Painting En Plein Air at Mawgan Porth, Cornwall

A lovely family art lesson together on the beach at Mawgan Porth, Cornwall… with the Cornish weather deciding to take part too.

We had sunshine, wind and grey skies, sometimes almost all at once, but the smiles stayed throughout and the paintings were wonderful.

There is something rather special about painting en plein air. Sitting outside with a canvas in front of you encourages you to slow down and really look at the world around you.

For a while, attention moves away from everyday noise and towards the sea, sky, changing light, colour, movement and shapes within the landscape.

That can make art a wonderfully calming and absorbing experience. You are not simply trying to paint a beach, a wave or a sky. You begin to notice the subtle differences in colour, the changing edges of clouds, the reflections in wet sand and the way distance alters what we see.

As an artist and teacher, one of the moments I love most is seeing that little sparkle appear in someone’s eyes when they begin to trust what they see.

It is often the point where painting stops being about trying to make something “right” and becomes about curiosity, observation and discovery.

This lovely family created three very different artworks from the same Mawgan Porth landscape, which is exactly as it should be. We may all be looking at the same view, but we notice, interpret and respond to it differently.

For me, that is part of the beauty of teaching art in Cornwall. The artwork matters, of course, but so does the experience of slowing down, looking carefully, connecting with the landscape and enjoying the process together.

And when the weather changes halfway through… that simply becomes another part of painting en plein air in Cornwall.