The intersection of a number of lines of influence at the grave of Alfred Wallis in Barnoon cemetery St Ives. If you ever wondered how we became so preoccupied with a subdued palette of greys, muted greens and blues, and the motif of naively rendered ships, lighthouses and harbours, then this tile covered grave contains the remains of the originator. "discovered" by Ben Nicholson and Christopher Wood in the 1920s, he had taken up painting images of the life he recalled as a mariner and inshore fisherman, when his wife died. He painted in household paints on whatever he could find, making his work like objects or icons as much as paintings. The tiles were made by Bernard Leach, who along with Shoji Hamada set up the St Ives pottery in the 1920s, and kick-started the studio pottery industry, providing the model for the English vernacular style which thrives to this day, though to the dispassionate modern eye, studio pottery recalls a particular late sixties, seventies self sufficiency vibe. 
 I came looking for this grave, and was slightly disappointed when I found it, thinking it was small and rather grim, the tiles, sort of dun coloured, and reminding me of fire surrounds in 1930s terraced houses ( for good reason) , then I looked more closely at the story  depicted on the top, the tall slender lighthouse withstands huge breaking waves, and at the door at its base an old man with a stick ascends a set of stairs to seek shelter. The top of the lighthouse, where there should be a light, instead has a cross; as I read it this is Leach's depiction of Wallis finding respite after the storms of life, and his ascension to Heaven, though Leach himself was not a Christian but a follower of the Arabic Baha i faith.
 The grave overlooks Porthmeor beach and within sight are so many of Wallis's motifs, including the island and its chapel, the bay itself, and Godrevy lighthouse.
Balanced on the top of the grave was a sea shell, the outer surface with a Walis-like image of a ship and a lighthouse in black biro, and on the reverse "For Alfred Wallis " .   By the time I returned to take these photographs, it had gone, blown away by the wind coming off the sea.