however,is a way of buying into animportant legacy at an affordable entry price.

Alexandra Dickens, with three of her paintingsCarolle Blackwell’s haniwa figures

YOUR CHANCE TO WIN!

How would you like to win these BobCrossley prints, chosen by Rupert Smithas the art he saw in Cornwall that he’dmost like to own? Whether you are aseasoned collector or complete novice,these prints would be a beautiful additionto your home. And they will soon begracing the walls of one lucky reader.Just answer these questions (all youneed to know is in this supplement):

a) What is the name of the church Thomas Hardy was sent to restore?b) Where is the Beast of Bodmin burnt?c) Which stand-up comedian istravelling from St Just, Norfolk, toSt Just, Cornwall?

Enter online at guardian.co.uk/arts/cornwallartistofthemonth Or send your answers on a postcard to:Kate Small, 119 Farringdon Road,London EC1R 3ERClosing date 5pm Monday September 20.Usual terms and conditions apply.Forfurther information,see guardian.co.uk/arts/cornwallartistofthemonth/

COMPETITION

Alexandra Dickens The Studio Gallery, 10 Back RoadWest, St Ives, 01736 796288, alexandradickens.co.uk

Artonomy 01872 277733, artonomy.co.uk

Badcocks Gallery The Strand, Newlyn, Penzance,01736 366159, badcocksgallery.co.uk

Belgrave Gallery 22 Fore Street, St Ives, 01736794888, belgravegallery.com

Beside the Wave Gallery 10 Arwenack Street,Falmouth, 01326 211132, beside-the-wave.co.uk

Cornerstone Gallery 22a Fore Street, St Ives,01736 793281, cornerstonegallery.co.uk

Lemon Street Gallery 13 Lemon Street,Truro,01872 275757, lemonstreetgallery.co.uk

Great Atlantic Gallery West Place, St Just-in-Penwith,01736 788911, greatatlantic.co.uk

Net Loft Gallery The Harbour, Porthleven,01326 564010, cornwall-art.co.uk

New Millennium Gallery Street-an-Pol, St Ives,01736 793121, newmillenniumgallery.co.uk

Vitreous 7 Mitchell Hill,Truro,01872 274288,vitreous.biz

For more on galleries in Cornwall, go toseencornwall.com

GALLERIES

21Above: Red Recess, Below: Two Reds

A short story commissioned especially for this supplement

END OFSEASON

PPicture this: end of season in theislands. Summer visitors sit onthe quay, surrounded by bun-dles of luggage. The boats fromthe off islands are racing

towards the quay bringing the more adventur-ous back from their summer retreats. It is aclear, late October day, the sky is high andblue, and a stiff breeze ruffles the surface ofthe water. The travellers sit on the quay wait-ing for the boat that plies between the islandsand the mainland. Their all-weather coats rus-tle in the breeze. They stand close together,like migratory birds readying for departure.

If you stand on the cliffs on the north coastof the mainland on a clear day with good visi-bility, you can see the islands sitting on thehorizon. The islands look as if they are floatingalong with the cargo ships and sailing vesselsthat can also be seen. On days like this, theyearning to sail to the islands becomes over-powering. Many people have felt this, andevery season, from spring to autumn, theislands fill up with those escaping the purgato-ry of the landlocked, for whom not even theextremity of the Land’s End is far enough.Over the years, the islands have changed.Cottages have been extended and redecoratedto match urban expectations of the islandretreat. Exotic gardens have been coaxed outof the windswept ground. Pheasants, peacocksand other ornamental birds wander at will inthis unlikely Arcadia.

Today, however, it is end of season. The lastpassenger boat is leaving the islands with itscargo of mainlanders already dreaming ofsummers to come. They crowd at the stern,straining for a last glimpse of the islands, andthe sight is worth their trouble. The islands sitplumply in their petticoats of foam and froth,with their golden skirts of sand in the milkygreen sea. Flights of seabirds festoon theislands, echoing the line upon line of flappinglaundry that crowns every hill and promontory.The visitors are being waved goodbye by theirown bedding. The season has ended.

You can see the weather coming from a greatdistance, in the islands, and there are signs forthose adept enough to read them. The last rip-ple of the wake of the last boat of the seasonhas barely vanished. Those tending to thelaundry lines can see that the Western horizonhas become heavy and leaden. The seabirdsare flying more recklessly, filling the air withtheir mineral cries. Down on the beach asound can be heard like faint, distant,applause. A multitude of cockles has come upfor air and they are clapping their shellssharply, in counter rhythm with the sound ofsand and pebbles dragged by the ebbing tide.Some say that they have heard the sound of thewhistling fish, a creature that inhabits the rockpools and whose sharp whistle is said to be atrue harbinger of cataclysmic events.

Many islanders climb to the highest point ofthe Western Coast, to the cemetery of those

lost at sea, where the solemn headstones pre-siding over empty graves look out to theimmensity of the open ocean. The world issharply divided into two sections. To the east,the faint outline of the mainland, a clear sky,the sea in deep strokes of ultramarine riffledwith crescents of Prussian blue. To the west, agranite sky; an advancing mass of opaque grey,with translucent slashes of sulphur yellow. Awind is coming.

When the wind hit the islands it tore thedrying laundry from the lines, ripping it toshreds that flew in the sky like a flock of seag-ulls, or attached themselves to tree brancheslike prayers.

For more than 200 days the wind blew with-out stopping. For the first two weeks theislanders remained composed, going abouttheir daily business as usual; the islanders arecanny seafarers, so boats continued to put tosea on daily errands, even though the sea wasrunning fast through the islands, like a hugeriver. Two more weeks and down this mightycurrent strange objects were propelled:schools of unusual fish; flotillas of containersspilling cargoes of beach towels, watches andbrassieres; an asylum seeker clinging to a Lilo,having lost his way from the English Channel;a tightly packed but shape-shifting mass ofplastic balls imprinted with the mapa mundi;three immigrants riding inner tubes; a windsurfer; a band of grizzled, wild haired saints intheir coracles.

After 90 days the seabirds begun to look dis-orientated and tried to roost in unsuspectedplaces. The pheasants had, of course, been blownout to sea very much earlier, being less resilient.

The islands began to shift overnight, so thatthe whole world appeared dislocated and windcrazed. All things became unmoored and awoman said she had stood on the quay andseen her whole past racing before her, pro-pelled by the mighty wind. The islanderslooked scoured, like pilgrims, as did the earth,from which all plant life had been torn withthe exception of lichens, mosses, heathers andgorse, and in years to come the cliffs on themainland would sprout a small oasis of exoticvegetation, the seeds of which had been car-ried by the fierce winds and the crazed birds.

All ghosts were swept from the islands, both

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solid in the vast ocean, as if everything that wasbefore the wind came had been a dream.Mercedes Kemp

Mercedes Kemp was born and grew up insouthern Spain. She has lived in south-westCornwall for the past 30 years. A member ofthe writing collective Scavel an Gow, she alsowrites for Kneehigh Theatre Company.The illustrations are by Rob Davies, a student onthe MA course in Illustration: AuthorialPractice at Falmouth College of Arts

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high bred and low born, and every nook andcranny in every house was sand-blasted andpolished until not a scrap of stencilled wallpa-per, not a flake of terracotta lime washremained.

When the wind stopped, the islandersemerged bearing the exalted look of mysticsand anchorites. The seabirds floated about thebecalmed sea, or stood on the rocks shakingthemselves with a look of bemusement. Alllooked about themselves and recognised thateverything was as should be, the islands still and

North Cornwall has a very different atmosphere and scenery to that of the south. So what is going on in this area that so many visitors miss?

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IIn a country no stranger to north-southdivides, Cornwall is quietly harbouring ageographical split of its own. FromNewquay to Penzance, tourists have longqueued up to holiday along the southern tip,

leaving the northern end — that unassumingstrip of land between Bude to Padstow — feelingno small part like the county’s Cinderella. Nowmore than ever, in the aftermath of the floodscentred around Boscastle, the area needs posi-tive, rather than disaster-zone, attention.

As celebrity chef Rick Stein says: “Lovers ofCornwall are split into two camps, those who likethe south and those who prefer the north.” Nosurprises which Padstow’s most famous residentprefers. “Much as I like those Daphne duMaurier wooded creeks,” he tells me, “it’s thetowering chasms and the wandering sea of northCornwall — to paraphrase Thomas Hardy —which have always meant so much to me.”

Spend a decent chunk of time in northCornwall and it’s not hard to see what theattraction is. There is a certain rugged charmabout the place that the south lacks. Unique tothe area, of course, is Bodmin Moor, a particu-larly eerie splat of moorland sandwichedbetween Bodmin and Launceston. Horses andfoals roam the roadside, while the yellow gorseand purple heather add a touch of colour tothe area’s distinctive scrub.

If the idea of getting caught here when themist sets in is not forbidding enough, then thethreat of the Bodmin Beast may well spook

you a little. Of the many big-cat sightings, agood number can be traced back to BodminMoor and its environs — hence the idea thatbeasts roam this land.

Capitalising on the myth is Colliford LakeMoorland Park. In its beast exhibition, it won-ders whether captive big cats — such as pumasand black leopards — may have escaped or beenreleased into the area after the Dangerous WildAnimal Act in 1976. Come Halloween, in whatmight well be Bodmin’s answer to Guy Fawkes,they mastermind a “Burning of a Beast”, duringwhich a 9m (30ft) artist’s impression of theanimal is set alight amid fireworks in a spectac-ular setting. The venue also plays host to manyworld music gigs.

Elsewhere in the moor, particularly aroundMinions, the ruins of 19th-century tin andcopper mines rise up from the land like phallicmonuments to a forgotten industry. But for ataste of a more contemporary business, weheaded to Netherton cheese farm in the beauti-ful Lynher Valley, which is home to Cornwall’sfamous stinging nettle-covered Yarg cheese.

Here you can take a guided tour of the dairy and watch the cheese-makers art-fully paint a coat of nettles on to the creamy circular blocks. It is rather disappointing todiscover that the very traditional-soundingYarg is actually only 20 years old and was simply named after its founders, Penny andAllen Gray (it’s their name spelt backwards).But, what the hell, it does taste delicious.

NORTHERNEXPOSURE

Our stomachs lined with Netherton’s good-ies, we headed to the chilly atmosphere andgloomy light of Carnglaze Caverns. Here, threehuge caves were hand-created by local slateminers about 300 ago, and it now houses apaint-palette turquoise subterranean lake150m below ground. Also at Carnglaze (whichmeans “blue rock pile” in Cornish), in the areaof the cave that once served as the Royal Navyrum store in the second world war, there isnow the opportunity to see the odd performanceof jazz, folk, blues, rock and opera. It can bedamp — the drip, drip, drip of water penetratesthe performance (and, ultimately, your clothes)— but the acoustics of the cavern more thanmake up for a little sartorial inconvenience.

It would be criminal to come to Cornwalland not experience the coast, and, thankfully,north Cornwall comes up trumps in thisregard, too. Surfers certainly haven’t missed atrick here. When I visited the beautiful Polzeathbeach there was an army of them charging thesea. For £18 you can join them in a two-and-a-half-hour lesson with Surf ’s Up Surf School.Pete Craske, the school’s owner, admits toteaching about 200-300 a day in high summer,many of whom are families who have learnt tosee surfing as the British summer’s equivalent ofthe skiing season. “It is a very moneyed beach,” heconfides. But he maintains it is the best inCornwall for the business. “South Cornwall isbetter for walking and looking at birds. Buthere we have regular north Atlantic surf.”

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caption

Burning of the Beast at Halloween

Polzeath beach

The Lion, the Witch and theWardrobe, at Sterts Theatre

A wild horse on Bodmin Moor

Which makes it a bit like Piccadilly Circus-on-sea: not a place to come for quiet, but definitelyone where you can have fun.

Searching for peace after Polzeath, wepassed the serene Port Quin — a tiny covewhere a handful of children straddled the rockpools in search of shells and stones. Then itwas on to the picture-postcard perfection ofPort Isaac. With its slate-hung fisherman’s cot-tages and lean little streets dominated by theimposing sea captain’s houses, it is like a toy vil-lage — an obvious choice for several televisionand film settings (the 1970s Poldark series andthe film Saving Grace were both shot here).

Despite their size, the coastal towns and vil-lages are falling over themselves to display localartwork — with most artists trying to paint orsculpt the small facets that make up Cornwall’sphysical character: a single fish, a patch ofmoor or the break of a wave. At Port IsaacPottery, Michael and Barbara Hawkin createhand-thrown stoneware and draw inspirationfrom their surroundings. A little further downthe coast, Rocky Valley Gallery in Tintagel hashigh quality examples, as does the NorthCornwall Museum and Gallery in Camelford

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and Sterts Theatre and Arts Centre (which alsohas an open-air amphitheatre, covered to keepany bad weather out, but the ambience in).

But to get closer to the real marine life you’llhave to board a boat. Padstow, Rock and Budeare overflowing with opportunities to get on orin the water, be it sailing, scuba-diving, water-skiing or fishing. With my best sea-legs on, Ibraved the choppy waters half an hour out ofRock on the Batara Star for a fishing trip.Rather wonderfully, you don’t need to knowthe first thing about fishing to take such a tour.They just plonk you over a school of mackerel(rather stupid fish that will oblige even anamateur like me with a catch) and, hey presto,you’ve got yourself a fresh fish supper.

If you wish to continue on the health-kickand are looking for a gentle exercise, you cantackle the Camel trail, a 17-mile path fromPadstow to Bodmin based on a historic railwaytrack originally used to bring sea sand intoinland farms. As a result, it’s pleasingly flat,and takes in coastline, woods and moor.

But for fresh sea air, a real cardiovascularworkout and gobsmacking views, you can’tbeat the North Cornwall coastal path — a well-trodden but far from effortless hilly hike tak-ing in Tintagel, Crackington Haven andWidemouth Bay. On its route is Tintagel cas-tle, reputedly the birthplace of King Arthurand, like nearby Launceston castle, a beguil-ing ruin in a beautiful hill-top setting. Matt, acastle guide and Tintagel resident, admits the

site is becoming more popular because of therecent Keira Knightley film, but is not shy ofpraising its position on the apron of the northcoast. Forget the twee little fishing villages ofthe south, he says, “this stretch is so rugged.In winter, the storms we have are fantastic.”

Before leaving for home, I took the chanceto revisit Port Isaac. Wandering the streetswith a freshly caught pot of crayfish in hand, Iconcluded that this place, with its fantasy set-ting, is where every city-dweller hopes to retireto one day. I rather optimistically wrote downthe number on a house For Sale sign, only tofind out later that the town boasts some of themost expensive property in the country. So, forthe time being, it will have to remain a fantasy.Merope Mills

To find out more:Carnglaze Caverns, Liskeard, 01579 320251,carnglaze.comColliford Lake Park, 01208 821469, collifordlakepark.comNorth Cornwall Museum and Gallery,Camelford, 01840 212954Port Isaac Pottery, 01208 880625, portisaacpottery.co.ukRocky Valley Gallery, 01840 779245, rocky-valley-gallery.co.ukSterts Theatre, Liskeard, 01579 362382, btinternet.com/~sterts/Surf ’s Up Surf School, Polzeath, 01208 862003, surfsupsurfschool.com/

STERTS HAS AN OPEN-AIR AMPHITHEATRE, COVERED TO KEEP ANY BAD WEATHER OUT, BUT THE AMBIENCE IN

captioncaptionFishing for mackerel

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There are some great arts events coming to Cornwall soon.Here are just a few recommended by insiders

Contemporary Art and Sculpture, inassociation with Turner Fine ArtsNet Loft Gallery, Porthleven01326 564010September 5 to October 17The pretty harbour village of Porthlevenmay have been drawing art lovers to itsgalleries for years,but this rare new exhi-bition promises to shift things up a gearor two. With bronze sculptures andpaintings from the likes of Salvador Dali,Kieran Crowder and Sue Rhodes cominginto town, and only five other galleries inthe UK sharing the privilege,this dazzlingexhibition will see international starsalongside a huge variety of great localartists to support Macmillan CancerRelief.

Jason WalkerLemon Street Gallery,Truro01872 275757September 17 to October 18Walker’s fresh insight into the classicgenres of portraiture and still life is bothimpressive and fascinating. Experimentingwith mirrors, glass and other reflectivesurfaces in his rendering of objects suchas toy boats, walnuts and dried flowers,Walker’s work gives still life an invigorat-ing slant. National acclaim and awards,including the 2003 BP Portrait Award,

speak for themselves. Seize this opportu-nity to see this feature exhibition on hishome turf.

Nick WilliamsRoyal Cornwall Museum,Truro,01872 272205September 18 to November 27In an age of technological wizardry,Williams’ approach to his work is luscious-ly raw. His use of timeless observationaltechniques and careful studies shinesthrough, ditching the use of photographicsource material or optical aids.This skilledcraftsmanship scooped him the HuntingArt prize in 2001, but the amazing level ofwork going into each allegorical paintingmeans his output is relatively low — sodon’t miss this chance to see his uniquecollection.

Sid KipperTown Hall, St Just, 01736 788928September 24Coming from St Just, Norfolk, to St Just,Cornwall, stand-up comedian Sid Kipper’sirreverent look at rural life tells how it reallyis. Fusing hard-nosed and irreverent con-temporary commentary with his dry andsardonic wit, there’s no room for any softnostalgia on country living in Kipper’s bar-rage of humour. A great example of thegood work Carn to Cove are doing to bring

professional performing artists to veryrural communities.

Bad GirlsHall for Cornwall,Truro, 01872 262466September 22 to 25

Kids and adults alike will love thisbrilliant adaptation of bestselling authorJacqueline Wilson’s touching story.Adapted and directed by children’s dramamaestro Vicky Ireland (who has an MBEfor her services to drama for children),Bad Girls addresses bullying, unlikelyfriendships, and the strains and rewardsof family relationships in a refreshinglyrealistic but amusing style.

International Guitar FestivalFalmouth Arts Centre, 01326 212300September 22 to 25Listen to a truly eclectic mix of musiciansfrom Austria, Italy and Poland performingeverything from chamber music to fla-menco to jazz at this exciting inauguralseries.With eight performances over fournights, the funky arts town of Falmouthwill hear internationally acclaimed sell-outacts doing their unique thing with guitars,violins and an interesting variety of per-cussion.

Laughing GravyAcorn, Penzance, 01736 365520October 15A rollercoaster of side-splitting laughs andsome real heart-wrenching moments,Laughing Gravy is the world premiere of aplay about Stan Laurel. Specially writtenfor Zenith, a brand-new Cornwall-basedcompany, this poignant play looks into themind and emotions of Stan Laurel, hiscreative process, and his obsession withfinding the next hilarious gag.The atmos-

phere of the venue combined with this two-man production should ensure apowerful intimacy through both thelaughter and the tears.

Presented and PurchasedPenlee Park, Penzance, 01736 363625 October 23 to November 20As the name suggests, this exhibitionbrings together a random but fasci-nating collection of objects acquired bythis gallery and museum over the years.From works of art by some of the lead-ing figures in the Newlyn School andbig-name 20th-century artists fromCornwall, to social history items like afragment of a Napoleonic scarf discov-ered in an attic in Mousehole, andother quirky curiosities, it will definitelymake an intriguing browse.

Whizz Bang BoogieCarnglazeCaverns,Liskeard,01579320251November 6Here’s a fireworks night with a differ-ence: watch the beautiful Loveny Valleyexplode with colour, before descendinginto these amazing underground slatecaverns for live music and dancing.KingEarl Boogie Band will be taking to thestage in the Rum Store,a unique 400-seatvenue with fantastic acoustics,to furthercharge the night as only they know how.Helen Gilchrist

Local writer Helen Gilchrist is editor ofStranger, a creative new lifestyle,environment, arts, music and surfmagazine launching in Cornwall at theend of this month (stranger-mag.com).For more information on these andother arts and performance events inCornwall, log on to seencornwall.com

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Jason Walker, Boat 1, atthe Lemon Street gallery

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Sid Kipper tells it like it is

Comedian Stan Laurel

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