St Ives is renowned for the number of galleries and resident artists in town, particularly non-figurative (or "modern") art.

The best know is probably the Tate St Ives, which is worth a visit for its architecture and spectacular location on Porthmeor Beach alone. Exhibitions vary throughout the year and they also stage talks and other events including live music.

The Barbara Hepworth Sculpture Garden is also a worth seeing, a haven of peace, particularly on busy days in the town. It has many examples of her work and her studio has been left exactly as it was on the day she died.

St Ives School of Painting, in the historic Porthmeor Studios complex offers a range of classes and courses in various media. These last anything from half a day to a week. You need to book for the longer courses, but most of their short classes are on a "walk in" basis.

There are a host of smaller galleries featuring everything from traditional maritime art through toleading edge modern art. A selection of these are listed below.

Jo's work includes weaving, felt making, beading, knitting, fabric dyeing, silk velvet, rag rugging, paper making and space dyed threads.

She runs workshops for both adults and children, in libraries, schools and community centres around Cornwall. She also runs classes for small groups and offers individual tuition in textile techniques.

She is a great teacher and says - "My aim, in my workshops is to inspire people to explore their creativity and create textile art of their own."

She undertakes commissions and supplies work to galleries and shops.

Her website contains details of her textile art workshops and her work.

Jo McIntosh - Fairy Palace

This video shows Jo at work in her studio in Bedford Road St Ives during St Ives September Festival Open Studios.

It shows her weaving scarves on her tabletop hand loom and the techniques that she uses to create unique textile art.

Some of her other work is included including handmade felt hats and knitted pieces.

Filmed, edited and beautifully produced by Anna Chen during the 2007 Festival.

Using acrylics with a limited but vibrant palette, Caroline’s paintings examine and present the subjects that inspire and challenge her - the translucent quality of a cresting wave, the excitement and anticipation of walking to a secret beach reached only by finding a path through a maze of dunes.

For the past 11 years she has had her own studio near St Ives and is one of the most well known and successful artists in the area. Her work is also exhibited for sale at St Eia Gallery in the Harbour Galleries on St Ives seafront.

Her website showcases a selection of her work including seascapes, landscapes and abstracts inspired by the cosatline of West Cornwall. She also undertakes commissions.

Caroline Atkinson - Branch Lines

Although he paints a wide variety of subjects, the Penwith landscape and rocky coastline have provided Colin's main source of inspiration

His abstract work also still has a strong sense of place.

His work has been exhibited at many galleries around Cornwall and nationwide.

You can visit his gallery on the harbour in St Ives, inside the Harbour Galleries. He has a range of originals and prints fr sale.

Visit his website to see a range of Colin's work including both landcsapes and abstracts. He has originals for sale and a range of limited edition prints that you can buy online

Colin Birchall - Untitled

Painter of beautiful botanical studies, cottage doors and wildlife portraits. She works at Harbour Galleries on The Wharf in St Ives.

As well as originals she has a range of signed limited edition prints for sale and will undertake commissions.

Hilary has an affinity for nature and loves to paint finely observed studies from a refreshing creative perspective. Her recent works have been compared to Georgia O'Keeffe.

Her unique style and approach give her the broad appeal from those wanting to collect original artworks as well as print collectors looking for something different from the norm.

Hilary Mayes - Peregrine Falcon

A tutorial that shows a simple but effective way of creating realistic looking water drops in a painting.

Hilary takes you step by step through the process - starting with a background colour, then drawing the basic shape and adding light and shadow.

The final step is adding small specks of light to give the image more depth - then its done !

This video has received more than 80,000 hits on YouTube and is well worth watching - a short but useful art lesson from a professional St Ives artist.

Malcolm lives at Lelant overlooking the Hayle Estuary so is constantly aware of the changing tides and the superb quality of light in West Cornwall. He works in his studio in St Ives on the harbour, where you can watch him work and view his current exhibition.

His work includes scenes of St Ives, contemporary pictures, stylised portraits and caricatures.

You can visit Malcolm at his gallery or buy from his website which displays a range of prints, box canvases and greetings cards.

Malcolm Bowmer - Summer Harbour

Donald is a specialist maritime artist, his work includes depictions of historic naval battles such as Trafalgar and historic ships.

He also paints atmospheric impressions of Cornish harbour scenes.

He is based at St Ives Gallery on the harbour and his gallery has original oil paintings as well as limited edition prints for sale. He also undertakes commissions.

His website displays a portfolio of his work.

Donald MacLeod - Victory at Trafalgar

The town's own world class gallery located in an amazing setting on Porthmeor Beach.

Exhibitions change through the year with a mixture of St Ives artists and works from the Tate collection. They also run a programme of talks, classes, music and other events.

Whether you enjoy the art is a matter of taste and depends on the current exhibition. In any case it is worth visiting just for the stunning architecture and setting.

You can enter the shop, cafe and roof terrace for free if you want to just enjoy the architecture and stunning views over Porthmeor Beach.

Tate St Ives

Hepworth, who died in 1975, asked in her will that Trewyn Studios and the adjacent garden, with a group of her sculptures placed as she wished, be permanently open to the public.

Visiting the Museum and Garden is a unique experience, which gives remarkable insight into the work and outlook of one of Britain's most important twentieth-century artists.

The sculptures are quite stunning and represent a cross section of Hepworth's work. You can see how it evolved from her early days through to her time in St Ives.

The garden is also a little haven of peace and quiet, a nice place to just sit and chill out or meditate.

Barbara Hepworth

Art Space - artists collective with gallery on the harbour.

Belgrave Gallery - modern British contemporary art.

Millennium - cutting edge modern art.

Ralph Freeman - St Ives abstract artist.

Seb West Gallery - impressions of St Ives and Cornwall.

Waterside Gallery - figurative fine art.

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St Ives Arts Club