British artist hails importance of paint practice pioneered by Constable

British artist Emily Powell, known for her colourful canvases, has spoken of the importance of plein air painting as she undertakes a residency of the Isles of Scilly.

Powell, 35, was so inspired by the colours and light on the archipelago off the Cornish coast during a visit in May that she packed much of her Dartmoor studio into a shipping container to relocate for the summer.

That container, holding more than 100 litres of paint, canvases, her trusty wooden easel, ladder and chairs, as well as a large supply of PG Tips teabags and kettle, went by boat from Penzance to St Mary’s island.

The Liverpool-born artist then followed – painting so prolifically that she ran out of canvases and had to use local sailcloth and pieces of wood from a nearby town hall renovation instead.

Her dedication to working en plein air – a term referring to the practice of painting entire pieces outdoors – follows that of landscape artist John Constable, who is said to have pioneered the approach in Britain in around 1813.

Other notable artists who painted outdoors include Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro and Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

Powell also highlighted the work of the Newlyn school – led by artists Stanhope Forbes and Frank Bramley – who settled in the Cornish fishing towns of Newlyn and St Ives in the 1880s.

“There is a long standing tradition of artists painting in St Ives and Penzance because of the light,” she said.

“I’ve always painted there but thought: ‘What happens if I go to the Isles of Scilly? Surely the light is brighter there.’ And it is.

“It’s just another level of beautiful light here. Everything glows and is almost electric – it looks lit up from within.”

Visitors are not permitted to bring cars onto the Isles of Scilly, so Powell and her two assistants use golf carts, bicycles with trailers and boats to travel around with her equipment.

They carry a large wicker basket full of paints and brushes, her full-size wooden easel, and canvases measuring 150cm tall and wide.

Sea water and sand unintentionally become part of the artworks as Powell works in all weathers, from storms with rain and lightning to bright sunshine, and at all times of day including in the pitch dark.

“It’s a very normal thing when you’re painting en plein air to have grass or similar on your pieces – you don’t fight the elements,” she said.

“There is a transfer of energy from the elements, so if you’re painting in a storm your work will pick up that energy in a brush stroke, mark-making way.

“That’s why it’s so important to be at the forefront and outside. Everything gets flatter indoors. Colours change really easily.

“If you’re looking at something through a photograph or on a screen, it isn’t the same. It is so much better to see it in real life.”

Powell has transformed a former workshop at Salakee Farm on St Mary’s island into a studio which is open to the public and filled with dozens of artworks, created since her arrival in early August.

These range from floral pieces including “teddy bear” sunflowers – famously painted by Van Gogh – to landscapes, wildlife including puffins painted on a boat safari, and harbour scenes around the islands.

She has travelled across the five inhabited islands of Scilly, from St Mary’s to Tresco, St Martin’s, St Agnes and Bryher.

“Everything is much more wild so you really get to experience the elements and everything passes quickly, you can have five weathers in a day which is so good for painting,” the artist added.

Powell is one of a growing number of people to visit the archipelago.

The Isles of Scilly Steamship Group, which operates the Scillonian III passenger ferry as well as Skybus flights from Land’s End, Newquay and Exeter airports, has seen a 4.9% increase on overall passenger figures compared to last year.

There has also been a 10.4% increase in day trip bookings.

Powell first painted en plein air at the age of seven, on a trip to the fishing village of Collioure in France, following the death of her father.

She used his watercolour set and brushes to recreate Henri Matisse’s 1905 piece “View of Collioure (The Tower)” from her holiday flat’s balcony.

“As we were grieving as a family, I taught myself to draw the church that Matisse had drawn and it genuinely made Mum so happy that I carried on,” Powell added.

“There is a hurry to enjoy my life, there is an urgency and a realisation that life is really short. I want to get it all down because I love painting so much. It’s hard to think you only get a certain amount of time to do it.”

Her previous work has included expeditions to the Hebrides and the Norwegian arctic, as well as her series The Greenhouse of Commons in which she painted politicians including Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer as plants.