21 - 28 Feb | Artist in Residence | Create Gallery

Between the 21st and 28th of February, I will be in residence in the Lanai at Bedruthan Steps Hotel. Please keep reading for a little inspiration…

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CREATE GALLERY | BEDRUTHAN STEPS HOTEL | THE SCARLET

Commemorating a summer spent living on the cliffs above Carnewas and Bedruthan Steps, her latest collection of paintings is a homage to this place - a love letter to the landscape and a way of re-focussing her connection to this ancient corner of Cornwall.

The series is inspired by daily walks in the liminal light of dawn and dusk, a calming ritual amidst the frantic pace of Cornwall in high summer.

Etherial forms resonate and the inky blackness of the caves contrasts with the pale hazy light of the morning. A tranquil hum descends on this place at dawn - the sea is still, the air is warm. Even the seagulls are quiet as they glide across the morning water - taking in the fresh air and swooping amidst the mighty stone stacks.

Dusk provides a different feeling. The sun dips beneath the horizon and an all encompassing amber glow turns the land golden and the sea deep dark indigo. The air cools and the sand looses its heat from the day. The tide turns and the day is over. An eerie, peaceful calm depends as the birds calm and the sea prepares to rest.

Through a series of representational sketches, VYJ has transformed her memories of the cliffs, caves and iconic stone stacks at Bedruthan to create a body of abstract works that evoke a sense of this extraordinary place.

The visual contrast of the landscape - vast cliffs, ever-changing rocks formations and the sweeping vista across Park Head towards Newquay - is captured in a series of energetic canvases, which pulsate with the heady heat of the summer and the deep-rooted warmth of the rocks.