Falmouth put on some great experiences for the students but as you might expect it was when we snuck into classes unexpected that we saw the best stuff. The university students seemed very happy to chat to students and show their work and the opportunity to see real classes ‘live’ was great. We arrived at cohort Hostel in St Ives (we were one of the first schools to use this now nationally recognised hostel and many schools now copy our programme of study which the hostel advertises) had pizza and hit the town for our traditional night walk.

On Saturday we paid a visit to the Kurt Jackson Foundation in St Just and this was a real treat. It’s a chance to see work that just doesn’t get well served through photography. Reproductions and online images do not do the work justice and many students enjoyed this gallery in particular. We stopped for lunch at the foot of St Michael’s mount which on Saturdays is fortified like the Nothern wall in Games of Thrones…the walk across the causeway is nice though. We spent a glorious sunny afternoon at Tremenheere sculpture park with its James Tyrell Skyroom and beautiful tropical gardens. After a trip to Bernard Leach’s studio we cooked a hearted veggie meal at the hostel and settled in to draw/paint/eat cookies.

On day three we examined the collection and exhibitions at the Tate St Ives and drew pictures in the Barbera Hepworth museum gardens. the afternoon was reserved for independent gallery visits or surfing. There were a few Portuguese man o war carcasses littering the beach that might have put doubt in our minds until a small seal pup beckoned us from the waves like a scene from ‘The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe’. So with Aslan on our side we caught beautiful green waves and rode majestically across the cresting surf like dolphins.

Another great Art trip to St Ives.