A Cornish Adventure

I had a new commission - and I needed a temporary outdoor studio to make it happen.

I love making work on the beach, but to paint at a large scale I need a private space where I can leave the canvas unattended to dry - safe from the attention of curious dogs (and their owners).

That’s how I found myself painting in my friend’s garden close by the sea in north Cornwall. Plenty of room for paint splashes, an undercover area to dry the canvas in case of rain. Ideal.

This space came with the added bonus of artistic appraisals from the resident three year old.

“You’ve painted the sea!” she cried, looking at a canvas covered in pink, yellow and green paint. “The yellow is the sand, the pink is the sea.” Her tone was certain, a statement of fact. And then she returned to her task of looking for bugs.

The funny thing is, she was absolutely right. All my work is of the sea. Looking at it, being in it, the shapes it makes on the sand, the ripples of light bouncing from its surface.

An adult, well-used to the certainty that the sea is blue, would have been unlikely to make the same observation.

At three years old, she demonstrated the mindset that I try to cultivate as I approch 43. A sense that anything is possible. All creative decisions are open to you. And if something can be expressed with clarity and brevity, why overcomplicate it. Some of the most profound observations can be very simple.