From Rupert Loydell's first visit to this small Cornish harbour town - an event recorded in one of the poems included in this book - he, along with many others, has been fascinated by the combination of sea, light, people and painting that constitute St. Ives. These themes, along with tourism & trade, myth and the nature of creativity itself, are the subject of this anthology, which has at its heart the sculptor Barbara Hepworth's garden and studio, now run by the Tate as a small museum. It is a secluded and magical place, however full of visitors, and it is from this small green oasis and its stone and metal inhabitants that this book starts its winding journey. Having explored Hepworth's garden and studied individual works of art, there follow introductions to painters such as Peter Lanyon, Alfred Wallis and Ben Nicholson, the poet W.S. Graham, and finally a view of 'the whole of the town'.