Holiday In Blackpool

We are back from a 5 night  holiday in Blackpool with our friends... huge big comfy bed ! Celebrating my 56th birthday and me and Bills 16th wedding anniversary... where has the time gone? The hotel was just a few yards from everywhere we wanted to be.. good job as my mobility was bloody crap to be honest..add to that side effects  from the new tablets,that were prescribed for the side effects of the steroids LOL....but never mind we still had a good time!

We had a visit to Madam Tussuad's.... Bill took a real shine to Hilda!!!

And a great night in Ma Kelly's...... THE place to go when in Blackpool.....always a good night in there!

Had a mix of weather-- some sunny spells and some showers...

and you don't need champagne flutes to enjoy champagne either LOL....

The Funny Girls were great--but it isn't the usual full show on a Tuesday so be warned if you intend going ...any other night but Tuesday..

Then on Wed night we had a taxi up to The Curry Queen at nearby Bishpham, we had been there once before--last year, and couldn't wait to go again... £10.95 for a 4 course meal...amazing value ,amazing food and amazing host in Kam.... we were laughing all night at his quips.. The lentil soup was lovely and another diner suggested we put a teaspoon of the hot sauce from the pickle tray into it... just beautiful..

Tandoori chicken was to die for...

The nan bread actually looks small on the photo, but nearly filled the table when it came out--never seen one so big before!!  The main courses were all very good too..no complaints from any of us..  We will def be back there again next time we are in Blackpool

As it was St Patricks day the day before we went to Blackpool , Ma Kelly's was covered in decorations everywhere.... and this little chap caught my eye hanging over the stage.. one of the bouncers who I had nicknamed Big Steve kindly fetched him for me! The Guinness hat was given  to me by one of the group of firemen who were in the bar.. it reminded me of my dear Dad who had a hat like it  on at my wedding reception 16 years before..happy times...

A Catch Up!!!

I must apologise for the delay in getting the workshop photos onto the blog...Its been over 2 months since I posted on here due to my health. Above is the only workshop I have run of the ''Shropshire Poppies''. We used acrylic to create this lovely scene..

We had great fun painting ''Winters Walk'' in acrylic and oils.Its quite a challenging one to do, but we had great results from everyone..

I ran 2 encaustic workshops in a couple of weeks, it was very popular..and an easy one for me to teach as there is little moving around for me to do while teaching it! We had some amazing results--

I'm quite jealous of Eric's Waterfall.. I will be having a go at something similar in the future!!

Love the Koi Carp..

and these colours are just beautiful.

young George framed his small encaustic cards and also wrapped them up for Christmas presents for his family with the help of his Aunt Sarah... I'm sure they will love them!

Here is George with his big work of art..

Wonderful results!

Well here we are in the last big workshop of Painting My Way.... what an emotional day that was.I managed to hold it together until the end... and it was lovely to have people popping in to say goodbye during the day..   I was so overwhelmed by all the lovely presents, cards,phone calls and emails we had after announcing my retirement.. we were very touched ..

WOW--look at the beautiful results-- we finished on a real high...6 first time students were among these...

June and Jenny

Beautiful work Ladies..

Lovely work...

Well Done!!!

Great paintings !!

1st time for these two! This to me is what ''Painting My Way'' has been about all these years--taking people who have never painted before and helping them to create masterpieces like this...

Birches Workshop

 This has always been one of my favourite workshops,,always great fun to teach, and really wonderful results,,,and this one was no exception!  Here are some of the ladies creating the birch trees..

Its great when everyone watches each other and compare notes..everyone tackles their painting a little different to each other,,

Joe painted the picture above, but didn't want her photo taken with it!

and the final line up--well done everyone..

"Yesterday" Workshop

Marguerite was a long way from home--Miami-Florida to be exact... first time painting..Had some interesting conversations via emails with her-and she sent me some sketches she had done about her time in England which had us creased! Her painting was just brilliant but she said she couldn't take it back to the USA with her..she has de-cluttered her life in the USA and managed to come to England for a month with a 22in suitcase! Blimey---I would need one that size just for my makeup LOL...Anyway  we decided to that I would use her painting to raise money for the O'Connor Cancer Unit at Shrewsbury Hospital where my son Jim has been treated,,  so I will be asking for bids on it shortly and all money will be donated to the unit...

Hahahaha--this is what happens when you squeeze a litre bottle of white acrylic paint--that has an air lock!!! Blimey-what an explosion! Luckily for me I already had my painting clothes on--and the students quickly helped clear up the paint off the floor etc!!!

We had 9 students.. 6 of which were first timers...

We had a wide range of colours used,

you would never believe that these 3 ladies had never painted before...

Beautiful results from the 9 ladies... will look forward to seeing them all again...

Birches Workshop May 14th

Apologies for being so late doing my blog! Where does the time go to? Birches is a very popular subject and great fun to do.. just the 4 ladies due to illness..Sue,Amanda,Sue and Annie soon got stuck into it!

3rd time for Amanda , but there are plans for us to go up to Leicester in the near future and do a workshop at her workplace...

3rd time for Sue also...

Sue chose the browns and creams for her painting,,

first time for Annie painting with acrylics..

wonderful results ladies...

Loads of detail in there Sue!

Lovely work Annie!

Amanda made her trees a little chunkier, it worked really well!

Lots of depth in Sues painting! We will look forward to seeing you all again soon x

April 2nd Workshop ''Summer Day''

Now and again we get a request to travel to a new venue to do a workshop-so when Lorna who had been to a workshop in Ludlow once before , asked us if we would travel to Michaelchurch to do a workshop for her family and friends , we said yes of course! She organised a room for us and we set off at 8am on Saturday...one or two of them have been to me in Ludlow before... I gave them the choice of using the usual Summer Day colours or using the Monochrome version..

John has only used watercolours before...but loved the way the oils moved around ..

Gemma also chose the monochrome shades..first time painting for her too...

Everyone was amazed at how quickly the painting came together,,,,

lots of lovely texture in the waves..

''I know I won't be able to paint''she said..... how wrong was she then!

Julie had to go into work at last minute and didn't get to the class until we had all stopped for dinner at 12.30pm.... but I went through the painting again for her step by step and to every ones amazement she caught up with the others in just 30 mins.. she now has the nickname-" Catch-up" ..

Lovely subtle tones here...

Adding the poppies is the easiest bit of this painting...

Lorna organised the workshop, and was painting for the second time with me!

nearly finished!

Well done everyone... wonderful paintings from you all-- will look forward to seeing you all again in the future!