How I learned to paint in St Ives, Cornwall A novice painter finds the artistic heritage of St Ives somewhat daunting initially, but expert tuition in a dream artists’ studio soon gets the creative juices flowing.
It may sound like a modest achievement, but before signing up for a weekend Discover Painting course at St Ives School of Painting I had not put a brush to canvas since my GCSEs almost 30 years ago.
Peter Lanyon, Ben Nicholson, Patrick Heron and Wilhelmina Barns-Graham are among scores of notable painters associated with the town, now home to both the Tate’s westernmost outpost and a museum and sculpture garden dedicated to Barbara Hepworth.
The School of Painting, set within the famed Porthmeor Studios, is a long-established part of that heritage – and all the painters mentioned above worked here at some point.
Aside from chronic over-tourism, which the small Cornish town suffers all summer, St Ives is best known for art.
