Cornwall 3

It seems hard to believe now that we crammed so much into 8 days.

As well as Sennen and the mines we ventured to the East side of the peninsular on several occasions - usually because we thought we would have better luck in poor weather with a harbour such as Mousehole.  Two sessions at Mousehole produced several rather grey paintings, the least grey of which is this one:

Falling Tide, Mousehole

I think this was the day when the wind caught the new umbrella fixed to my easel and lifted the whole lot sideways, spewing kit all over the harbour wall and propelling a tube of Naples Yellow into the water.  That brave fellow Worthington immediately dived in and rescued it for me.

On a particularly rough day, Michael Worthington and I made our way to the little cove of Porthgwarra and enjoyed some wet spray whilst painting this sort of thing:

Heavy Seas, Porthgwarra

Another postcard of the scene:

I did two more versions before we decided we were sufficiently drenched to need a cup of tea (on these occasions the Kelly Kettle comes into its own).  By that time too, the waves were actually  rising well above the horizon line.

A fine morning spent at Perranuthnoe, looking SW towards St Michaels Mount and NE into the local bay, netted Michael and I two more views.  We also had a good session at Cape Cornwall, back on the West side.  My second painting there was of the open air pool, which is refilled every high tide. 3 brave souls in wet suits tried it for a while but it was a very cold day:

The Open Air Pool, Cape Cornwall

My wish to paint the Irish Lady again was rewarded with two sessions, one a 20minute one and the other when I had more time.  The 20-minuter was necessary because I was also trying to catch the sunset from Pedn Men Dhu and had to switch at the last moment.  I like the rushed one better than the other - it has more life even though it is not topographically accurate.  First the fast one:

Irish Lady from Pedn Men Dhu (in 20 minutes)

And then the more leisurely version:

Irish Lady from Pedn Men Dhu

The sunset postcard was actually a disappointment but you only get those 5 minutes and it can go either way.

Finally a few more 6x4 postcards:

Nearing Sunset, Sennen 6x4

Wave Study 1, Sennen Beach 4x6

Wave Study With Gannet Fishing 4x6

And Zawn A Bal - as we now know that it is called.  David P made a much better job of the light on the water (see his blog) by using the side of his palette knife - a technique I intend to try next time!

Zawn A Bal, Botallack 8x10

What a trip - great company (those guys really lift your game), great place to stay (Atlantic Lodge) and superb subjects to paint. I don't even mind that it is such a long journey to get there - the anticipation winds you up nicely.