Alfred Wallis: The Man Who Made Art On a Shoestring

I was pretty much the dunce of the art class at school. Paint and water has a tendency to spill and being as clumsy as it comes I was always ruining my work. By staying away from liquids however I’ve found my inner creative in later life. My preferred media are mosaic and writing. Naive artists, who have no formal training, are my inspiration. I see my own work alongside this esteemed tradition

Alfred Wallis is one of my favourite self taught artists. He spent the latter part of his life in a tiny cottage in the Cornish seaside town of St Ives . You can stay there now as the house is a holiday home. I’m sure that Wallis’ eyes would water at the price, even of a long weekend in low season! A stay there is one of the items on my bucket list.

Wallis’ Story

Wallis’ had a life steeped in hardship. Orphaned at an early age he went on to be a mariner and fisherman. He only became an artist after the death of his wife when he started painting for company. What I find inspirational is that he used what he had. He recycled bits of wood and cardboard and used leftover paint from local chandleries. He painted most of his delightful paintings of seascapes and boats from memory. Their restrained palette is a consequence of the limitations that his materials imposed.

Other more affluent artists came to St Ives at the time that Wallis lived there. He didn’t go unnoticed. Ben Nicholson,, the abstract painter who lived in the town, was an admirer. Wallis’ work featured in exhibitions and gained attention from art collectors and critics. However this limited fame didn’t translate into giving him a good income.

Tragically Wallis died in a poor house near Penzance. Instead of being assigned an unmarked pauper’s grave he was buried in Barnoon cemetery, above St Ives’ Porthmeor Beach. The famous potter, Bernard Leach, also a resident of St Ives, made the tiles that adorn it.

A couple of years ago I visited the town with the intention of finding the grave. It isn’t hard to find. A wonderful tiled headstone made from tiles by the potter Bernard Leach marks the spot. It portrays a tiny mariner at the foot of a lighthouse. I was overcome by this act of memorial. It was a stark contrast to the deprivation that Wallis experienced during his lifetime.

What Can We Learn From Alfred Wallis

There are two clear lessons that we can learn from Alfred Wallis. Firstly you don’t have to throw money at being creative. Grubbing around for free or cheap bit and piece can be part of the process! Look around and see what you have to hand. Everyone has writing implements and paper or cardboard. With a bit of imagination you’ll find other things in your home and out and about nature that have potential to be transformed.

To source fancier stuff, even proper art materials, see if friends and family have got supplies that they no longer use. People like to declutter these days. It’s right on trend. You might be amazed with what you will be gifted.

Secondly, you don’t need any formal training . You don’t have to throw money at training to be an artist or acquiring a crafty skill. Just go ahead and make art! Let it keep you company too. I realise that this is often easier said than done. It can be difficult to put pen or paint to paper or to write those first few words of a story, poem or reflection if you haven’t done anything like this since being at school.

But if you’re stuck for inspiration remember that we are so much luckier than the generations that came before us. Through the internet we have a wealth of resources at our fingertips. There’s ‘how to’ videos and written instructions covering a wealth of techniques. We have access to almost unlimited sources of inspiration. Think how simple it is to look at the work of other artists at the click of a button.

Disclaimer

This post contains links to companies and organisations just because I’m happy with the products or services that they supply or I’m spreading the word about what they do. There may also be affiliate links to Amazon for books and other items that I am personally recommending. If you decide to make a purchase from them, I might get a little bit of commission at no cost to you.