Spring Show 2015

 We're very excited to be moving into the busy Easter period with our annual 'Spring Show'. The mixed exhibition will feature work by eight established British painters: Andrew Bird, Angela Charles, Freya Horsley, Arthur Lanyon, Joanne Last, Alex Morton, Martyn Perryman and Kathy Ramsay Carr.

Thick as Thieves - Arthur Lanyon

Banjo - Arthur Lanyon

 Highlights include the powerful abstracts of Penzance-based Arthur Lanyon. One of the finest up-and-coming artists working in Cornwall, Arthur comes from a dynasty of painters: the son of the eminent artist Matthew Lanyon and grandson of the great Peter Lanyon. His work captures an essence of realism without wanting the pieces to ‘vanish into recognition’, grappling with the question ‘how do you paint figuratively but subvert a traditional representation?’

How I Saw it - Angela Charles

Undercurrent - Angela Charles

Also highly anticipated will be the new collection of Angela Charles’ evocative, Cornwall-inspired paintings on aluminum panels.  Her works evolve from rudimentary pen sketches and even written notes, describing the landscape, the light and the sea.‘Through areas of calm and yet moments of frantic mark making, the resulting paints reveal my sense of awe at the South West coast’. Angela isn’t afraid to reference other artists in her work, citing the great St Ives artist Roger Hilton as a major influence.

Fathom - Freya Horsley

Point - Freya Horsley

Additional new works include the bold and expressive landscapes of Kathy Ramsay Carr and the atmospheric and encapsulating landscapes of Freya Horsley. The exhibition will also continue to show the work of Andrew Bird, Joanne Last, Alex Morton and Martyn Perryman who all enjoy their second shows with the gallery in 2015.

Voicing the Wind - Kathy Ramsay Carr

Surfacing - Kathy Ramsay Carr

For more information on 'Spring Show 2015' and our other current show 'Porcelain: New Perspectives' please visit our website

Wherever you wish to be....

 

To celebrate our current show ‘To the Coast’, we asked some of the artist’s featured in the exhibition to tell us about their favourite Cornish spot:

Joanne Last

'I first discovered Priests Cove on a dramatically wet and windy April day.

'The wind was so strong we sat in the car looking at the Brisons huddled on a gleaming sea. It’s hard to describe the sheer scale of this view – the vast ever-changing sky and expanse of sea which can change in an instant from brilliant dancing light to a dark and foreboding weight of water. A huge canvas encircled with black rocks, which sparkle in the sun and reveal a wealth of different colours. 

'Many times I have perched myself beneath the old fishing huts and sketched, always inspiring and always something new to discover.'

Priest's Cove by Joanne Last, acrylic on canvas, h. 106 x w. 106 cm

 

Alex Morton

 

'What is my favourite spot in Cornwall? Now there's a question! There can be no one spot. 

'To walk at low tide and collect mussels it would be Bedruthan Steps on the rugged north coast with the towers of rock following the sketchy scramble down the steps. To surf it would be Fistral. To windsurf it would be Gwithian. To evening walk and eat with Anna it would be St Ives.'

Late summer at my favourite spot, Fistral by Alex Morton, acrylic and sand on canvas, h. 50 x  w. 50 cm

 

Martyn Perryman

'Over the years St Ives has played a pivotal role in the development of my work. One of my favourite places is Porthmeor Beach.   

'I am inspired by the sounds, smells and movement of light and try to bring these elements together in my paintings.  

'It is only a minute’s walk from where I stay and work when in St Ives. I spend a lot of time there throughout the year either enjoying barbeques with family and friends as well as solitary walks.'

Porthmeor Contemplaton by Martyn Perryman, oil on canvas, h. 100 x w. 100 cm

 

Sarah Perry

'For years now, my work has taken on the 'sea palette' inspired by my visits to St Ives.

'I had a lovely Cornish holiday when I was at art school and decided at the end of the course I would come down from Camberwell for six months and work near to St Ives, during that wonderful summer of '68. Spending my time preparing ideas for my range of work when I started up my studio.'

Blue Wave Ellipse by Sarah Perry, slab-built stoneware, h. 28 cm

 The exhibition 'To The Coast' will be on display in the gallery until Saturday 7th March 2015.

To The Coast

Our annual ‘Coast Show’ starts our 2015 show programme this year as ‘To The Coast’, showcasing a group of five handpicked artists and the range of inspiration to be found in the Cornish shoreline.

For painter Alex Morton, it is his passion for surfing that influences his work the most, inspired by ‘the surf, sea and wind’. Morton’s work captures the rugged Cornish landscape, the expanse of sea and the energy it brings through the wind and the waves with tonal colour and strong textures on paper, board and canvas. Unexpectedly finding painting in 2012, Morton discovered an immediate talent and new passion to paint and create and to communicate through his work. This show will mark the second exhibition of Morton’s work at the gallery after a highly successful debut collection in the gallery’s ‘New Horizons’ show, October 2014.

Also newly added to the gallery’s stable of artists is the established painter Joanne Last. Last’s atmospheric seascapes mix memory and imagination, aiming to create mood and atmosphere rather than simply to record the view. Her work focuses more on the experience of being in a place, rarely planning or sketching but launching straight into an idea. Her paintings direct themselves depending on the time of day, light, weather and surge of water, resulting in expressive and intuitive works that evoke breaking waves and the colours of dusk.

Similarly, in Martyn Perryman’s eye there is no such thing as bad weather, enjoying ‘the calmness of a summer’s day, as much as the invigorations of a stormy winter walk’. He takes inspiration from regular walks along the coastal paths and beaches of St Ives, returning to the same viewpoint to make sketches and colour studies to use back in his studio. In his paintings he intends to create ‘the calmness and clarity of mind that can be achieved when looking out to a horizon; free from the pressure and visual clutter of urban life.’

One of the two ceramicists within the group is Newlyn born-and-bred Essex Tyler, a former deep-sea fisherman, whose life and practice are both very much entwined within the coastal setting of his exhibition. Now based in Mousehole, his work reflects the nature and natural environment around him, full of texture and balance. Cool glazes poured onto a rich and textured body, turquoise blues, green and ochures settle each vessel with tranquility.

Colour is also an important quality in the work of ceramicist Sarah Perry. Her stoneware and porcelain pots are decorated with glazes of intense blues, turquoise, purples, pinks and greens, all easy to associate with the array of changing and varied light here in St Ives. Perry trained at Camberwell Art School where her teachers were Lucie Rie and Hans Coper and has gone on to exhibit her work across the world.

The work of all five artists will be available to view in the gallery as part of the exhibition ‘To The Coast’ from Saturday 7^th February until Saturday 7^th March 2015.

Lasting Impressions

We are pleased to present one of our first exhibitions for 2015, ‘Lasting Impressions: Andrew Bird and Barry Stedman’, bringing together the expressive and instinctive works of painter Andrew Bird and ceramicist Barry Stedman. Both artists are informed and influenced by their surroundings, using exciting relationships between colour, texture and form to evoke the essence of an experience or a place – focusing, for this exhibition, on the landscape of Cornwall. 

Talking about his process, Andrew Bird states ‘the images are invariably made using sketched ideas and references from memory or the work is developed instinctively. I am interested in the relationships made using colour and contrasts as well as the interplay of forms and gestural mark-making.  Elements within a painting are based on fleeting images, imagination and experiences, which perhaps aren't visually representative. If compared to a snapshot, but for me, encapsulate a particular slice of time. ‘

Bird is based in Derbyshire but spends a great amount of time in Cornwall, taking inspiration from ‘the hustle and bustle of harbours and coastal life’ and the rugged landscape that is found both here in Cornwall and in Derbyshire.

Despite being a ceramicist, Barry Stedman’s work also begins by painting - spending time drawing and painting outdoors to inform his ideas with the influence of shapes, light and atmosphere. His initial watercolour or gouache paintings, inspired by light and patterns, are often reworked into larger, more abstract, oil paintings that then lead into his final ceramics. Working with simple vessel forms in red earthenware clay, Stedman uses coloured slips, stains and oxides to create a finish which, as described by art critic David Whiting, evokes ‘the colours and textures of weather, sky and land in-the-round’.

Born in 1965 in Watford, Stedman returned to education as a mature student gaining a first class honours in Ceramics from the University of Westminster in 2009. Since graduating, he has worked as a part-time assistant at the studio of Edmund deWaal, one of the world’s leading ceramic artists.

The show, ‘Lasting Impressions: Andrew Bird and Barry Stedman’ will mark the second time both Andrew Bird and Barry Stedman’s work will be shown at the Porthminster Gallery, St Ives after highly successful first exhibitions in 2014. The highly anticipated new collections will be on display at the gallery from Saturday 7^th February until Saturday 7^th March 2015.

Our Christmas Cabinet of Curiosities is now open

Here is a glimpse into our 'Christmas Cabinet', featuring a hand-picked selection of exquisite jewellery, ceramics and artworks by award-winning artists and artisans.

'A Christmas Cabinet of Curiosities'

Left: 'High Hopes', vintage book and wire sculpture by Ann Winder-Boyle.
Right: A selection of ceramics by Geoffrey Swindell and Sarah Perry.

Left: A selection of work by Ann Winder-Boyle, Mirjana Smith, Anne Davies, and Stephanie Pace.
Right: The gallery's jewellery cabinets, containing original pieces by Holly Belsher, Roberta Hopkins, Nicola Bottono and
Elinor Lamond.

Paintings and prints (left to right) by Matthew Lanyon, Sandra Blow and Marianne Buckley. Ceramics by Barry Stedman.

'A Christmas Cabinet of Curiosities' is now on display in the gallery until Saturday, 10th January 2015. All work is available to view on our website.

The Best Art Gallery in Cornwall

We are extremely thrilled and proud to announce that we, the Porthminster Gallery, have won 'Best Art Gallery' at the Cornwall Today Awards 2014.

Gallery Director Dee Bray receiving the 'Best Art Gallery' award

Our Managing Director Dee Bray attended the prestigious awards ceremony at the Headland Hotel, Newquay and accepted the award for the gallery.

Up against three other nominated galleries, we are stunned and delighted to have been announced as the winner. The nominees are set by a panel of judges who then give the final decision over to a public vote and we have been blown away in finding out recently that an impressive 60,000 votes were cast.

The award has definitely added an extra spark to us all at the gallery with this unexpected recognition of the team's much hard work. We are now busy trying to say a big thank you to every single person that has supported us and, in our planning for 2015, endeavoring to keep the gallery living up to this impressive title.

Award news: 'Best Art Gallery'

The gallery has been shortlisted for 'Best Art Gallery' in the Cornwall Today Awards 2014. 

We are thrilled to receive the news that we are within the four art galleries nominated for the 'Best Art Gallery' award. Voting is currently open and we are calling on all to take a few moments to vote for us using the awards website: http://www.cornwalltoday.co.uk/awards/.
Voting ends this week, Sunday 31st August.

There are countless thank yous to come for all of the support we have received as well as the announcement of the winner at the ceremony on Thursday 25th September 2014.

The awards celebrate 'the brightest best of the county' which comprises 16 categories, all containing outstanding businesses and products from Cornwall. We are also very pleased to see our fantastic neighbours Trevose Harbour Hotel up for 'Best Small Accomodation' and Fifteen, Watergate Bay - run by our chosen charity Cornwall Food Foundation - shortlisted for Best Fine Dining.

To find out more about the awards and cast your vote, visit the Cornwall Today website: http://www.cornwalltoday.co.uk/awards/