Lighthouses in Cornwall

The rocks of Cornwall have a fascinating story to tell that includes tropical seas, deserts, volcanic eruptions and ever changing climate and sea levels. I incorporate man-made structures in my landscapes to give a sense of scale, I think of them in the landscape like characters in a story. Such tiny man-made architectural features – a lighthouse like Pendeen, or a cottage or tin mine chimney for example in the grand scheme of things, and in the fullness of geologic time, remind us how small and recent mankind’s interception has been.

I remember my first glimpse of Godrevy lighthouse from St Ives, over the rooftops, looming out into the bay. I painted Godrevy lighthouse many times from the cliff edge of the mainland near Gwithian Sands, only three hundred metres from the shore. I looked out at the tiny isolated rock on which this white octagonal tower stands. My colour palette varied depending of the time of year from graphite grey to emerald green. I distorted the perspective to accentuate the abstract quality of the ‘stones’, the submerged reef which extends towards St Ives.

Jeremy Gardiner