The Old Coastguard in Mousehole is hosting a charity fundraising exhibition of paintings by international award winning artist Vicki Norman.

The collection of paintings, featuring traditional boats and coastal scenes, will be on sale from June 27 and runs until July 22 with a percentage of all sales donated to the Cornish Maritime Trust. 

Drawn to Penwith by the prospect of sailing and painting the beautiful West Cornish coast, oil painter Vicki moved to historic Gwavas House in Newlyn in 2022 with her partner Mark.

A serendipitous encounter with a skipper for the Cornish Maritime Trust started Vicki on her sailing journey with the local charity who preserve historic wooden boats and the skills needed to sail and maintain them.

Finding her sailing time rich with visual inspiration for paintings she soon became the artist in residence for the Cornish Maritime Trust. 

This exhibition will combine coastal scenes and skies with studies of the boats and their crew, creating an overall impression of the experience of being a member of the trust. 

Vicki’s painting skills are based firmly on the traditional methods of the Newlyn School painters and she uses them to capture the beautiful boats and glorious Cornish coastal colours in a series of timeless works that bridge past and present.  

Vicki said: “One of the best parts of being a trust member is the opportunity to explore West Cornwall from the sea. The net loft studio at our home in Gwavas House was used by the Newlyn School painters as they documented the lives of fishing families back in the 1880’s. 

“Using it to record the work of the Cornish Maritime Trust as they maintain the old fishing boats from that same era seems particularly fitting. I am hugely grateful to The Old Coastguard for generously hosting this fundraising exhibition to help with the cost of major repairs to the CMT’s historically important boats.” 

A meet the artist event is taking place at the Old Coastguard on Friday, July 5 at 3.30pm-5.30pm. More of Vicki Norman’s work may be seen at her Gwavas House studio in Newlyn and online at www.vickinormanstudio.com