Emerald Woods Workshop

Ollie age 11 came along with his Mum Chelley for the first time..they had seen some friends work who had been to my workshops before and fancied having a go! Right from the start Ollie developed his own unique style--and his painting quickly took shape..I loved his conifer trees-very bold- and the pink foxgloves are just beautiful--well done Oliver!

his mum Chelley wasn't quite as bold as Ollie, in fact she was reluctant to put any extra trees into her painting! We persuaded her to add a few more..

Trish had been to a workshop 3 years ago with daughter Hannah who was just 7 at the time..this time she bought along her friend Janet as a surprise  for her 50th birthday as well as Hannah. Janet came down from Stockport, Manchester the day before and had to leave for home right after the class..she left her painting with Trish but had lots of pictures on her phone to take home and show everyone..her hubby didn't believe she had done it when she showed him!

Janet knew nothing about it until they pulled up outside the room so she didn't really have time to feel nervous....she got stuck in to it and was surprised at how easy it was...

Hannah managed to create a double pond without trying--and boy it worked really well!  Like Ollie she soon had her own style of trees going very early on!

Its been lovely watching Jackie develop her own style in the workshops and outside of them too--we are friends on facebook and she has been painting some beautiful pictures at home--quite different to what we have done in class...she is coming on in leaps and bounds!

Anne is another student who has come on in leaps and bounds--it does seem to become addictive this painting lark!

all hard at it...

engrossed in what they are doing...

we had lots of photos being taken through the class--all lovely memories for everyone there!

all so very different--

can you believe they are first time artists? Well done Ollie and Chelley!

Janet added some foxgloves to her painting just to add a touch of colour to the otherwise monochrome painting.Hannah went for the mystical, magical feel with the blues and purples..Trish made a great job of her painting,lovely bold trees and a great shaped pond too--the pond can be a difficult thing to get right!

This shows the difference colour can make to a painting--Anne went for the autumn colours of yellow ochre and browns, and Jackie for the fantasy look-- love both of them--Jackie is going to add some silver dragonflies and fairies when its dry!

Winter Wonderland

Cracking results from everyone today...10 year old Alice did sooo well...2 ponds in a painting has never been done in class before and it worked really well...and she worked out where to place her fence posts-well done Alice!

All very different to each other..as individual as they all are..Loved Mary's sky especially--it was so vibrant..

Beautiful results everyone--

Encaustic Demo

I was asked by the Ludlow Craft Club if I would go and do a demo of the encaustic art for their members .
They meet in the same room that we use for the painting my way workshops.
Bill dropped me off and set up the irons, special tools etc and then came back home to prepare a lovely roast pork dinner!
I realised after had he had left that I had left the camera in the car , so only got this photo just before we cleared up!
The members had a lovely time playing with the wax-some beautiful pictures were produced and we all had fun trying to spot the strange animals and faces that you always get in the wax.
Ive been asked to go back and do another demo soon as everyone enjoyed themselves so much, and there were a few members missing due to other commitments.
Im going to sort out my off cuts of encaustic cards that I get when making my bookmarkers and drop off for Chris to use in her card making,it will be interesting to see how they get used! Chris raises money for the local Air Ambulance and is a regular on the Ludlow market selling her beautiful cards.

Mandy's Winter Wonderland

Mandy came for her one to one today.She was to join the class of Saturday March 22nd but had to cancel that because of other commitments.
YOu can see how her painting progressed step by step.
It was the second time that she had painted on a black canvas, the first being a waterfall painting some time ago.
It seemed strange to her to be putting transparent paint onto a black canvas because she couldnt see where the paint had covered.
As soon as we started to add the white paint, the atmospheric sky started to appear,then we went on to add the bushes and trees then the snow.
The pond was soon done using the fan brush and the tickling brush.The reflection of the main tree was added and then we were ready for the finishing touches ,the broken fences in the forground and the moon with some little clouds drifting across it.
She was chuffed to bits with the finished result!
We wil be seeing her again very shortly in the Birch tree walk class on March 29th

Picture on a Plate

We went out for a lovely meal last night with Jan and John.We went to The Travellers Rest just outside Craven Arms. We had discovered the great food there last week and were keen to try it out again with friends.
Again the food was fantastic.
John and Bill had the creamed onion soup while Jan and myself try ed the sticky ribs and salad to start.It was all very tasty-we had to try the boys soup -just to make sure it was ok for them of course!
The main course was a carvery, Bill and I chose the pork and Jan and John had the beef.The choice of veg was really good-the chef came out and pointed out the garlic potatoes which we all tyred-along with the roast parsnips, broccoli,new spuds, carrot and swede mash , peas!
We were all pretty stuffed but decided to try a pudding each! Bill and Jan had the fruits of the forest cheesecake, John had the rum and raisin cheesecake and I opted for the trio of melon.As you can see it was beautifully presented and it really was a picture on a plate! Tasted delicious too!
I think this will become a regular haunt for us somehow!

Reiki By Jan

I am really looking forward to tomorrow--Im going to have a session of Reiki done by my friend Jan.
Jan has been one of my students for some time now and she is a fully qualifyed Reiki practitioner. She is in the process of setting up her business in the beautiful Clee Hill area.
I treated one of my friend's to a session with Jan a couple of weeks ago and she said it was absolutly fantastic.Its really done her the world of good.
Very relaxing, and thereputic,Jans hands get very hot as she works on every area of the body.
Im going to be the very first person to try out Jans brand new Reiki treatment couch, which is specialy designed for the job---must say I really cant wait!
Will let you all know tomorrow how I got on!!!!

New Class Saturday 27th Oct

''Sunset Lake'' This is the subject fro the class on Saturday 27th Oct.

It is a painting suitable for all abilities, from 1 st timer to experienced artist.

Please get in touch through the website to book for this class.

www.paintingmyway.co.uk

Amazing!!!

This is a an amazing story--3 weeks ago Bill cleaned out our 4 ft tropical fish tank using the syphon as usual to clean all the muck from around the gravel and plants.It is pumped into a plastic dustbin and we slide it across the room and out of the patio doors on a plastic bag.Then it stays on the patio and Bill uses it to water the patio tubs.

Because the weather has been so bad of late, it has just stood there-- when Bill looked at throwing it away on Friday, he saw a movement in the water, and realised that there were 4 baby fish in there.He caught them and they lived in a coffee jar until he bought a special net so they could be returned to the tropical fish tank without being eaten by the big fish!

They are baby sword tails and they should need warmish water to survive! To think they have been out there in the rain etc for 3 weeks and survived is amazing!

They must have been hiding in the plants and been sucked up when he cleaned the tank!

Meet Holly

Meet Holly,our 1st grandaughter born on Monday 16th July at 10:10pm in Sunderland.She is the daughter of Bills middle son Darren and his partner Lyndsey.

She weighed 7 lb 1 oz and she is absolutely beautiful.

We left the caravan at home on Monday and went up there when we heard she was in labour.They have moved into a new big house so we stayed with them.We will have to try and get away again soon in the van!

Day Off

It was lovely to have a day off today for a change.We went round to see mum and had a catch up with the news, been too busy to call for a couple of weeks.
Then me and Bill went to Hereford to buy some more paint and brushes to replenish the stock sold at yesterdays class.
While we were walking down the High Street we smelt a wonderful aroma of roast beef coming from one of the best hotels-so on the spur of the moment we went in and had the best sunday dinner that we have had for a long time!
Bill had a field mushroom sauted with garlic on a large crouton and I had an asparagus and cherry tomato tartlet with warm salad and redcurrant jelly to start and then we both had roast beef and all the trimmings!
It was beautiful, the veg's were cooked just right, not hard but not soft either. There was carrots,broccoli,swede,cabbage,roast parsnips, and poast potatoes! As well as a gigantic yorkshire pudding!
We have both worked very hard lately so we enjoyed the treat and will cook the shoulder of lamb that we had bought for today,tomorrow!!!

Todays Class

Here is the class of today,We had a great time- we spent more time in giggles than we did painting!from left to right---

Pauline and Irene'1' on the left of me had never painted before,Carole on the right of me has been to me before and is 'addicted to my classes' according to what she has written in my comments book.

Brian, to the right of her had tryed and failed to paint in other classes , and Hayley-- Caroles daugter was here doing her 3rd ever painting and Irene '2' on the right was scared stiff that she would not be able to do it!!

Every body enjoyed the class today-we were in uproars at Pauline who decided that one of her tree's was to be called'Angela'Why '?-we dont really know-she just thought it should be!

Irene'2' was a scream--she was to be todays ''fiddler''of which we always have one!

In every class we have one person that 'fiddles the most' that just wont leave the painting alone-and today that prize went to Irene '2'

And in the other competition of ''''the person who used the most white paint''--another contest that we have in each class it was a close contest between Brian and Irene 2. And again Irene 2 won it!

The winner of the most paint on the hands and anything else was a toss up between me and Irene 2!

And I won it hands down when we counted how many baby wipes we had used!

The muckiest palette was won by Brian-whose palette was a mud bath by the time we had finished! Everything was grey!

4 of the 6 have booked for next weeks class which has changed from 'Snowy Day' to 'Summer Day', as I have said on my website -nothing is set in stone with the classes and if people want to paint a particular painting we will do so!

Latest Painting

This is my latest painting-well not quite-I decided that I wasnt completely happy with my latest Summer Day painting so decided to make a few alterations to it!

It was just crying out for some palm tree's on the tranquil beach.

So when we had a quiet few minutes on the craft fair today I added these palms.

I am a lot happier with it now and it will be the subject for a class later on in the year.

Snowy Day

I ahve spent an enjoyable afternoon painting the latest new painting that we will be doing in a class on Saturday 7th July.

It is quite an easy one for beginners and more experienced students alike.

Great Encaustic Pic!

I failed to get this talented boys name today as it was so hectic! He painted the most beatiful encastic painting of a butterfly in no time at all!
He went away with the full kit of the encastic set and extra wax's and card-I just know I will be seeing more of his work in the future-he was a natural at it!
Within seconds he had reconised that he had the vague shape of one butterflys wing and quickly added another, then the body and some more colour to the wings!

Ludlow

There is a lot going on in Ludlow this weekend-the annual green-festival is taking place just outside the venue where the craft fair is,on the market square. Check out www.greenfestival.co.uk
On Sunday the market will be full of plants and things for the garden at the green fair

Lots going on for all the family, demonstrations and lots to see and do.

Also going on in the same building as us will be a big book sale that always attracts lots of people.
It promises to be a very busy weekend even if the weather isnt great.
Its also the annual carnival with proccessions all through the town, so if you are in the area pop in a and say hello!

Silvery Moon

This a triptch that I started some time ago and got put to one side!
I have had a finishing up day today when I went through all the stuff that I wasnt quite happy with.
I have done the sky again and added a moon, and also gone over the sea again.
I am very pleased with this painting now, the metallic paint really works well on water.
It measures 72 cm x30cm and it is £80 including P+P to Uk

Desire

As you can probly see, I have been tempted to have a play around with one of my recent works'Desire'
I was not completely happy with it, it just wasnt vibrant enough in some places.
I have reinforced the bits I wasnt quite happy with and also turned it round again, from vertical to horizontal.
I am much happier now.The strength of colour is much stronger in real life than on the screen.

You can see why so many people love my easel-when we do the craft fairs and demos we often catch people standing looking at it,it is a work of art in itself!!
This painting is 90cm x30cm and is for sale at £150 including P+P in UK