Monday, September 5

St Ives: the beautiful blues

Too many have waxed lyrical about the light in St Ives, but it's sort of understandable. There's an unearthly beauty about it. The light has a very ethereal quality which seems to affect blue shades in particular. I mean, if you happen to be by the seaside on a clear day then blue is already a magical colour, but in St Ives it's different. Blue is all kind of radiant and crazy and you can't stop looking at it.

Other than its beautiful blues, I was left feeling slightly disappointed by St Ives. It was a place I'd built too much excitement out of - I had it in my mind like it was some kind of halo of British beach towns. Sea, sand, beautiful blue light, full of art and artists - what's not to like? Well if you've read about my weekend trip to Weymouth in June, then you'll understand what I mean when I say St Ives is teetering on the edge of slipping the same way. There's one too many seedy shopfronts in a beach town that's meant to be upmarket and arty. Ok, there are some pretty lanes and cottages, and an amazing bakery round every corner, plus a few interesting little shops, but on the whole? Almost a bit...underwhelming. I can't quite believe I'm saying this about St Ives - maybe I set my standards too high!

And I shouldn't really complain about crowds because what did we expect, visiting in August, but neverthless. I still prefer the unknown, wilder beaches of Cornwall and Devon.

But back to the blue light, because it was so light and bright and nautical and, well, blue.
Here are my blue shots:











When I was taking the penultimate picture, a guy behind me peered at my camera screen, introduced himself as a local artist and complimented me on my 'arty' shot!

Who's been to St Ives, and liked it? Am I being too fussy?

7 comments:

  1. There must be something about blue and sea-sides, 'cause I just posted about "blue Croatia". I only spent an afternoon in St Ives once, there weren't many crowds, so can't comment too much. But your photos are great - sells it well anyway.
    Michelle

    ReplyDelete
  2. So beautiful! I'm super jealous of those views!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Such gorgey photos. I love Cornwall so much.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I can't believe I've never been..clearly im missing out because these photos look so so gorgeous and blue <3 xx

    ReplyDelete
  5. so stunning. super glad i found your blog. i'm following. I'd love if you'd check out my celebrity fashion and style blog and see if your interested in following too. Thanks love. xoxo

    www.fashboulevard.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. I went to St Ives when I was younger and so I don't think I was able to appreciate it all that much but I do remember there being a lot of crowds and it being a bit too touristy for my liking. Having said that though your photos make it look gorgeous so I definitely want to return and see if it is all it's cracked up to be (: x

    ReplyDelete
  7. Found your blog via your twitter comment, don't know how I hadn't found you before. I loved Cornwall, but I agree with you in St Ives being a little underwhelming. The Tate there didn't impress me much, and it was very busy. Was very pretty though! Love these photos.

    ReplyDelete