Michael Lawes is based in Cornwall. His work is characterised by bright geometric shapes.
He became a member of STISA in 2023.
Richard Lawrence grew up in Cornwall and lives in Albaston, near Gunnislake. His atmospheric landscapes are created using oils with knives. Richard exhibits with Drawn to the Valley.
A painting designated as Thomas Lawrence (after) of Sir Humphry Davy Bt (1778-1829) is in the collection of Penzance Town Council. Another portrait by this artist himself, is of Robert Chuter and is housed by the Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro.
The story of D H Lawrence and Frieda von Richtofen at Zennor has been told in fiction, poetry and in interviews and historical papers. Their flight to Cornwall - with the objective of establishing an ideal community of writers and artists that he called 'Rananim' - was short-lived, but interesting to literary researchers for the bounty it brought, both in terms of his writing and his visitors. Katherine Mansfield and John Middleton Murray arrived at his invitation, but did not stay long. Winifred Ellerman (aka Bryher) also attended periodically.
His paintings as seen in New Mexico are brightly coloured with weird and wonderful shapes, ecstatic and erotic in turns, and worth a visit if you are travelling that way.
A painting by this artist, Half-Portrait of a Lady, is part of the Permanent Collection of the Newlyn Art Gallery. She was also a member of the NSA, and a known candidate for the Hanging Committee at NAG in 1955.
Born in Canada, Lawrenson-Reid was raised in England and first exhibited his paintings in Nottingham as a child. He was strongly influenced by the culture of the 1960s, which remains the essence of his creativity. He moved to Cornwall during the 1980s.
His work has been exhibited at the Birmingham Arts Centre, the Plymouth Guildhall, Newlyn Art Gallery and the Eclipse Gallery in Penzance. He is a regular exhibitor at STISA open shows.
Johanna Lay studied Textiles at Manchester Metropolitan University, gaining a degree in 1988. During the 1990s she returned to Cornwall, obtaining a teaching qualification from Exeter University, and subsequently a QTS from Bath Spa University.
After teaching art for a number of years, in 2017 she decided to focus on her own creative practice. She has completed the year long Defining Practice course at Newlyn School of Art and is currently on the Studio Practice course. In September 2023 she became the Artist in Residence at The Kehelland Trust, near Camborne.
An oil on canvas painting by this artist, entitled St Ives, depicting the town from the beach and harbour edge, is in the collection of the Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro.
In 2017 a correspondent (her granddaughter) provided the information that Gai Layor's real name was Stella DU MOULIN BROWNE.
Little is known of this painter, but he/she seems to have been active in Cornwall during the early 1900s. A correspondent has been in touch (2022) advising us of a watercolour in Newlyn School style by J Le Breton, purchased by his grandparents from a gallery in Penzance in 1912. Further paintings, entitled 'Newlyn Harbour' and 'Quiet Harbour' can be found on arcadja.com. There is also an image of a painting by this artist of St Michaels Mount, described as 'of the 19th century English school'.
We were contacted in 2024 by a correspondent who is in possession of a watercolour by this artist, purchased in 1970 in Bideford, entitled 'Fishing Fleet'.
A further correspondent (2025) has told us of a watercolour by this artist, which she purchased from a charity shop in Snettisham, Norfolk. This is signed and entitled 'Arched Rock, Falmouth Bay'.
Another watercolour has come to light, this time by a 2025 correspondent who owns 'Entrance to Falmouth Harbour'.
We would welcome further information on J Le Breton.
Jeremy LeGrice has been painting in West Cornwall for over fifty years. 100 Years in Newlyn, Diary of a Gallery (1995) reflects his deep involvement and love for the area. It includes photo likenesses, illustrations and a summary of the work of the Gallery from his perspective. He has exhibited widely, locally, nationally and internationally; in 1995 he was a residential painting fellow at Worpswede, Germany in the art colony there.
In 2006 he held a major retrospective exhibition of paintings created since early childhood at the Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro, Cornwall, which was accompanied by the book LeGrice at Seventy. In it he tells of his pupillage with George Peter LANYON at Carbis Bay in the 1950s, his time at the Slade School, his first marriage to fellow Slade student, Mary STORK, his friendship in Cornwall with his neighbouring artist Karl WESCHKE, the re-settling in Cornwall after years away in the Cotwolds with his second wife, designer Lyn LE GRICE, and his continued steady output of abstracted mood and movement based on the natural environments around him. He served for a number of years as the outspoken Chairman of the Trustees of the Newlyn Art Gallery, after serving also for many years on the Council of Management of NAG.
In August, 2012, he died at home of cancer, after some long months of decline. His funeral was held at the Parish Church of St Buryan in West Cornwall, and the wake followed at the Newlyn Art Gallery, to which his family as a whole have given so much over many years.
In her varied creative careers, the strand that follows through in Lyn's work is design and colour, delivered at all times to the viewer with enthusiasm and vitality.
Her initial work was with interior decoration (both in homes and commercial premises, often for celebrated people), and to this endeavour she developed the strong and innovative use of the stencil. Her books attest to the many decorative uses that her personally-cut designs could be put: to floors, walls, and furnishings. She formed her own interior design company, and even for a brief period ran an arts and crafts shop alongside her studio work.
Since the late 1990s she has turned her attention and energies to stage and costume design, mainly for opera companies, working on commission for large productions such as the Scottish Opera production of Cosi fan Tutte in 2000, and productions held at the Hall for Cornwall, Truro. Lyn is on the board of the Royal Cornwall Museum and RIC, and gives her time to raising funds for the support of the galleries there.
She is the wife of the artist Jeremy LE GRICE. They live and work from the Flowerloft Studios at Trereife, Newlyn.
Leach was born in Hong Kong, the son of English parents (his father in the Colonial service) and the grandson of Christian missionaries. His mother died soon after he was born, and he was sent for some years to live with his grandparents in Japan. He was returned to England at the age of ten for his schooling, and in 1903 entered the Slade where he flourished under the inspired draughtsmanship of Henry TONKS, and later the London School of Art (1906) where he was exposed to the extraordinary etching skills of Frank BRANGWYN. With a small etching press, a small annual income and some important introductions, Leach returned to Japan in 1909, at twenty-two years of age. It was in Japan that he discovered the wealth of art forms and philosophies that influenced the direction of the rest of his life.
Leach's British associations with Augustus Edwin JOHN, Tonks and Brangwyn stood him in good stead as he confidently began to write about etching, mentioning these famous English artists’ names, and introducing that art through demonstrations and lectures. The Japanese, in return, introduced him to pottery, and he began to study under Ogata Kenzan (VI amongst a family line of master potters). With fellow pupil Kenkichi TOMIMOTO, Leach was to inherit the title of Kenzan VII, and to set up his first pottery in Japan. In 1917, at the home of a friend Soetsu YANAGI, he was also to meet the young Shoji HAMADA, who was to remain a life-long friend. After eleven years in China and Japan, Leach returned to England with Shoji Hamada and established the St Ives Pottery in 1920 along Japanese lines.
This initiative became the ‘starting point of modern ceramics’ (British Studio Ceramics p22). The relative isolation of St Ives, and the brief length of the summer tourist season, affected the sales of his products, and at one point he was saved from bankruptcy by the Elmhirsts of Dartington. He began to exhibit in London and Japan, and also in Cornwall at the Newlyn Art Gallery from 1924, when crafts became a part of the exhibition programme there. He also exhibited twenty-seven pots with STISA when their 1925 show opened at the Cheltenham Art Gallery.
His etching, Self Scrutiny (1916), was displayed in the Faces of Cornwall (Portraiture) Exhibition at Penlee House, Penzance in 2005, the gift of a patron to Penlee House.
The older of the Leach brothers and sons of Bernard LEACH, David was born in Japan and died in Torquay in Devon. Sponsored by the Elmhirst family of Dartington, he was enrolled on the Pottery Manager's course at North Staffordshire Technical College. He then returned to St Ives and married Elizabeth Facey.
An artist potter working alongside his father from 1930-55, he was able to put the pottery in St Ives onto a more stable financial footing, producing a range of Standard Ware, and becoming a partner in the business. His three sons in time became students of their father, and in 1956 he moved to Devon and established the Lowerdown Pottery at Bovey Tracey.
Whilst studying ceramics at the Liverpool School of Art (1936-1939), Margaret Leach (no family relation to Bernard) spent two months of her summer holidays working at the St Ives Leach Pottery.
She returned as a member of the Pottery team in 1941, and spent three years learning all aspects of pottery production, and took over the Barn Pottery at Brockweir, Gloucestershire in 1946. She worked mainly in slipware, regarding it as her natural medium, and employed a range of colours from black, dark brown through to reds and bright yellows.
Son of Bernard, born in Japan, Michael took a degree in Natural Science at Cambridge. As a teenager he helped out in the Pottery, and after teaching for a few years after University he decided, in 1937, to take up pottery for a living and returned to join his brother David at the Leach Pottery in St Ives.
In 1940 Michael was enlisted and sent to East Africa to serve in the Pioneer Corps. He was released from military duty in 1942 to establish a commercial pottery in Uganda, where he met and married his wife Myra. In 1946 they returned to England, where he worked for some years supplementing his income by teaching pottery at Penzance School of Art (replacing his brother).
Texas-born Janet Darnell met Bernard LEACH and Shoji HAMADA when they were touring America in 1952 and she had a small pottery at Threefold Farm, Spring Valley, New York. Bernard was then on his way to Japan, and after a long correspondence she was permitted to join him and study under the sponsorship of Hamada. In 1956 she came to England, married Bernard Leach, and their subsequent partnership proved to be an undeniable influence on the world of pottery and the careers of many young potters who have since emerged into prominence.
Janet's work focused on experimenting with different materials to see how they combined to produce unique and interesting glaze-effects, sometimes incorporating unrefined mineral ores as component parts of her clay bodies. She was greatly influenced by her experiences in Japan, from the whole philosophy behind Japanese pottery (especially the wood-firing techniques of Tamba and Bizen), to the utilisation of natural materials. Originally trained as a sculptor, she strongly believed that the aesthetics of sculpture and pottery are totally different and should not be intermixed: 'my pots are made on the kick wheel or by slab construction, but they are still pots.' Bernard admired her independence: 'Janet's pots show no direct influence from mine', he wrote, yet bewailing her interest in 'irregular forms and textures'.
When Bernard died in 1979, Leach's standard ware was no longer produced. Janet worked in the pottery with Trevor CORSER until her death in 1997. She was assisted in later years by Jason WASON, who remains at the pottery today.
In 1909, at the age of twenty-one, Bernard LEACH travelled back to Japan where he discovered the wealth of art forms and philosophies that influenced the direction of the rest of his life (see his individual entry for personal details). After eleven years in China and Japan, Leach returned to England with Shoji HAMADA and established the St Ives Pottery in 1920 along Japanese lines. His benefactor and patron was Frances HORNE who was gathering craftworkers to develop the St Ives Guild of Handicraft.
This initiative became the ‘starting point of modern ceramics’ (British Studio Ceramics p22). The relative isolation of St Ives, and the brief length of the summer tourist season affected the sales of his products, and at one point he was saved from bankruptcy by the Elmhirsts of Dartington. He and his assistants began to exhibit in London and Japan, and also in Cornwall at Newlyn from 1924 when crafts became a part of the exhibition programme.
The Leach Pottery has been renovated and re-opened by the Leach Pottery Trust, and is open to visitors at hours specified on its website. An excellent museum and bookshop runs in tandem with the pottery, which continues through its team to educate the public as well as the professional ceramist.
Born in Pershore, Worcestershire, Leader was the eldest son of Benjamin Williams LEADER RA (1831-1923) of Burrows Hall, Gomshall, Surrey, and his wife, the Plymouth-born flower artist Mary Eastlake (1853-1938). He attended Charterhouse school and was admitted as a pensioner at Trinity, Cambridge on June 30, 1896. He studied art at Bushey and at Newlyn. Iris Green identifies him as a pupil of Stanhope FORBES and as attending the FORBES SCHOOL, but no date is specified.The records show that he sold his first painting, Surrey Pines, at NAG in 1904.
In 1910 he was married to Isabella Anderson. In Lamorna, the Leaders lived at Oakhill (1911-13), The Reens (1913-14) and then built the house called Rosemerrin in the style of a Cornish manor in 1914-15.
When he and Belle moved on to their new home at Rosemerrin, their cottage at Oakhill was occupied by the Knights. Sadly he had little time to enjoy the house and beautiful garden which he and Belle created together. He was a Captain in The Queen's Royal West Surrey Regiment and Duke of Wellington's West Riding Regiment. Leader was killed in action on Oct 12, 1916 on active service in France at the age of thirty-nine.
Ella Louise NAPER designed his memorial plaque that hangs today in St Buryan Church (see Branfield, Ill, p46). He is also commemorated at Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France.
His wife Isabella (Belle) also painted but seldom exhibited.
Married to the artist Benjamin Eastlake LEADER, Belle did not exhibit her work, but two attractive watercolours of Lamorna are in the possession of her descendants.
She was born Isabella Anderson to a Scottish lawyer and his Dutch wife, the third of six children. It is believed that she was educated at Cheltenham Ladies College, but it is not known where she studied art, or where she and Benjamin met.
They were married in Glasgow in 1910 and honeymooned on St Michaels Mount. The couple rented the 'Oakhill' cottages in Lamorna until the three dwellings were converted into a home for Harold and Laura Knight. The Leaders then acquired a plot which became 'Rosemerrin', where together they created a beautiful garden. They were two of the most popular members of the Lamorna artistic community. Very sadly Benjamin was killed on active service in 1916 during World War I.
Bridget Leaman is an abstract painter who lives at Bass Point, on the Lizard peninsula. She was born in Windsor and brought up in Maidenhead. She studied at Bournemouth College of Art and West Surrey School of Art.
Leaman has been strongly influenced by the artist and tutor Bryan INGHAM. Her work has been shown widely around the UK, and she is a regular exhibitor at Cadogan Contemporary in London. Her daughter is the painter Amber LEAMAN.
'A Shared Sensibility' (Nov/Dec 2016) at Truro's Lemon Street Gallery marks the first time Bridget and her daughter Amber Leaman have shown their work together.
Amber Leaman was born in west Cornwall where she still lives and works. Her mother is the painter Bridget LEAMAN. Amber studied at Falmouth College of Art and has exhibited at Cadogan Contemporary in London and Lemon Street Gallery in Truro.
'A Shared Sensibility' (Nov/Dec 2016) at Truro's Lemon Street Gallery marks the first time Amber and her mother Bridget Leaman have shown their work together.
Tom is one of the sons of the late Eric LEAPER, a potter of Newlyn. He grew up near the Iron Age village of Carn Euny. After undertaking a Foundation course at Falmouth School of Art, Tom completed a BA in Fine Art in Manchester, then returned home to west Penwith.
A conceptual artist, Tom has worked with Penzance Town Council on various projects to upgrade the street environment of the town including attention to the materials used for amenities such as benches, statuary, and a series of way markers for local heritage trails.
A miniature of his bronze sculpture 'Memorial to Lost Fishermen', which is located behind the Newlyn Art Gallery on Newlyn Green (unveiled by Princess Anne in 2007), was presented by its creator to a French museum in 2011. Newlyn and Concarneau are twinned villages and both feature strongly in the history of art as well as the history and present-day life of fishing ports.
Born in London, Leaper was able to complete one year of art school before being called up for National Service in 1939. After the war he took up studies again at the Central School of Art, and moved to Dorset, near Swanage, where he began potting in earnest, but rather unsuccessfully. He readily admitted that he was not a great potter - but he is assessed as a remarkable colourist, which later was to make his work unusual and saleable.
Leaper came to Cornwall in 1954 and set up the Leaper, Newlyn Pottery which continued in operation until 1980. His characteristic bright colour glazes separated him distinctly from the natural shades and rustic finishes of the Bernard LEACH circle. His son Simon LEAPER, considered to be a very promising potter, followed in the ceramics line, but now no longer pots (2011).
His son, Tom LEAPER, is a conceptual artist living and working in West Cornwall.
Eric died in West Cornwall.
Lavinia Learmont is a founder member of Art Space Gallery in St Ives.