Lisa's M.A Research Blog: Assignment 6 (part) - Visit to Mid- Cornwall Galleries

I thought I'd start my gallery tour, with the one closest to me, Which turned out to be a generally nice place to visit. It doesn't look like much from the outside, set in a old school house, just off a busy (as busy Cornwall can be in winter) road in St Blazey Gate, (near St Austell). It had plenty of parking, and two cars in the car park when I arrived, One belonging to the only member of staff, and the other; some gentleman who had popped in to buy a calendar to brighten up his home office.

The woman working there was polite, slightly chatty, and I had called earlier and spoken to her about taking a few photographs, and she was okay with this. (picking up on the European way of thinking maybe, photos allowed but no flash?) I wondered around first of all, looking at all the lovely things they had. and then did a second route around and photographed either things I liked, or things that stood out, and the things I didn't think fitted in. The woman explained to me that some of the work was very local, which I saw by the paintings of places such as St Ives, but she assured me that they had work from Europe and America.

What was interesting to me to note, was that there was nothing purely on display, everything was purchasable, and for sale, with its little card dictating how much its apparent worth is. Some things were priced from £1.50 each for adorable earthenware buttons, by Mary Goldburg. Then I noticed that some pieces were a little over expensive for what they actually were, such as Rosa Sepple's works, 'Dancing Partners' Mixed Media on Paper, for £2750. Which was, in my opinion, some creepy badly drawn people, in situations that made the viewer feel slightly uncomfortable, with a whole lot of glitter. I don't know what it is about using glitter in something that's meant to be fine art, it just reminds me of my own GCSE art piece that I pretty much gave up on painting, and thought, sod it, glitter will fool people into thinking that's its lovely. (in fact that GCSE art piece sold pretty well, probably for the sheer fact that people like glitter) I just feel that Rosa Sepple's work is imaginative, but its lacking taste. It seems like she is trying to be provocative, but her figures are ugly and verging on the grotesque.

Mary Goldburg - Earthenware Buttons (£1.50 each)

Rosa Sepple - 'Dancing Partners' (£2750)

Rosa Sepple - 'Tonight You Belong To Me' (£1400)

Onto something positive now, I found some very lovely small pieces in this gallery, such as Catherine Hoskin's pieces with little birds. One piece 'And So I Saw Perfection' (mixed media on board) for a modest £35 each, is just sheer loveliness, It isn't over fussy, and is something that I would aspire to create. She has show her creativity and expressed a good sense of taste and judgement. These images wouldn't look out of place as greetings cards, but as little framed pieces of inspiration they are adorable. Each piece has its own little phrase like ' Shall I compare thee to a summers day?'. Its inter-textuality appeals to me, in its little postmodern decorate way.

Catherine Hoskin -(front) 'And So I Saw Perfection' (£35) (behind) 'The Life of Birds' (£35)

Catherine Hoskin - 'Get Birds to the table in the garden' (£35)

Catherine Hoskin - Ye Little Birds (£35)

This little gallery is well worth a visit, if you are passing, or looking for something to do. It might be nice place to stop at if you're visiting the Eden Project, as its fairly close. But don't get caught out by its opening times, 11am-4pm in January. 10am - 5pm all other months, I'll include a few of the photos I took, but I have been told its 'stock' changes every 6-8 weeks, so it's worth popping in every now and again. It's a good place to go if you're looking for something affordable to decorate your home or office, or a gift, but it's not particularly risk taking. I did find a few too many sea-side themed pieces, some that were brilliant, and some that just felt like they just had nothing else to create.