ALMOST AN ISLAND exhibition

Celebrating Cornwall's rich flora, fauna and heritage with inspired landscapes, still life and seascapes oil originals by Ian Rawnsley.

Save the Date:

Thursday 17th until Sunday 27th September.

10:30am until 4:30pm daily. 

Meet the Artist and enjoy a glass of bubbly with us on Thursday 17th September 2026, between 2pm until 6pm.

Illustration 1: The artist at Cape Cornwall

Cornwall has long been described as 'almost an island'. The Elizabethan writer and antiquary Richard Carew described it eloquently that Cornwall was 'so besieged by the ocean it forms a demi island within an island'.

I used this premise as a starting point to produce a body of work that centred on the use of found materials both flora and mineral in origin to produce a colour chart of pigments. At the centre of this approach I have created a colour chart using mineral and flora based pigments and inks produced back in the studio. The original idea of charting and defining naturally based colours was introduced by the 18th century German geologist Abraham Werner and I wanted to use his original model to produce some of the representative colours from the Cornish landscape.

These natural colours derived and extracted from the very ground of Cornwall, whether the
minerals that brought the early prosperity to the region during the mining of copper and tin, to the flora that floods the seasons with colour across the county throughout the year. A variety of techniques were used to extract colours from the natural material from gentle steeping or boiling leaves and flowers to crushing mineral materials and adding to binding materials. All materials have been sterilised and preserved with clove oil or honey which prevents the development of mould in the pigment.

Materials were sourced by the artist across visits, flora collected by the gallery's owner Liz from Cornwall's North coast, and with the help of the Camborne school of Mines, samples were collected during field excursions.

In keeping with my work for the Padstow Gallery we wanted to involve a Cornish charity and raise much needed funds via the raffling of the original chart and a percentage of gallery sales throughout the Almost an Island exhibition. The colour chart features 20 handmade pigments presenting a spectrum of Cornwall's nature presented on high quality paper. Our chosen charity for this show is the The Merlin - Cornwall's Neuro Therapy Centre which offers a variety of services and therapies for individuals with long term neurological conditions.

To compliment this colour chart; I have produced approximately forty plus additional pieces in a variety of media for the show this coming September. Many of the pieces in a variety of media include materials which were sourced from the Cornish environment. The work will reflect the diversity of environments of the county from the white sands of its dazzling coasts, sweeping moorland to a number of botanical themed works based on the sourced flora used in the original natural pigments.

The exhibition features many abundant and familiar colours from the butter yellow flowered gorse to the delicate pink blooms of the red valerian, known locally as Padstow Pride. Oak derived inks and local clays have been used extensively across a number of pieces to add to the sense of place, which is for many the key to inhabitants and visitors alike that is 'Almost an island, Cornwall'.