St Ives artist Emma Jeffryes is returning to the New Craftsman Gallery with a new collection of work entitled By The Sea. The show combines key influences from recent years into one comprehensive and definitive collection for 2024.
Falmouth Sailing Waters, by Emma Jeffryes
As always, St Ives and the surrounding ocean figure strongly in this exhibition, beginning with Emma’s first artwork of this year, January Sea, painted en plein air on Porthmeor Beach on a bitterly cold day, as well as Tea, Tate, Town, inspired by the view from the Tate St Ives café, which is on the cover of this issue of St Ives Local.
Emma’s studies of the South West Coast Path, which she has been walking in sections over the past few years, also form part of this collection, taking in Hawkes Point and other spectacular views of the Cornish coast.
Last August, Emma spent a week in Falmouth in order to paint the Tall Ships Regatta. Sadly, this world famous event was cancelled at the last minute, due to the arrival of Storm Betty, and so the works Emma made there, from a little terrace just above the sea, depict the lives of Falmouth’s sea-going folk, from swimmers and paddle boarders, to fishing boats, sailing yachts, and huge military ships, along with Tall Ships anchored patiently in the harbour during unusually stormy conditions. All these works continue Emma’s lifelong study of our powerful connection with the sea, and how this, in turn, has affected the nature of Cornwall’s coastline.
The exhibition also includes a series of Emma’s still life works, from vases of flowers to everyday objects around her studio, which demonstrate her talent for bright complimentary colour and lively compositions.
By The Sea is at the New Craftsman Gallery, in Fore Street, St Ives, from 30th March to 26th April.
