May Reflections: Warner, Sustainable Ceramics & Our Biggest Show of the Year
The past few months in the gallery have brought inspiring new collections across multiple disciplines, alongside the opening of our largest group exhibition of the year.
Artist Spotlight: Benjamin Warner
In April, we were delighted to receive a new collection from represented artist Benjamin Warner. Working closely with our artists to develop ongoing collections remains central to our vision at Beside The Wave, and Warner’s latest body of work is a striking continuation of his distinctive practice.
This new collection is a quiet exploration of the Cornish coastline, inspired by familiar locations including Falmouth and Godrevy. Rooted in a strong sense of place, the paintings feel both deeply personal and widely recognisable.
Working in oil, Warner refines his practice through simplicity, atmosphere, and subtle depth. His paintings carry what he describes as a “quiet quality”, encouraging a slower, more contemplative viewing experience. Through delicate mark-making and the careful removal of paint, he creates soft pockets of light that echo the glow of remembered seascapes.
What makes Benjamin Warner’s work so compelling is his masterful handling of light and horizon. His compositions blur the boundary between sea and sky, creating a peaceful sense of stillness and depth. Soft in tone yet rich in atmosphere, the works sit beautifully between abstraction and representation. Known for his atmospheric coastal and urban scenes, Warner often works with monochromatic palettes of blues, greys, and muted earth tones. His understanding of oil paint gives each work a layered sense of history and emotion, capturing not only a landscape, but the feeling of being within it. His paintings are now highly collected throughout the UK and internationally.
One standout work from the collection, Afternoon, Gyllyngvase, exemplifies Warner’s ability to draw the viewer into the painted landscape through both material sensitivity and atmosphere. Rendered in oil paint, the seascape depicts the familiar shoreline of Gyllyngvase Beach in Falmouth with a strong, grounding foreground that leads the eye out towards the horizon. Layers of monochromatic blues and greys dissolve the boundary between sea and sky, while subtle variations in tone create a striking sense of shifting coastal light. Soft yet quietly dramatic, the painting reflects Warner’s belief in painting as an emotional and romantic endeavour, where mood and sensation are translated directly onto canvas.
The Perfect Pairing: Emily Tapp
Alongside our latest exhibitions, we are delighted to showcase ceramic works by Cornwall-based maker Emily Olivia Tapp of EOT Ceramics.
Working from her studio near Falmouth, Emily creates functional, wheel-thrown stoneware inspired by the textures, tones, and atmosphere of the Cornish coastline. Using white stoneware clay and traditional techniques such as hand-pulled handles, each piece is carefully crafted and glazed by hand using Emily’s own self-formulated glaze recipes.
The glazes themselves are deeply connected to Cornwall’s landscape, drawing inspiration from coastal colours, mineral-rich textures, and natural forms. Collections feature evocative glaze names such as Karn, reflecting the rugged beauty of the region.
Emily originally trained at Falmouth School of Art as a Fine Art painter, where she created her own pigments using Cornwall’s mineral-rich soils and rock powders. Following her degree show, she was awarded a graduate residency at CAST (Cornubian Arts & Science Trust), where her practice naturally evolved from painting into ceramics and she developed a lasting connection to clay.
Today, Emily works from her studio in Penryn, creating everyday ceramics designed for daily use. Throwing with Cornish clay sourced from St Agnes, she continues to mix all her glazes from scratch using raw materials and carefully refined recipes.
At Beside The Wave, we love working closely with Emily and supporting her continual experimentation and craftsmanship. Most recently, she has developed a beautiful “zero waste” glaze; named Morlanow further reflecting her thoughtful and sustainable approach to making.
What makes Emily’s ceramics so distinctive is the depth and richness of colour within her glazes, combined with the tactile quality of each form. Functional yet artistic, every piece carries a strong sense of materiality, process, and place.
Our Biggest Exhibition of the Year: Close To Home 2026
This month we opened Close to Home, our largest group exhibition of the year. Bringing together all of the gallery’s represented artists, the exhibition features work created within a 30-mile radius of the gallery itself. Across a diverse range of techniques, materials, and styles, the exhibition highlights the distinct voices of each artist while revealing a shared connection to place, landscape, and community. The artists in this exhibition share a familiarity grounded in place. Variation of style, location, and technique. Yet together, the exhibition cohesively presents a celebration of Cornish contemporary art.
Featured artists include: Aisleigh Anne, Amy Albright, Johnty Robinson, Katie Roberts, Nicola Mosley, Nancy Crewe, Mary Mabbutt and Sarah Wimperis. We are also delighted to introduce a new artist to the gallery, Delphine Gwilliam-O’Connor.
Holding events and creating spaces for connection is central to the gallery’s ethos, and the opening night was a true reflection of that spirit, bringing together artists, collectors, and visitors in celebration of the exhibition and the local creative community.
We are delighted to share this collection of art, which is available to shop online and in our Falmouth Gallery.
Post by Gabrielle Gillow
Senior Gallerist