A Changeable Day Painting at Mawgan Porth

It was one of those wonderfully unpredictable days at Mawgan Porth, Cornwall when the weather simply couldn’t make up its mind.

The morning began with rain, followed by little glimpses of sunshine, then clouds rolling back across the bay. But instead of waiting for the “perfect” weather, I decided to sit down on the beach and paint what was actually there.

And I’m rather glad I did.

The sky was beautiful, filled with soft pastel purples, pinks, blues and greys. As the light changed, I gradually built up this original Cornwall seascape painting from the view directly in front of me.

The Joy of Painting En Plein Air

This is one of the things I love about being an artist painting en plein air in Cornwall. Nature doesn’t pose for you. The clouds move, the tide changes, colours appear and disappear and the whole landscape can alter within minutes.

It makes you look more carefully.

Rather than painting what you assume a sky, beach or sea should look like, you begin noticing what is really happening in front of you. Those subtle changes in colour, light, atmosphere and distance are what make every day at Mawgan Porth different.

Lots of people stopped to chat while I painted and there were friendly faces appearing throughout the day. I kept expecting the clouds to finally break and the rain to return, but somehow the weather held.

What began as a rather uncertain Cornish day turned into an absolutely lovely afternoon on the beach.

And the Painting Found Its New Home

Perhaps the loveliest ending was that the painting didn’t have very far to travel.

Before the day was over, this freshly painted view of Mawgan Porth beach had already found its new forever home.

There is something particularly special about an original artwork being created from a real moment in Cornwall and then becoming part of someone else’s story almost immediately.

A little piece of Mawgan Porth, painted from life beside the sea, on one beautifully changeable Cornish day.