“Sennen Cove” A Cornish gem
I’m writing today to share a little of our Cornish experience this year. We chose Sennen, primarily for surfing (for the family), and I had my fingers crossed for a good sunset.
Sennen is a village just above Lands End and Sennen Cove is a sweeping bay (Whitesands Bay) looking out to the Atlantic Ocean. We stayed in a beautiful house called “The Loft” and this is the view from the window. Photos don’t really do it justice, the views are spectacular and I feel very fortunate to say that the weather we had was truly amazing. The colour of the sea! Dawn French (at our son’s graduation during the week) said, in her speech as Falmouth University’s Chancellor, Cornwall’s gift to you when you leave is Turquoise!
And my wish came true. We had night after night of spectacular sunsets. The feeling of size and awe is really hard to put into words as, at the tip of Cornwall, the landscape feels large, exposed and the sky seems huge. It must be equally as stunning in stormy weather. We made it home after graduation to the sunset below – dropped everything, picked up surfboards/cameras and headed quickly head down to the beach. What an experience, simply stunning.
So it only seems right that I try and capture the images in my head onto paper. So, where to begin! I’m starting with watercolour but I would love to paint a large acrylic on canvas too.
Here is my first wash and I’ll share progress on the painting. The beauty of watercolour is that lovely colour blending and softness which is ideal for the sky. The weather is very hot here whilst I’m painting so the washes are drying super quick. I’m looking forward to carrying on today…I’ll update this blog later.
Update: we were spoilt for choice during the week as The Loft is literally on the coast path so you can walk left towards Lands End (10-15mins) or right towards the North Coast. I guess you really do need to get the obligatory Land’s End photo with the “John O’Groats” sign post and, along the way, there is a little shipwrecked boat hidden in one of the inlets. The sunsets again came up trumps with many more photo opportunities!
I have finished my painting and am really keen to explore the subject further. The use of tone in sunset pieces is really important and the scenes are imprinted in my mind. I’ll be picking up my brushes again soon…most probably acrylic on canvas next…. And we are already booked up to return again next year. Absolutely can’t wait! 🙂
