Standing up for charity

Celebrating a decade at Waves Gallery in Porthleven, Mike Lacey looks to exciting new challenges set for the year ahead.

Looking back on the past ten years, Mike shares with us a reflection on his time with Waves Gallery: “What a journey it’s been from the start to now. I remember being nervous the day we opened and had no idea if anyone would be interested in my photography. Ten years on, hundreds of swims into the cold Cornish waves all year around have paid off. I absolutely love what I do, from time spent in the sea to hours sorting through my images; I’m always trying to create something new like the two coffee table books we have, or the children’s book based on the photo I took the day before Coral was born, ‘Cornish Heart’. Over the last few years our kitchen splashbacks have been really popular and I’m currently working on a coffee table idea which is really exciting.

My photography started from my love of skateboarding, and once I was surfing I naturally wanted to document the waves. Last year I created our own skateboard with my photography, which was so nice to do since skateboarding was (and still is) a huge part of my life; they skate really well and also make beautiful wall art pieces.”

Now celebrating ten years at Waves Gallery, Mike has plans to stand-up paddle around Cornwall in June with brother Rich Lacey, local entrepreneur Kelvin Batt, and Sam and Will Boex, owners of Flexi Hex in Porthleven. Spanning 200 miles from Plymouth to Bude, the paddle will raise money and awareness for Surfers against Sewage and the mental health charity, CALM. You can follow the journey via the hashtag #paddle4oceanmind. The paddle will take about ten days and there will also be a live tracker and hopefully an opportunity for people to join a section of the Paddle from Poldhu to Porthleven. “We are all making our boards out of wood which is an added extra challenge before we get to the start line,” says Mike. “Thank you everyone who has supported Waves Gallery over the years. We couldn’t have done it without you!”

WAVES GALLERY
Commercial Road, Porthleven TR13 9JD
01326 368369
mike@mikelaceyphotography.co.uk
www.wavesgallery.co.uk