With the ever-increasing influx of tourists to the region in summertime, he is able to make a stable living from his charcoal caricature sketches of passers-by. This allows him to spend greater time on larger projects. The £35 a week rental cost for his studio is covered by part-time work as a career assistant with Devon & Cornwall Housing.

Hutchinson accepts that surviving as a painter in Cornwall means producing, at least to some extent, what the customer wants or expects. He is finding that if he reproduces popular iconic Cornish landscapes in the background of his portraits they sell much more readily. Because he paints people rather than landscapes, he finds he can work anywhere. But he has found more acceptance and interest in his work in Cornwall than "up North". "Cornwall does not offer much for artists that want to be conceptual," he commented, "They have to go to London for that. There is the necessity to fit into the public desired criteria to make money".

Contact:

Nick Hutchinson Art & Design Workshops, Trevaunance Cove St.Agnes, TR5 0RS

Tel. 01872 552404

www.st-agnes.com