Friday 30 September 2011

Born in St. Ives- Lesly Ninnes

Mich hat es interessiert, ob Lesley in St. Ives geboren wurde oder ob sie (wie es ein Wunsch von mir ist), nach St. Ives gezogen ist.

Hier ihre spannende Antwort:
Yes, I am lucky to have grown up here, coming from an old St Ives family, with previous generations whose lives revolved around the sea.
 The inhabitants of the Turks & Caicos Islands (where I lived from 1989-96) call themselves ‘Belongers’ and that’s how I see myself - St Ives, West Penwith, Cornwall,  is where I belong.
St Ives became popular with artists from the late 19 Century onwards attracted by the quality of light.  Click the link to find out more:  http://www.tate.org.uk/collections/glossary/definition.jsp?entryId=283
Growing up in the 50s & 60s I couldn’t help but be affected, influenced – largely unknowingly – by the presence of the artists named above, many of whom were familiar figures in and around the town on a daily basis.
As a child, summers were spent on the beach, playing and learning to swim in the harbour, searching for crabs hidden under seaweed festooning Smeaton’s Pier, watching my Dad dig for bait, climbing and running over rocks, exploring  – and of course, the sun always seemed to shine!
The light is so bright - even on a dull, misty wet day the sand glows, light just bounces off it and when the sun comes out, sea glitters and plants gleam, colours fizz with vibrant energy.
The drive to express myself through mark making is inborn.  My Grandfather painted, producing accomplished watercolours in his teens and early 20s, before the need to develop his business to support his growing family superseded his creative side.
I’m fortunate to lead to be able to live this creative life as a self employed painter and two days a week spent in paid work brings in regular income, which is always helpful given unpredictable art sales. 

Thursday 29 September 2011

Lesley Ninnes- Artist from St. Ives



A native of St Ives, Lesley Ninnes is a versatile artist whose career spans two decades.  With a repertoire that encompasses a range of styles, this is a person who continues to find painting an exciting, stimulating and rewarding vocation.
Interested in the effects of light and reflected light, symmetry, balance, colour and tension, her working method, whether using oil, acrylic or watercolour, is that of a building up of transparent and opaque layers.  She likes to work on several projects at once, preferably a mix of abstract and representational subjects.
Paintings evolve from ideas that have formed over time or are inspired by a particular place/weather condition, and those that start with one colour on a blank canvas.  The last is a sort of quest, reviewing, modifying and refining the painting over days or weeks until arriving at a natural conclusion.
Lesley started painting on a regular basis while living on the Island of St Helena 1984-7.  Her botanical paintings were reproduced as stamps and published in book form.  She experimented with different media while living on the Turks & Caicos Islands, BWI 1989-96, painting land and seascapes.  Returning to St Ives in 1996, she later attained an HNC in Art & Design at Cornwall College, joining Art Space Gallery co-operative in 2000.  Her paintings were selected for exhibition in the annual  ‘21st Century Watercolour’ competition at Bankside Gallery, London  2008-2009 and exhibited at Bristol Affordable Art Fair, Edinburgh Art Fair and the Northern Art Show, Harrogate and recently 2011 at Bath Society of Arts Annual Open Exhibition.
Lesley is a member of St Ives Society of Artists and St Ives Arts Club, and an associate member of Penwith Society of Arts.
 “Living here brings an awareness of the elements, the movement and moods of the sea and challenging weather conditions – wild and exciting nature up close – a never ending source of inspiration.”
“Each artwork is a new journey into the unexpected, even with an existing idea or a plan, the outcome is unpredictable.  Nevertheless, themes do emerge over months and years and previous titles are reused, differentiated by the addition of the date of completion.”









Hier gibt es mehr zu sehen:
Here you can find more:
http://sea-blue-sky-abstracts.blogspot.com/
http://artspacegallerystives.blogspot.com/
http://www.artspace-cornwall.co.uk/

Wednesday 28 September 2011

I have a dream about St. Ives




Mit 20 Jahren kam ich zum ersten Mal nach St. Ives uns bin seither nie mehr von diesem Ort weggekommen. St. Ives fühlt sich für mich an wie nach Hause kommen. Da bin ich- Ich bin. Mein Lieblingsplatz ist die Porthmeorbeach. Da gibt es einen Stein, wenn Ebbe ist so sieht man ihn sehr gut. Da sitz ich und ruhe und blicke ins Meer hinaus und bin mit Sicherheit der absolut glücklichste Mensch dieses Universums!

I was 20 when I first visited St. Ives. It was love for the first sight! Amazing. It just feels like comimg home! I feel complete! I really really love to sit on "my"stone at Porthmeorbeach! I love it and I am full of energie, freedom and the happiest person in this universe- for shure!






Seit dieser ersten Begegnung sind doch schon ein paar Jahre vergangen und ich empfinde eine grosse Sehnsucht nach St. Ives. Mein Traum ist es, ein kleines, einfaches Cottage zu haben und 2-3 Monate im Jahr in St. Ives zu leben, zu schreiben, zu malen und mich mit Einheimischen zu verbinden!

Since the age of 20 some years (only 17) have passed and my love to that beautiful place ist still very deep! I really long for St. Ives! My dream is to own or rent a little tiy cottage and to live for 2-3 month a year in St. Ives. I would love to write, to draw and to connect with the people.




Ich wünsche mir von tiefstem Herzen, dass dieser Traum sich erfüllt! Ich wünsche mir von ganzem Herzen, dass ich mit Menschen aus St. Ives in Verbindung bin!

With all my heart I wish that this dream will come true! With all my heart I would like to meet and to connect with people from St. Ives! Pleas contact me. You are so very very much welcome!

Leave a comment below or email me at: mail(at)glueckspilzchen(dot)ch

Love and kindness,
Andrea

Tuesday 27 September 2011

Interview with Carolyn Saxby- artist from St. Ives

Hi Carolyn, thank you so much for answering to all my questions!!! I am so courious!!!!

How did you first discover art?

I have always expressed myself through art … but over the years in different media.  I have always kept sketchbooks full of things I love and things that make me happy.  My love and appreciation of colour came from keeping these books.  They are full of images I have collected, poetry, words, reflections, art and textile experiments … a real mix of things that I love to look at.  I have always enjoyed art and since moving to St. Ives I have more time to look at the work of others past and present.  I enjoy visiting galleries and seeing a diverse range of media.  My own expression is through textiles and abstract paintings and I continue to collect images and original pieces of art which I keep in my sketchbooks.


How does art help you celebrate your life?

My art helps me celebrate my love of nature and my appreciation of all the senses.  To be able to smell the sea and seaweed or the scent of a honeysuckle blossom, a rose.  To be able to see and understand colour and look closely at detail, to be able to touch the veins on the back of a leaf or the rough texture of a stone or shell or piece of cold granite, to taste a wild strawberry from the hedgerow, to hear the sound of the sea pounding on the beach or a blackbird singing evensong.  These things find their way into my work through text, found objects and stitch and celebrate my life and love and appreciation of my surroundings.



How does your work tell your story?
I may walk on the beach and enjoy the quietness, the peacefulness, the light, the sound of the sea, the smell of seaweed, the glint of sunlight on the water, finding a special shell.  The weather may be dramatic and the skies interesting and colourful.  A fishing boat may catch my eye, rust patterns and peeling paint.  I may walk up the lane and the hedgerow will sing to me.  I love birdsong, berries, seed heads, leaves, the colours of autumn.  I capture the moment with colour, textures, words, threads and beads.  A story evolves around the season and time I spend on my own contemplating and noticing things around me.  I like to walk alone and gather little bits of nature and take photographs.  These are my stories.

What does your work say about you?

My work is a reflection of my whimsical outlook.  I am a romantic and I like pretty things so my work comes out a little rose tinted.  I love to look closely at things and record details and textures.  I love colour and my work is a combination of the study of colour and texture and a reflection of what I see and how I see it.  They are evocative and often contain words that I love that reflect my thought process.  My work expresses my love of nature, my love of the beach, my love of light, colour and texture and time for reflection.


What inspires you?

St. Ives is a constant source of inspiration for me in my work.  I am inspired by the colours of the sea, the sky, beaches, lichen covered rooftops, pebbles, seaweed, shells and beach finds.  I use found objects from the beaches in my textile work which I attach by sewing.  I sketch and paint seascapes and sew hearts that are full of  seaside textures and treasures.



I take aspects of St. Ives that I love such as lichen covered rooftops of the Cornish cottages, the cobbled streets and the pier.  I use photographs of these elements and beach finds such as shells, pebbles, sea glass, seaweed and the flotsam and jetsam that gets washed up on the beach (driftwood, string, plastic, metal, found paper) in my work to create evocative seaside pieces.  They have a whimsical, rose tinted, nostalgic feel to them.  I also incorporate vintage photographs from time to time and inspiring text.

I am also inspired by the work of other St. Ives artists.  I love to create abstract paintings and textile pieces inspired by paintings and poetry.

Did you grow up in St. Ives and how is it to live at that place?
I grew up in Berkshire and moved to St. Ives in 2002 after enjoying many holidays and long weekends in St. Ives every year.  We have a cottage that is 200 years old that we spent some time renovating.



We chose to live in St. Ives because it is a seaside town that never really closes over the winter.  It is not really seasonal as many Cornish seaside towns are.  It is quieter in winter but the facilities are still available

I love St. Ives in the winter when it is quiet and peaceful and the light is still bright and inspiring.  I love St. Ives all year round.  In summer the town is a buzz with tourists on holiday and it is an exciting place to be.  In September for two weeks St. Ives hosts an arts festival of music, poetry, film, arts and media which is so wonderful.  I enjoy watching the bands and visiting the studios of artists that are not open at other times of the year.



What do you love about St. Ives?

St. Ives is a very beautiful and inspiring place to live.  I love the beautiful beaches, the light and colours of  St. Ives, the sea, the sky, the wonderful art galleries and craft shops.  I enjoy many walks in the countryside and on the beaches.  The climate here is mild and is warm for the most part of the year, with fresh air and sea breezes.  I like that there is no air pollution so the skies are clear at night.  The moon, stars and planets are clearly visible at different times of the year.

It is a sociable place to live with many activities and groups to join, a cinema, theatre, art groups and clubs, exhibitions, beach picnics and social groups.  There is something for everyone.

The shops offer interesting arts, crafts, jewellery, ceramics and homewares that are quite often made by Cornish artists.  There are wonderful restaurants and cafes offering traditional Cornish food such as Cornish pasties, fish and chips, seafood and Cornish ice cream and clotted cream as well as traditional old fashioned sweet shops and chocolate handmade in Cornwall.

There is a strong sense of history to this Cornish town which is constantly being recorded at the local museum, a very interesting place to visit, and at the local archive centre and much of the “downalong” area is as it would have been hundreds of years ago with cobbled streets and higgledy piggledy cottages.

What are you doing on a simple day?

On a simple day … a typical day … I work on my textiles.  I walk in the countryside or on the coast path down into St. Ives.  I visit an art gallery.  I do a little beachcombing.  I take my camera everywhere and quite typically take over 100 photos a day then spend some time selecting my favourite shots and playing with Photoshop.  I upload a photo to Flickr most days and spend a little time on the computer.  I read and cook and spend time with my family.  This is a typical day.  Sometimes, when the weather is good I work in the garden … but always in the shade.  I don’t like to get too hot.  I burn easily in the sun.  I love the peace of the garden and the sound of birdsong.

Shop with Carolyn Saxby

Love Stitching Red

Carolyn Saxby Mixed Media Textile Art

Monday 26 September 2011

St. Ives Inspiration week

Ich beginne meine St. Ives Inspiration Week mit 2 Videos! So bekommst du zum einen einen kurzen, wunderschönen Überblick und zum zweiten einen Einblick in die Vielfalt und in die Geschichte von dienem für mich magischen Ort!
Viel Freude beim Schauen!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dr4fwwbhgm4&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qIkJBTrJ_M

Morgen gibt es dann ein erstes Interview! Ich habe vor einiger Zeit den Mut aufgebracht, und intuitiv einer Künstlerin eine Email geschickt. Eine Email über meinen Traum- St. Ives zu mir zu holen. Mein Traum, einmal dort für mehrere Wochen leben zu können. Carolyn war fantastisch! Sie hat mir sofort zurück geschrieben, obwohl ich eine Fremde für sie war und sich für ein Interview zur Verfügung gestellt.
Nun läuft es einmal umgekehrt- alle Interviews sind in englischer Sprache und meine deutschen Blogleser können sich darüber erfreuen oder übersetzen!

Dear readers from St. Ives: If you have more to say, to show, to connect- YOU ARE SO VERY MUCH WELCOME!!! Please share the beauty of St. Ives, inspiration and art!
With all my heart,
Andrea