Walk to St. Helen's Oratory

". . . the most superb coastal scenery in the Kingdom is that which is presented by granite wall and metamorphic rocks of West Penwith, from Clodgy Point in the north round to Carn Du in the south." 

p. 41, Unknown Cornwall

There's a great walk from Brisons Veor to the top of the Cape and then down and around a build field where you can explore St. Helen's Oratory.

Here's the trial from Brisons Veor up to the chimney.

As you walk up the will you get to the coast guard station. The coast guard parks their car by my cottage every morning.

The chimney is a beautiful marker on the top of Cape Cornwall

I'm up there with Sarah and Michael.

Tim joins us for this selfie.

Sarah and I.

She's showing me something.

Views north.

Looking at the Brisons

Looking at Priest's Cove.

Someone had left these yellow roses in remembrance of the departed. Yellow is definitely the color of Penwith.  Yellow flowers were also in Owen's Doyle's stainedglass windows.

"The remains of St. Helen's Oratory, which date back as far as Roman times according to one observer, is a tiny early Christian chapel located in a field at Cape Cornwall.

An ancient cross with a chi-rho monogram was discovered on the site in the mid-19th Century, but was sadly lost. The current cross on the chapel is one that was found nearby." 

www.saintsandstones.net

If it wasn't colder than all get out I would have done some sketches.  But I was too cold to work outdoors. 

This is the most beautiful of all the photos.

 

When we went inside it was quite small.

This headstone has the name Payne which is a name in my family.

Cape Cornwall Sea

"Even on the calmest day in West Penwith, there is a murmuring, seething line at the edge of the rocks; inland, a long unbroken sound of ocean thunder.  The noise of London, heard from Hampstead Heath on a still evening is like the noise of the Cornish sea, heard on a breathless day among the hills." 

p.42, Unknown Cornwall

There's a lot to contemplate when you look to the sea from Cape Cornwall aka  Kilgoodh (Cornish for goose back).

This is the Longships Lighthouse.  It looks like a dragon from Brisons Veor.

Here is a painting by Turner of Longships Lighthouse

Here's a vintage postcard.

These two offshore islands/rocks are called The Brisons.  Michael said they look like a giant laying on his back with his stomach and nose in the air.

"Not far from the Cape, about three-quarters of a mile from the mainland, rise the terrible rocks of the Brisons; rocks of a menacing aspect, even in the fairest and sunniest weather; rocks of sinister repute, with a black record of shipwreck and death." 

p. 19. Unknown Cornwall

The sea here is very active and sometimes angry,

 

Christmas in Falmouth, Cornwall

“In the South remains a burning fire, in the East a void, in the West a world of raging waters.” William Blake 

 I spent Christmas in Falmouth with my beloved friend Sarah and her family.

"At Falmouth,  as I have said, we are in a different atmosphere.  Here you have all the calm and comfort and retirement of a haven." 

Unknown Cornwall, p. 83

Falmouth Palette

We stayed at a wonderful pub inn called Jacob's Ladder

It's a lovely old town with a lot of texture and soft pastel color.

Sometimes a bit of red shows up.

Being half Jewish I was taken a back by the name "Market Jew Street" in Penzance which I later learned was a bastardization of old Cornish Marghas Yow and was really Thursday Market and had nothing to do with Jews.  Yow is derived from Jove like Jovedi in French. While doing that research I learned a bit about the history of Jews in Cornwall.  At the very beginning of my Christmas morning walk through Falmouth I came across this old synagogue.  I will have to do some research on why it closed in 1880.

This is the front door to the same building.

The light is so different than California.  It's almost as if there is no light.  The color blue is gone.

The textures are fascinating.

I hope one day to spend more time in Falmouth.  I'd love to sketch in the Maritime Museum and visit some of the many galleries.  But I had to get back to Brisons Veor and my artist's residency.

Brisons Veor - Bench Ends - St. Winnow Parish Church

 "St Winnow Parish Church is a 15th Century, Grade 1 listed building set in an area of outstanding natural beauty. The church stands on the same flat piece of land where probably the oratory of St Winnoc was erected at the end of the 7th Century. Of that building, made of cob (mud and straw) and thatched, nothing remains."

Here is some work inspired by the bench ends at St. Winnow Parish Church.

The picture below shows my process of figuring out the shape, designing it, transferring it to the block, and carving it.

Here are how my experiments turned out with this design.

These next 2 are my favorites so far.

These seem to have potential with some redesigning.