Week 3: Padstow to St Ives 'On the Path' Day 19

St Agnes Beacon to Portreath

2 miles walked
300 ft of ascent
Word of the day: Stormy

Rough night with very strong winds and heavy rain. Walked down to Chapel Porth where we saw the first surfer and some very good waves (Chapel Porth is known as Badlands by the surfing fraternity).
A break in the weather encouraged us to take the tent down and start walking - it started raining again as soon as we left the campsite. Walked to Porthtowan and nearly got blown inside out. After a couple of hours waiting for weather to improve we gave up and bussed it to Portreath and stayed at the Portreath Arms.

Week 3: Padstow to St Ives 'On the Path' Day 18

Perranporth to St Agnes Beacon

8 miles
2000 ft of ascent
Word of the day: Industrial

Left Perranporth and walked straight into a landscape dominated by mining. Capped shafts and spoil heaps everywhere. Sketched at Cligga Head looking down a tall cliff with a rock wall full of niches. Later stopped to sketch Green Island just before St Agnes. Met a couple of photographers from London; bumped into them again at a cafe at Trevaunce Cove.

Walked on around St Agnes Head where it was really windy. Then stopped at Wheal Coates (NT owned mine) before heading inland to a campsite at Beacon Cottage Farm. Walked the mile back to St Agnes village for provisions and dinner at the excellent St Agnes Hotel. Got a bit damp on the walk back to the campsite. 

Week 3: Padstow to St Ives 'On the Path' Day 17

Mawgan Porth to Perranporth

5 miles walked
486 ft of ascent
Word of the day: Surf

Awoke to torrential rain, low cloud and strong winds.  Managed to get tent down in a brief lull.
Too wet and windy to walk so we bussed to Newquay to pick up supplies. Great smoothies, coffee and brownie in the Watershed Cafe (thanks Charlie!)

Bussed to Holywell Bay and walked out to Penhale Point for some photos and quick colour notes. Holywell Bay looked great with good waves but was deserted apart from a surf class and a couple of kite flyers.
The long waves breaking on Perran Beach were absolutely stonking; the one good thing about bad weather is the opportunity to experience the raw power of the sea. A cream tea at the Stepping Stones Cafe (thanks Linda) was much appreciated. Decided to spend the night in a B&B (with amazing views over the beach); judging by the noise of wind and rain all night this was a wise decision! 

Week 3: Padstow to St Ives 'On the Path' Day 16

Harlyn Bay to Mawgan Porth


12 miles
1800 ft of ascent
Word of the day: Thrift

Early start and saw a barn owl hunting near Trevose Head. Pleasant walk to Booby's Bay. Stopped to sketch looking across towards Constantine Bay. Realised I had forgotten my big brush and improvised using grass strapped onto a pencil using masking tape. Stopped at the YHA cafe in Treyarnon Bay for an excellent breakfast bap. Stopped again just before Porthcothan to sketch Will's Rocks. Weather got really warm and sunny. The light on the sea was amazing. Saw a blue lagoon that could have been in the Med. Stopped for an ice cream at Bedruthan Steps NT cafe. 

Just as we left we saw some people rescued from the rocks by a Royal Navy helicopter; the lifeboat was also there but it was too rough for them to do a rescue. The lifeboat did rescue another family of 5 from around the corner. All these people were bank holiday visitors caught out by the tide.
Last stop was on the cliffs just after Mawgan Porth; photographed a huge garden-like collection of flowers.

Week 3: Padstow to St Ives 'On the Path' Day 15

Padstow to Harlyn Bay


8 miles
1900  Ft of ascent
Word of the day: Choppy

Late start as first train out of Totnes was not until 0945. Once away from Padstow the crowds disappeared but there were still lots of people on the coast path. Stopped briefly at Stepper Point - met by wet and windy conditions when we emerged from the shelter of the daymark.
Unable to stop and sketch - it was a shame because there are obviously some very impressive bits of coast around here. The Cornish walls are all covered in a variety of brightly coloured flowers. The sea was very rough but we managed to grab a couple of photos on the phone.

Week 3: Padstow to St Ives - Itinerary

Sun 3rd   Padstow to Harlyn Bay
Mon 4th  Harlyn Bay to Mawgan Porth
Tue 5th   Mawgan Porth to Holywell Bay
Wed 6th  Holywell Bay to Trevellas
Thu 7th   Trevellas to Porthtowan
Fri 8th    Porthtowan to Mexico Towans
Sat 9th   Mexico Towans to St Ives

Week 2: Westward Ho! to Padstow 'In the Studio'

On returning from week 2's walk I immediately set up for Totnes and Dartington Open Studios. This was a mixed blessing: it was good because it made me tidy up the studio! and the feedback I got from the visitors looking at the sketches was very useful and made me think more clearly about what I am trying to say with the work; the only slight downside was that I lost a few days in the studio.

Thank you to everyone that came to visit! 

This week in the studio I have been working on some reductive linocuts. We walked through this lush green valley between Westward Ho! and Clovelly. I was interested in the angles of the field boundaries and the early spring colours.

First I produced thumbnail colour studies. Planning the palettes in paint or pastel first saves a lot of mess and expensive printing ink. Once happy with this stage I then mix the printing inks.

I sketched the image, reversed it and transferred it onto the lino. Reductive linocuts can be risky as you cut away the lino between each colour. Therefore if you make a mistake there is no going back, I find mistakes just have to be incorporated into the design!

At this stage there are 4 colours: pale grey of the paper, lime green, raspberry pink and dark green.

You can see why it is called a reductive linocut, as you can see there is very little lino left at this stage - it is all in small bits on the studio floor. One of the most difficult aspects of multiple colour relief printing is the registration (lining up the paper with the plate on the press), if there is any mis-alignment you create a double image which is very unpleasant to look at - it makes you feel a bit seasick!

Here is the finished print, I thought it was finished at the previous stage but decided to do one last reduction to create tiny areas of brighter pink.