16th September to 23rd September 2024 

Art in the Village® is excited to offer a one week art holiday in the beautiful

town of St. Ives on the North Cornish coast. Following on from the successful

holiday in Gozo earlier this year, this holiday will focus on the town that

became a centre for progressive art from the 1920’s to the 1960’s. 

St. Ives is surrounded by sea, beaches and rugged rocky cliffs. Diffused

sunlight reflects from the sea like a giant mirror that encompasses the town -

and it is this magical light - as well as the landscape that has drawn and

inspired artists for decades. 

Most famously, the painter Patrick Heron lived in the village of Zennor that

overlooks St. Ives. Barbara Hepworth and her husband Ben Nicholson settled in St. Ives - and today Hepworth’s working studio - complete with her tools and materials is beautifully preserved. The studio’s luscious garden is full of her extraordinary sculptures and has wonderful views out to the bay and has
an intoxicating and inspiring atmosphere. 
Modernist painter Ben Nicholson was inspired by the naïve painter Alfred
Wallis in the 1920’s - Wallis was a fisherman who became an artist aged 70 !
His home in St.Ives is marked with a plaque today. 
Later, in the 1950’s a group of younger artists including Patrick Heron, Peter
Lanyon, Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, Sir Terry Frost and others were drawn to
St. Ives and collectively became known as the “St.Ives School” and are all
featured in special displays at the St.Ives Tate that we’ll be visiting. 
Our stay in St. Ives will coincide with the “St.Ives September Festival” that
will include many arts and music events. We will use the occasion to organise
access to the famous Porthmeor Studios where artists such as Patrick Heron,
Francis Bacon, Ben Nicholson & Wilhelmina Barns-Graham worked. 
Led by Art in the Village founder Cleo Harrington M.A. (RCA) and artist / film
maker Mark James M.A. (RCA)  this promises to be an exciting, fun and
productive week. 

What are we offering for £1770?
And why should you book with our Arts company, when others do
shorter courses for less money ?
Well, we believe shorter painting courses can be a tad frustrating, because just as you're beginning  to get immersed in creating, then you have to stop!
In our experience ,we feel it is best to give a longer time to really immerse yourself in the creative holiday. Really get the chance to achieve something.
And because our tutors have many years of Art education & teaching experience
between them you will get a very diverse range of feedback - which should be essential and supportive.  
And lastly, because the structure of our holiday will be based around exploring the work of 5 x Cornish artists - mainly all famous for working in St ives or other close locations in Cornwall, we will be introduced to their styles, motivations, ways of working and immerse ourselves in their creativity too.
We will create our own work which will be inspired by theirs.
This does not mean copying, but rather using these famous works as a platform for developing our own ideas.
For example:
On each of the 6 days, we will briefly explore these artists:
Peter Lanyon
Patrick Heron
Alfred Wallace
Barbara Hepworth
Margaret Mellis
For example, Naive artist Alfred Wallis was an untrained painter who lived in a tiny cottage in St Ives. We will visit where he lived, learn about the sites he painted and then locate ourselves En Plein air at one of the exact spots he painted from.
We will explore his particular style and see how we can build on it to expand and strength our own style.
What else makes our holidays special?

We have booked 2 x Festival Event afternoon workshops for you with local,
accomplished local St Ives artists. They will show you their creative techniques in variety of Media
Past workshops at the festival have included: 
 Printing / Poetry / Bernard Leach guided tour and Pinchot session/ Drawing etc. 

What else?
A boat trip to Seal Island or choose a Mackerel fishing trip instead
What else?
A trip to the magical St Michael's Mount where we can paint and explore
What else?
A trip to Patrick Heron's wonderful, rugged location of his house in Zennor
What else?
6 days of not only painting & drawing but we also offer mixed media too!
What will we do each day?
We have devised a full week of activities, but you can also dip in and out whenever you please. We have timed our trip to coincide with the wonderful St Ives Festival and so there is plenty of you to do in the evenings or even on days you fancy skipping classes and being at an event.

​Anything else?
We even have a Mystery Art Sketch Trail which takes you all through the town to locate the answers to Art clues and prize is a  Goody bag of Tate Gallery gifts (worth £50).
There is so much to do in St Ives!
​Especially during the September Festival!

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