Monday 9 November 2015

Creative inspiration in Cornwall and Devon

It  already seems too long ago since we got back from our holiday in Cornwall and Devon end of  October. I brought along my sketch materials but hadn't been able to do much because there was so much to do and see, especially with the glorious weather we had! However, I was immensely inspired by the landscape and artwork from local artists and I now have lots of ideas to follow up in my art studio during the winter.

During the first week we rented an apartment in artistic and pretty coastal town St. Yves overlooking the bay. For Jaap's birthday (almost a year ago!) I gave him a visit to Barbara Hepworth's Garden and Museum. He really admires her sculptures and actually made a wooden sculpture himself a few years ago inspired by one of hers.

One of Barbara Hepworth's sculpures, Source: Art Cornwall


Jaap's wooden sculpture inspired by Barbara Hepworth
©Fenfolio2015

Below is a selection of her stunning sculptures we saw in the garden and museum.

Barabara Hepworth sculpture © Fenfolio2015


Barabara Hepworth sculpture © Fenfolio2015

Jaap framed by one of Hepworth's sculpures © Fenfolio2015


Massive sculpure in tropical garden ©Fenfolio2015

Detail of Hepworth's work ©Fenfolio2015


Hepworth's studio ©Fenfolio2015


Sculpure tools Hepworth worked with ©Fenfolio2015

For more information about Barbara Hepworth, visit Artsy's Barbara Hepworth page where you can find her bio, over 20 of her works, exclusive articles and up-to-date Hepworth exhibition listings.

From St. Yves we explored its surroundings and made some beautiful walks along the coastline.


Digital collage image I created with apps ©Fenfolio2015

Digital collage image I created ©Fenfolio2015

Pretty houses and streets in St. Yves ©Fenfolio 2015


Digital collage image I created with map of Cornwall
©Fenfolio2015


Cornish sea and rocks ©Fenfolio 2015


Walking along coast path to between St. Yves and Zennor ©Fenfolio2015


Funky sea cliffs ©Fenfolio2015

We had a wonderful day at Trengwainton Garden near Penzance.


Palm trees thrive here in mild climate©Fenfolio2015


Silhouette of fern on tree trunk ©Fenfolio2015


Digital collage I created of an autumnal still life ©Fenfolio2015

Digital collage of Trengwainton House ©Fenfolio2015


Our most memorable walk was to Kynance Cove and Lizard Point! Especially the cafe which you can see on the far right on the image below was well worth a visit.


Kynance Cove ©Fenfolio2015

Kynance Cove ©Fenfolio2015


Stunning geology along the coast here ©Fenfolio2015

Textures in the sand ©Fenfolio2015


Textures in the sea ©Fenfolio2015

In our element! ©Fenfolio2015

Lizard point is the most Southerly point of the UK ©Fenfolio2015


Love is...©Fenfolio2015


Pampus grass decorating the cliffs ©Fenfolio2015

Colourful Cornish house ©Fenfolio2015

Another lovely walk was from Mousehole to Lamorna Cove.


Beautiful harbour at Mousehole ©Fenfolio2015


Pretty houses in Mousehole ©Fenfolio2015

Before we left Corwall we visited The Eden Project; a huge garden with various themes and an educational centre. We were blown away with what we saw and I especially was amazed by the way they combined art with nature.

Recipe for Eden ©Fenfolio2015

Bee sculpture ©Fenfolio2015

Butterfly sculpture ©Fenfolio2015


Cone sculpure ©Fenfolio2015


Sculpure created with garbage showing how much
rubbish one person throws away in his lifetime
©Fenfolio2015


Chandelier ©Fenfolio2015


Palm in tropical biome ©Fenfolio2015

View from top of tropical biome ©Fenfolio2015

Lovely sketches were displayed in the tropical biome ©Fenfolio2015

This appeals to any artist! ©Fenfolio2015

And this should ring a bell to any scientist! ©Fenfolio2015

Torquay was our next base. Apart from soaking up the strange mix of posh, artistic and rough culture in this English Rivièra city, we also explored Dartmoor and walked up granite hill Haytor.

Torquay Pavilion ©Fenfolio2015


Sand artist at work on the beach ©Fenfolio2015


Two artists at work en plein air ©Fenfolio2015

Beautiful fishing pots in Torquay Harbour
©Fenfolio2015

On top of Haytor Rocks in Dartmoor ©Fenfolio2015

Dartmoor's juxtaposition ©Fenfolio2015

Dartmoor ponies ©Fenfolio2015

We were blown away by our visit to pictoresque art and craft village Cockington Court, just a couple of miles away from Torquay. It was their annual Apple Festival so we enjoyed tasting various ciders in the village garden, listening to live music and seeing the various artists  at work in their studio. One artist in particular we were inspired by was Deborah Treliving. We spoke about how she creates her work and she showed us her printing press. One of her collagraph prints got Jaap's attention from the moment we stepped inside and I encouraged him to buy it. For the first time we will have artwork from a different artist on our wall!


Deborah Treliving's art studio in Cocking Court
©Fenfoliuo2015

Jaap bought this lovely collagraph print
©Fenfolio2015

Deborah recommended us to visit the gallery of Devon Guild of Craftsmen in Bovey Tracey where she's a member of. There we saw an exhibition of prints and paintings by Michael Honnor which I thoroughly enjoyed. Jaap was not so impressed as he didn't like the mainly monochrome palet of his work.

Blurb about Michael Honnor's exhibition
©Fenfolio2015


One of Michael Honnor's lithograph prints ©Fenfolio2015


One of Michael Honnor's paintings ©Fenfolio2015

The cake in the café was delicious but the icing on the cake actually was the exhibition of sketchbooks from the artists of the Devon Guild of Craftsmen itself! It was such a privilege to see what these artists did with their sketchbook and why they keep one. It was an eye opener and great material I could use for my own workshop Creative Sketchbook which I was going to organise for the Stonehaven Art Group a week after my holiday.

Exhibition Sketchbooks: Life Illustrated
©Fenfolio2015


Deborah Treliving's blurb about her sketchbooks
©Fenfolio2015


After a few days spent in South Devon we continued our journey to the north and visited Lynton and Lynmouth. Halfway we stopped at Simonsbath, stretched our legs and made a walk through the rolling hills of Exmoor.


Exmoor landscape ©Fenfolio2015

In Lynton we unfortunately had our first day of bad weather, but that didn't deter us from walking along the coastline near Lynton.


"Beware of man goats" ©Fenfolio2015


The scenery is almost like a fairytale ©Fenfolio2015

The weather was much better the next day and we walked from Lynmouth (also called "Little Switzerland") to Watersmeet and back via the coastal path.


Lynmouth was severely flooded in 1952 ©Fenfolio2015


Beautiful trees along the way ©Fenfolio2015


Fluffy cuties in farmfield ©Fenfolio2015

Coastal path to Lynmouth ©Fenfolio2015

The last few days of our two-week holiday were spent in Liverpool which was the European Capital of Culture in 2008. The museums and architecture in general was fascinating! While visiting Liverpool Cathedral we were treated with an amazing rehearsal of the girls school choir, singing a song from a famous and recent film, twice!! I had goosebumps, it was so beautiful.


Inside Liverpool Cathedral ©Fenfolio2015


Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral ©Fenfolio2015


Glass artwork in Liverpool Museum ©Fenfolio2015

Stone suitcases as sculptural artwork ©Fenfolio2015

Iconic skyline of Liverpool ©Fenfolio2015


Albert Dock ©Fenfolio2015

Liverpool's symbol the Liver bird ©Fenfolio2015