Michaels Private Workshop

9 year old Rose was painting alongside  Dad Michael today. Michael's wife had booked me to go to their home in Church Stretton for a private workshop for his birthday. Rose was a natural bless her...she followed my instructions perfectly and quickly had a brilliant background going on...

Dad Michael was pretty good at following instructions as well...lovely atmospheric sky developed very quickly, with sea , beach and bushes following swiftly afterwards..

Well done both of you...beautiful results!

Birch Tree Workshop July 28th

Alice came along for the first time with her mum Vikki who received her artist brooch for attending 6 workshops.

Vikki used a lovely colour combination-- silver and metallic green on the birch trees...it looked quite stunning...

Katherine called by at 11am on the off chance she could join in the workshop! She has been twice before and luckily she was able to catch up with the others while they were drying off their paintings, so all was well.

Cath came along with her hubby Tim and Mum in Law Bev. Tim and Cath wanted to do a diptych they could hang on the wall together...they made a brilliant job of it too!

Tim making a start on his half of the painting!

Bev had a 36in canvas..and had decided to have a cross roads path in her picture--it worked really well.

Jenny was painting for the 5th time...so she gets her brooch next time.She really loved doing this picture!

Dawn has a 200 mile round trip to come and paint with me--and says its worth every minute bless her! She went home with all the leftover paint which was lovely as I hate wasting it at the end of a class...Brilliant painting Dawn!

Ali is mates with Dawn but doesn't have as far to come---Shrewsbury! We were cracked up at times during the class--tears rolling down cheeks!

Kim had a gift voucher and came along with her friend Cynthia--who we had met through the shows we do....first time for them though you would never know it to see their finished paintings!

Cynthia at work...

Tim checking if they had their paths lined up right --don't they look great?

Derek hard at work..He received his gift for attending 6 workshops --he chose a keyring rather than a badge but managed to leave it behind-Will keep it safe til next time!

Bev added this lovely sign post to her painting--at the cross roads--a lovely detail!

Alice and Vikki had to leave early as they were off to see Status Quo and 10CC in concert that evening--lucky things!

Derek also had to leave early-he made a cracking job of his painting....he doesn't let his Parkinson's disease hold him back bless him. Hes always cheerful and we have a good laugh with him-he has a brilliant sense of humour! Hes coming again soon with his wife Liz---looking forward to it very much!

Well Done Everyone!

Love the results!

Well Done !

Beautiful Paintings Girls!

Well Chuffed!

Two weeks ago me and my daughter Becki joined  Slimming World....Ive piled on the lb's since being on steroids for polymyalgia rhumatica  since last July and of course Becki  had little Tommy 9 weeks ago.After meeting Yvonne and hearing all about the eating plan we were amazed to hear just how much food we could eat...above is a normal lunch or dinner.....loads of chicken, salad and a jacket spud with 2 laughing cow triangles ...

every day we have pudding --at least once a day-sometimes twice....normally we wouldn't  have ANY...my low sugar strawberry mousse and my orange jelly with orange segments -served with 0% fast Greek yogurt are enough to satisfy the sweetest of tooth!

In between all that we are munching fresh pineapple and melon--I wrap ham around the chunks of melon--its one of my favourite snacks..

and today when we went to the meeting I found I had lost another 3lb-which added to last weeks loss of 4lb made a loss of 7lb--half a stone and made me slimmer of the week!  Becki wasn't far behind at 5  1/2lb. Bill has been following the plan as well and has been able to cut back the amount of insulin he injects from 60 down to 46 in 2 weeks which is brilliant!  Looking forward to losing loads of weight with Yvonne's help...

Painting Holidays--Longmynd Hotel Church Stretton

I have been asked by Christina of The Longmynd Hotel, Church Stretton if I would do some painting holidays--we are going over tomorrow (Thursday)  to sort out some dates for later this year. The hotel stands on top of the hills and has wonderful views over the vally's .Obviously I will add details to my website when I know exactly what we will be doing and when but it sounds like there will be an option to paint 2 paintings during your stay, one oil and one acrylic  check out the hotels website  and watch this space too! http://www.longmynd.co.uk/about-us.php

Bits and Pieces ...

Well there has been lots going on..shows cancelled,,paintings exhibited,babies growing up fast where do I start?

Well hopefully Tenbury show on Aug 4th looks like being on--fingers crossed we dont get any bad rain before then....

We have been on the door stewarding all afternoon at Church Stretton Arts Festival.....lots of lovely art works on display at the school to suit all tastes! Open 11am -8pm --the best £1 you will spend!

Little Tommy is growing up so fast.-nearly 9 weeks old now ..his little arms and legs are filling out lovely and I could munch him to pieces. He is a very good little baby, sleeping well at nights.....hope he remembers this next Saturday when we are babysitiing him!

 

 

Burwarton Show Cancelled

Well as expected Burwarton Show Thursday Aug 2nd  has been cancelled  due to the bad weather we have been having.Such a shame -its one of the nearest shows we do and its always a great show. Must be gutting for the organisers-so much work goes on behind the scenes all year round to get the show together....the forecast isn't great for this week either which must mean the Tenbury Show Sat August 4th must be in jeopardy as well. Lets hope it all starts to improve soon.....I shall spend the time painting intead of attending the shows.....got some new stuff lined up to go onto canvas!

"Yesterday" Workshop July 14th

I was  expecting some phone calls this morning to say people wouldn't be able to make it to the workshop today because of the floods all around Shropshire/Ludlow area. I was very pleasantly surprised to find that everyone made it---with detours and some very deep water to come through--thank you everyone! Rachel and her parents David and Elaine were painting for the first time--Rachel chose to do the brown shades-and she did think it was a bit dark but once the water went in and some metallic shimmer added it made it lighter..turned out very atmospheric!

Elaine was just a bit nervous when she came in this morning...completely normal when trying something new---especially a canvas the size of this one! Its a big one to do first time!

jenny has been quite a few times now and she chose the blues/purples version..she made a great job of her blending, you feel you could step into the water.

We met Barry recently at Shobdon Food And Drink Festival, though he was familiar with my website..he travelled a long way to be with us..and met with floods just outside Ludlow...he created a lovely dramatic painting..

Ive manged to cut Jenny out of the photo--sorry Jenny! What beautiful colours  Jenny used...love the cerise pink.Jenny's paintings always take on a fantasy feel and today was no exception! The holographic stars and flowers at the end worked a treat but didn't show up on the photos..

Derek travelled a long way to be with us again---and I'm pretty sure he should have received his artist badge today---never mind he can have it in 2 weeks when he comes to do the Birches workshop..Derek has Parkinson's  bless him and he does well to stand as long as he does to paint, sitting just for the last bit...he did a cracking picture--his tree added at the end had loads of character----

Shane was painting with me for the first time..he chose the bright bold oranges and reds and made a lovely job of his blending after being shown  as simple trick ;-)   he had to come over Clee Hill as well where the floods were really bad. Shane was going to have a go at the painting again tomorrow so he took home the palette of paint he had left over, as did several of the others--I l always put ample paint in the palettes so there is always some left at the end of class--I would much rather students took it home with them than to throw it away....a bit of clingfilm over the top after a spray of water and it will keep til tomorrow easily...

David was pretty convinced  he wouldn't be able to paint a picture--he surprised himself and achieved a brilliant painting ...we were all creased with laughter all day--the banter was just bouncing off  everyone all day--it really was a fun class!   When the paintings are varnished it will bring out the colours beautifully and protect them too,,,,I had sold out of varnish last week and forgot to order some more so David and family were calling at the Range for some on the way home..I must remember to order some this week...

Derek had to leave before the final photos were taken--I'm looking forward to seeing him again in 2 weeks for the Birches workshop..

Well Done everyone--cracking pictures!

all the paintings turn out as individual as the people who paint them are.

Looking forward to seeing you all again!

Tomorrow's Hole In Wall Festival Cancelled

The show we were doing tonmorrow at Hopton Court Hole In The Wall has been cancelled at the last minute due to the vile weather we had yesterday and today---blimey so much rain...when will it all end? Thats the 4th show that has been cancelled and it sounds like Burwarton Show is iffy as well.
So I will have a day getting some paintings done for the Ludlow Art Society exhibition instead!

Few Places Left

I have a few places left for this Saturdays workshop "Yesterday" Painted in acrylic on a 36in x 14in  box canvas. You will have a choice of colours Oranges/reds , purples/blues and browns/creams.                                                                     I may do a 50 Shades of Grey version as well as I think it will work well on this size canvas..                             You will learn a variety of techniques in the workshop. Believe it or not you only need 2 brushes to complete this painting ...                                                                                                                                                                                                   The painting will be painted on all sides and will be dry to take home.Great fun to do and ALWAYS brilliant results.Take a look at the website and see the results from previous workshops...www.paintingmyway.co.uk

 

 

 

 

Cancelled :-((

We have had news that 2 shows we were going to attend have been cancelled due to the awful wet weather we are having at the moment...Bromyard Gala Sat 7th and Sunday 8th July which we were really looking forward to this weekend is completely waterlogged and we had the call this morning to say it was off---no surprises really...
then we were told that the Much Marcle show on Sat July 21st and Sunday 22nd has been called off as well.

We have however been able to get  a stall on Ludlow Market this Sunday 9th July on the Book and Craft market and again we will be there on the Sunday 22nd July so all is not lost....lets hope the weather clears up soon, its such a shame that they are cancelled after all the hard work that goes on behind the scenes at these shows

I have some lovely new greetings cards thanks to our lovely friend Lin...she has worked flat out to get me stocked up for the shows...I'm chuffed to bits with the new ones she has done--especially the 50 Shades Of Grey one...I'm sure it will be a best seller for me too!
You can find the new cards on my website here...http://www.paintingmyway.co.uk/a1-gallery2.asp?roomID=1459

BBQ.s

It was lovely to have our friends Marion and Phil round Sunday afternoon for a BBQ..the weather forecast was wrong for a change and the sun was shining! The summer house has been cleared out in preparation for our BBQ for our friends off the market which we will be having soon....and it gave me chance to try out the Pimms  recipe before then too! never tryed it before but we all loved it--one bowl was not enough and the rum punch I made after this went down well too!

Loads of kebabs--yummmmmm

and loads of lovely healthy salads too to counteract the booze LOL

This lovely little munchkin called by with his mummy and daddy too--but he didn't wake up bless him!

Bills Gunneria plant is bigger than ever this year.....its getting a good soaking every other day when Bill does the filter in the fish pond on the upper level of the garden-and its making a huge difference. We had the tea lights burning on the windowsill on the summerhouse and it lit up the backs of the leaves beautifully...

The chimanea was fired up and the heat it throws out is unreal--it was quite a few feet away from the summer house but it warmed us up lovely....nothing like listening to UB40 and watching the flames while having a great laugh with friends! We don't do it often enough! The time went sooo quickly....

New Venture

I have been getting more and more into photography over the past year or so. I love experimenting with the different settings on the camera and getting some interesting effects.
I have mounted ready to frame some of my favorites in 3 different sizes.
They proved popular at Shobdon Food and Drink Festival. I will be printing some new scenes shortly and will add them to the website later. Take a look at whats there so far..Im really pleased with the results!
http://www.paintingmyway.co.uk/a1-gallery2.asp?roomID=4840