Cornwall Open Studios: Krowji

The Cornwall open studios event first began in 1998 and was based in Falmouth and Penryn initially.  The event grew to cover Cornwall and some of Devon before being handed over to Creative Kernow in 2004.  In 2025, Creative Kernow announced they would no longer run the event but the next day Jeremy Sanders announced that a new group called Cornwall Open Studios would take on the event.

Any serious artist living and working in Cornwall can become a member which means they are included in the directory of artists on Cornwall Open Studios website and take part in the annual open studios event.  Members can either open for all nine days of the open studio event or they can open for the two long weekends only, giving a total of six days.

This year, the event has coincided with half term, which obviously sees a large influx of people to the county.  The first weekend was Saturday 23rd May to Monday 25th May with the second weekend being Friday the 29th May through to Sunday 31st May.

It is not an event I have been to before and we chose to visit studios at Krowji, which was also not someone we had visited before.  If you wish to visit some studios, I would suggest going to the website and looking at the directory of artists.  You can look at a map of Cornwall to find artists near you.  You can also browse the full directory, or narrow it down by types of art.  You can also search for specific artists to see if their studios will be open.  Some places, like Krowji, are home to a large number of artists studios and you will find a number of people there taking part.

There are so many artists you could visit and support across so many disciplines.  As well as the opportunity to see so much diverse art, it is lovely to meet so many artists.  I found many of those that we met and spoke with were incredibly generous in talking about there art.  They not only shared their enthusiasm but had the opportunity to gain insights in to their personal process.  

There were just over twenty studios open at Krowji and it was really lovely to wander round.  Next year, I would absolutely take the opportunity to visit Krowji again as well as other studios.

So what is Krowji?  It's a creative hub on the site of the old Redruth Grammar School.  The main school building hosts a cafe on the ground floor and studios on the first floor.  The old Schoolhouse is also on the site and houses studios, along with the old science block.  The Percy Williams Building is a new purpose built building across three floors.  There are also a number of converted shipping containers as well.  These studio spaces are rented out to artists and creatives and there is a huge variety of people based there.

To get to Krowji, you need to get to Blowinghouse Hill in Redruth and then take the turning on to West Park.  Coming from Camborne or the A30, you will reach a large roundabout and then turn left into Redruth.  The turning in to West Park will be on your left before you reach the mini roundabout or Redruth Town Centre.  Coming from the centre of Redruth, the turning will be on your right after the small roundabout.

Once on West Park, it is a one way street, taking the second turn on the right, you will drive past a sports field on your left before reaching car parking around the cluster of buildings.  Leaving the site, you will need to turn right on to West Park, as it is one way.  This will bring you on to the A3047 and you will have to turn left as it is a dual carriageway.  The large roundabout is only a little way and this enables you to choose your direction for leaving the area.

Having parked at Krowji, the buildings form a rectangular cluster.  The Percy Williams Building takes up one long side of the rectangle.  Going clockwise, the science block sits on the middle of the next short side and then the Old School House sits in the corner.  The 1907 building is the original school and this takes up the remainder of the other short side.  The area in the middle has been filled with containers but feels quite open.

There were signs form the street to show you how to get to the car park.  Initially we were not sure where to go but there was a display in the lobby of the Percy Williams building that we reached first, which was lucky.  We found A4 sheets that gave a plan of the site along with listing the studios that were open with their locations.  There were also directories for the whole Cornwall Open Studios event which I plan to have a good browse of, as there are so many fascinating artists.

The buildings were fascinating to browse.  Artists often had examples of their art on display outside their studios, so you could see something of their work even if they were not open.  Some studios were shared and they varied in size and layout.  Talking to the artists, it is clear it's a lovely collaborative environment where the different artists support each other.

Krowji is not generally open to the public, so it is worth following them on social media to be updated of any events.  The cafe is however open to the public and is worth a visit for the cakes and salad bar.

So on to the artists that we visited....  

Esther Connon is an illustrator and print maker whose work is delightfully whimsical and will enchant adults and children alike.  As well as selling prints of her art, she has also had it printed on to different things, so there was plenty of lovely things to buy for any budget.  I loved her pictures of the moon, as well as a girl using a ladder to climb on to a crow, a person reading with a tiny elephant curled on their lap....

Vivienne Orchard (Artistree) is an artist who paints as well as using mixed media and recycled glass.  There was a lovely range of things to look at and buy but my absolute favourites were her stunning paintings where sail boats are rendered in rough white blocks over beautiful blues.

The work of Neil Thomas was fun and striking.  I am not sure of the techniques used but it was a cross of things I have seen in cartoons, zentangles, mandalas and street art.  Black line work is filled in with glorious colour and the resulting art is big bold and beautiful with just enough enough qurkiness to be truly interesting.

Lorraine Reilly Millington | Cornwall Open Studios produces sublime landscapes with dreamy pallets of blue and pink that range in mood from soft and inviting to atmospheric and brooding.  The thing I really adored was the way in which shape and form informed her depictions of water.  Its like she has shone a spotlight on the shifting sinuous shapes of the water and rendered them at once free flowing but also geometric.

I loved the work of Fijke Middendorp and really appreciated the opportunity to look at her artist books.  Her process was absolutely absorbing and her notebooks were works of art in their own right.  Her description of her work suggests its an intuitive and personal exploration.  While we don't get to hear all the stories, you know they are underneath, we just get to see the beautiful end results.

One of my favourite spaces was home to four small studios of which three were open.  Henrietta Heron produces illustrative work which has a dash of whimsy and a sprinkling of something a little deeper and more personal.  Her work to me spoke of personal transformation and self-examination.  Rebecca Ball produces beautifully detailed work on a smaller scale where paper and textile is stitched together to create a sort of collage.  Her work shows a love of blue with birds and fruit.  Kirsty Banks is inspired by the landscapes of Svalbard, where she has visited six times.  Her work includes video, mixed media, painting, photography, print making and free motion sewing.  Her passion for the colder places on this planet is obvious and their ethereal beauty is everywhere in her art.

Sarah Cooling produces beautiful ceramics with a clarity of form and colour that is arresting.  My favourites were the matte black ones with coppery metallics on the inside.  They were so striking!  Andrew Barrowman shares a studio with Sarah.  He produces much of his initial work en plein air before returning to the studio.  Both are extremely accomplished and skilled. 

Millie Wilkins is an artist working in pencil, paint and mixed media.  I especially loved her portraits.  They were so incredibly detailed, with such a skilled technique.  She had captured some really interesting people and expressions.  It was fun to look at them!  My favourite was the gentleman of African descent on the top right.

Caz Taylor had a range of things in her studio, from more graphical pieces that leant themselves to being printed on to different gifts to paintings.  Her paintings had some absolutely beautiful skies with such lovely colour gradients.  I had to have a lobster though!

Shallal Studios is part of the charity Shallal and is an accessible studio that aims to support artists and help them connect with other artists and provide support.  It was lovely to hear about their work and see some of the things that have been produced.  They often work with family members as well, to give a wider, community approach.  Some of the people they support have worked with them for years.  I especially loved the murmuration inspired art!

Susy Ward had a display of beautiful ceramics for sale including mugs.  They had diverse shapes and colours and were absolutely beautiful and fascinating.  I was really tempted by a purple one!  

The forms created by Jacqueline Clark are just lovely.  I was in love with the shade of blue...  My favourite pieces were the simplistic seeming boats which would be such a lovely item to have in the centre of a table.

Cornish Inks - Elizabeth Tomos was a really fascinating studio where a group of artists have been working to improve inks so they are more environmentally friendly.  I know inks can be full of chemicals, so it's great to think that there are kinder things we can used.  They work in a location and produce a pallette related to that location and then their art of the time is inspired by the location and those particular inks.  It was really lovely to see!  I really adored the trio of prints made from bark at the back of the room.

Tony Minnion is a painter who is inspired by the local coastline.  His paintings are gloriously exuberant and colourful, it would be hard not to love them.  I always enjoy seeing familiar places as well. In one corner of his studio he had a stunning large piece that curled round the corner.

I really enjoyed talking with Martin Baister.   At first glance, his paintings and charcoals may appear pretty abstract, but it was really clear looking at his book of photographs that they are absolutely inspired by less obvious landscapes.  He is inspired by those slivers of light and colour that appear at those inbetween times, dawn and dusk....  and how they alter the landscapes.  Really fascinating and striking work.

Thomas Matthews and Nicola Bottino are both silversmiths producing jewellery that is so detailed and tiny!  The precision of people working in these mediums is always astounding.  Every tiny detail is precise.  

Paul Sanders is a photographer with a purity of vision that would be incredibly difficult to replicate.  His photographs of the local area are absolutely beautiful in all their monochromatic beauty.  I really enjoyed seeing Cornwall through his eyes.

Chloe Woods and Gary Ray Smith are two artists that have started collaborating on work.  It's clear theirs is a fun relationship, that makes work in to something much more enjoyable.  Chloe paints lovely seascapes with beautiful skies and fun dogs, often tailoring them to peoples pets.  Gary paints Claude who began life as a model for his knitwear.  Claude started to acquire tattoos and slowly lost his top.  Chloe collaborates on the background of some of the Claude paintings and they often work together on tattoo designs.  This was a fun studio!

There were a few artists we managed to miss somehow,  it was lunchtime and we took a circuitous route.  Looking online, they looked amazing!   Gill Hewitt  and Stephanie Ryde.