We’re excited to be having a summer exhibition in Bayspace on Tregenna Hill, overlooking the bay throughout June, July, and August.
This exhibition showcases the work of a group of artists whose creations have all been inspired by St Ives Community Orchard.
The exhibition features a wide variety of creative work, alongside information about the Orchard project for anyone who would like to find out more about what we do.
We are in the Great Room which forms part of the cafe & bar area and will be open Monday – Friday 9 – 4pm. With beautiful views across the bay, terrace seating, and the café open, we hope people will pop in for a browse, a cuppa, and enjoy the exhibition over the summer months.
Thank you to Bayspace for providing us with this wonderful opportunity.
Artists Exhibiting
- Frances Briggs
- Ingrid Brown – www.instagram.com/ingridbrown_art
- Jazmin Taylor – www.instagram.com/jazzyellacrafts
- Jo Riley – www.instagram.com.growingandthrowing
- Liese Holles
- Louise Vallis – www.instagram.com/@seaskyultramarine
- Marion Heasman
- Sue Hopper
- Marianna Kyriakou – www.instagram.com/pinkpainteress
- Marie Bark
- Mary Fletcher – AxisWeb profile
- Mattie Pochee
- Paul Richards
- Pene Reynoldson
- Ria Poole – www.riapoole.com
- Sarah Linsey
- Sarah Taylor
- Susi Gutierrez – www.susigutierrez.com
- Suzanne Stobbs – www.instagram.com/suzannestobbs_art
- Trace Wildinger
More info on some of the artists:
Frances Anne Mpho BriggsI signed up to volunteer at the Orchards in June 2023, having first come across this abundant, magical haven for an ecstatic dance ‘silent disco’ evening, where we made various shapes amongst the plants and strangers. I’d moved to Cornwall in 2021, post-lockdown and it was taking a while to find a place where I felt a sense of belonging and community – so it felt like a good hearty broth for the soul meeting the folk at the core of the Orchards, a part of the landscape that welcomes us all, it feels the trees and the plants as much as the people are welcoming, calling us to be merry and mingle. The Orchards and its creative, kind, folk have felt grounding, a place of hope resisting a broken system, by nurturing land, hearts and souls. I truly appreciate the hardworking people at the heart of the Orchards, the community is so lucky to have you and I am happy to be a part of it. I’ve enjoyed volunteering, joining in creative events and workshops, taking part in the Corechestra (a weekly musical gathering), have invited my friend //Kabbo-Hue to facilitate a South African indigenous story-telling workshop and recently ran wellbeing sessions for young people through my work in mental health. I have even warbled along at a few open mics, the Orchards truly feels like a space where I’ve learned to trust and believe in myself and others and feel safe enough to dabble, learn and grow. It has been central to my own wellbeing in Cornwall.I decided to share this painting ‘The Elder’ inspired by the central elderflower tree in the Orchards – the one that we eat under- handmade pizza baked in the handmade pizza oven, laugh and drink cider and apple juice under, I feel ‘The Elder’ is watching over us all, having a laugh and exuding love and hope.
Ingrid BrownA Cornwall-based artist whose work is deeply influenced by landscape, atmosphere, memory and a sense of connection to place. Working primarily from direct observation and personal experience, her paintings explore quiet moments within the natural environment, often inspired by the changing light, coastline and gardens of West Cornwall. Her process is intuitive and layered, balancing structure with spontaneity, allowing each piece to evolve gradually through colour, texture and mark-making. Through her work, she aims to capture not only a location, but also the feeling and emotional presence held within it. This exhibition particularly resonates with her ongoing interest in nature, community and the relationship between people and the landscapes they inhabit.
embroidery threads, wool and wooden beads. I take these little people out on walks around places in Cornwall, like woodlands, beaches and National Trust gardens, and I take photos of them on their adventures, creating stories about them. I have always loved miniature things. I have had a dollhouse from a young age and I have always loved books and films about little people/fairies, and I decided that I wanted to create my own little people to have stories and adventures. St Ives Community Orchard is a wonderful place that I have been going to for years. I have volunteered at the workparties there with my mum and sisters since I was seven years old. I love walking around the beautiful landscape, and bringing my little people with me throughout all the seasons and capturing photographs of them on adventures; with the
bluebells, in the trees with the blossom and bees, or with the apples, or even climbing bare branches covered in snow!
Jo Riley.
Ceramics. I make ceramics using St. Agnes stoneware clay that are inspired by the natural landscape around me living here in Carbis Bay, close to St. Ives.
Being connected to the orchard inspires my art through its greeness! We are surrounded by the sea and alot of blue here, but I love the greens emanating from the trees, bushes and herbs.
This affects my glaze choice and gives me a sense of balance amongst the watery landscapes.
www.instagram.com.growingandthrowing
Liese Holles
I’m an artist, poet and film maker resident in St Ives since 2025. Before this I was living at community in Illogan, Cornwall for two years. I studied painting at North Staffs University, Stoke and did an M.A. in Fine Art & Critical Theory at Brighton University. Nowadays, after a long period in Berlin, Germany, I prefer to live near to nature and the ocean, spending much of my time gardening and food growing /cultivation at the orchard projects around the town, as well as writing poetry.
Having grown up in North Essex with an orchard on our land, I feel lucky to have contact with the incredible abundance, beauty and biodiversity of our orchard here, as well as the extensive nature reserve above it. I love the feeling of openness, inclusion and encouragement that it gives to the community – an opportunity for natural exchange that provides a welcome alternative to the harshness of consumer society. It is also important that local and heirloom English apple and other fruit varieties (like we used to enjoy in Essex), don’t disappear, and St Ives Orchard champions these varieties. I have been fascinated with blackthorn and its folklore for quite a while, and so this area of the orchard is particularly special and magical to me-with the added “temperate rainforest” presence of lichen and moss on the trees.
It is my hope that these areas will be cherished and preserved for future generations of St Ives, and that the orchard as it now is, will continue to flourish.
*****************
Louise VallisI live in St Ives and enjoy painting and printmaking in the beautiful landscape of Cornwall. I am a member of the Porthmeor Print Workshop, a historic studio above the Penwith Gallery, and of the School of Painting. I also exhibit at the St Ives Arts Club.
I enjoy being a volunteer at the Orchard and supporting the great Community events organised here. We are very fortunate to have the Orchard which is open to all, made possible only by the hard work of all the volunteers, and fundraising events like this lovely Art Exhibition. www.instagram.com/@seaskyultramarine
Marianna Kyriakou
Marion HeasmanMy husband and I have been in St Ives since 2020 and after the end of lockdown we’ve been thrilled to become part of the orchard community. The orchard is a mixture of serene, calm and joyful community exuberance. Needless to say it is a fantastic, inspiring place to be in. Personally textiles are my thing and I’ve enjoyed depicting some fruit on twigs taken from the orchard and given a little colourful makeover. The fruit is a mixture of needle felting, patchwork and hand embroidery. All of these techniques provide a gentle, mindful moment.
*****************
Mary FletcherMy connection to the Orchard is first of all going along to celebrations of the ancient Celtic festivals, enjoying dressing up with flower decorated hats, socialising and enjoying the music in a lovely setting. Then I was invited along to the Thursday Corechestra, held at the beautiful octagonal Core building, where we enjoy playing all sorts of music with whoever turns up, as well as contributing to the celebratory events that punctuate the year. It’s friendly, laid back and luckily I live just down the road. I hope to use the repair cafe also and as one of the community gardens is near my house I can occasionally enjoy some vegetables from that. This year and last I have been along with fellow artists to draw and paint in the orchard from direct observation which is fascinating and made more enjoyable by the sweet birdsong there. I have been an artist all my life and have an MA in contemporary art from Falmouth.
My work is on AxisWeb profile with videos on Vimeo and YouTube. I show regularly and often with Taking Space, a collective to encourage women artists which I started over 30 years ago. My work is personal and political, a flaneur expressing my reactions as I live my life.
Paul RichardsI like sketching landscapes and also draw/write a comic strip about a bear living in a Midlands nature reserve that appears at irregular intervals at //large-mammal-problem.ghost.io/. I have been volunteering at the Orchard since 2017. The ink I used for these drawings was made from oak galls harvested from the oak saplings I’ve helped plant in the nature reserve.
*****************
Pene Reynoldson
I am an Occupational Therapist by trade and an Orchard Volunteer. I have facilitated groups at the Orchard including a therapeutic nature based programme ‘Core Connect’ and a sewing group using waste fabric ‘Bag Factory’. I am so enriched by being part of this Orchard Community and wanted to show gratitude by facilitating a craft group to make things for this exhibition. I am so grateful to the contributors. Wow.
We have had a lovely time upcycling fabric, hand stitching whilst listening to birdsong and each other. The Core is such a lovely space. Please keep an eye out for more groups and also pop up stitching sessions here whilst the exhibition is on.
ary painter living and working in West Cornwall. Her work is intimately situated in the Cornish landscape, where she paints en plein air in all weathers, sometimes in hard-to-reach locations to enable her to capture the most interesting perspectives. The expressive abstraction of her studio work is playfully unbound, embracing a range of techniques and media, celebrating colour and painterliness. She is represented by the New Craftsman Gallery in St Ives and is a member of St Ives Society of Artists. Her paintings have been shortlisted for various art prizes, including Creates Emerging Artist Award 2020, Black Swan Open Art Prize 2019, and Artists and Illustrators Artists of the Year Award 2018.“St Ives Orchard means a lot to me as it is the welcoming and reliable core of the community, a nurtured and nurturing landscape with much biodiversity, and joyful events throughout the year to bring everyone together. “
www.riapoole.com
*****************
Sarah LindseyI have been volunteering at the orchard over the past 3 years on and off until we were finally lucky enough to move down to St Ives full time in April of this year. I feel so welcomed whenever I go and there are always jobs to suit how I’m feeling on the day. It certainly befits the name ‘Community’ orchard and nature reserve as they constantly endeavour to draw together as many people as possible to enjoy the beauty and nature that is on their doorstep.
Creatively for this exhibition I have submitted 2 mosaics and a couple of lino prints. I would not call myself an artist but I love to dabble when I’m inspired by my surroundings and the orchard certainly fulfils that need in me. I hope you find something you like within the exhibition and hope it might encourage you to take a wander up to explore the orchard and nature reserve for yourself.
Susi Gutiérrez
Susi was born in Lima, Peru, where she studied Archaeology and worked in textile conservation. After moving to the UK, she studied Fine Art and completed an MA in Printmaking at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge.
Reflecting on her practice, she says:
“My work is constructed through an unpredictable process called chance. Feelings and emotions are essential, and anything can happen; even what is planned may change. My paintings and prints often reflect the stories I build while walking, the small details of our surroundings, and the connections—or lack of them—that I make with people along the way.”
For this exhibition at Bayspace, what has struck me most is the kindness of the people who generously offer their time to the Community Orchard. Through work parties they dig, cook, prune, and gather the fruits of each season. In rain or sunshine, they come together to celebrate the simple joy of being surrounded by nature. Although I sometimes feel like an outsider, I join them to experience the warmth and welcome that emerges from these shared moments—something that feels increasingly rare today. My contribution to this exhibition is rooted in my morning walks around the orchard. As I collected leaves and small treasures, I allowed myself to imagine a kinder, more hopeful world. www.susigutierrez.com
****************
Suzanne Stobbs
I work in different media – oils, acrylics, mosaics and textiles. I am self taught and first picked up a paintbrush in my late 40s having taught the piano for many years. I am a member of The St Ives Arts Club and regularly exhibit there.
I spent a wonderful afternoon doing some watercolour sketches of the Orchard. I then did some felt paintings based on these sketches.
www.instagram.com/suzannestobbs_art
*****************
Trace E Wildinger