Painting in a Cornish Breeze at Mawgan Porth

Painting on the beach at Mawgan Porth, Cornwall today was certainly an adventure… so blowy and blustery that eventually I had to admit defeat before the painting, easel and I all took off down the beach!

Thankfully, I managed to get the artwork itself virtually finished. There are only the edges left to paint now.

There is something very special about painting en plein air. When I am standing on the beach at Mawgan Porth, the landscape refuses to stay still for me. The clouds move, the light changes, the colours in the sea alter and, today, even the painting itself was threatening to disappear down the beach!

That is also part of what I love about being an artist in Cornwall. You have to really look at what is happening in front of you at that particular moment.

It is something I encourage in my art lessons at Mawgan Porth too. Rather than assuming we know what colour the sea or sky should be, we look, question and understand what is actually there. The changing Cornish weather provides a rather wonderful classroom for that.

Apologies for the shadow across today's photograph. I hadn't noticed it until afterwards and, having nearly watched the painting blow away while taking this one, I wasn't going back for another attempt!

I'll post a proper photograph of the finished painting in the next couple of days… assuming it hasn't found a new home by then. ❤️

Jeanni
Artist and art teacher, Mawgan Porth, Cornwall
Art at the Beach