Over 50's Club

I was doing a demo at the Ludlow Over 50's club on Friday afternoon.It made a change to see so many faces I reconised instead of a room full of strangers! We took Mum along with us as she has never seen me paint in the 10 years I have been putting a brush to canvas! There was a great turn out there..everyone loved the demo--again I was told they had never known the group to be so quiet as when the paintings were being done!.I had both paintings finished within the hour, although I seemed to do a lot of talking as well as painting..lots of 'oooh's'' and 'aaaahhh's'' as each stage of the painting was done, and even more when each painting was passed round and people could see the detail that had been put into them so easily...

Lucky winners of the raffle

Button Oak Art Club

Im off to do a demo tomorrow for Button Oak art club--Im really looking forward to it--I will paint 2 paintings while there as usual-- and explain why Im doing what--
I think I will paint a Winter Wonderland insead of the waterfall one tomorrow for a change!
On the way home we will call and collect PIP my daughters african grey parrot--we are looking after here while she is on holiday--her pet/house sitter isnt used to parrots so is going to look after the cat and house and leave Pip to us! Looking forward to it--though the house is going to feel very small with 3 huge cages in our front room!

Demos and Stuff!

We have an hours journey this evening to do a demo for Wellington WI. Will get car packed this morning so we are not rushing round before we go!

The demos always go down well with everyone-they find it amazing just how quickly the paintings happen-they see it all from start to finish!

Had a call this morning from Sue who was at the demo I did last week at Whitton-she has booked 2 places on the Forest Pool class for herself and her daughter as a birthday present.

I had a text from Justina who came for a private one to one a couple of weeks ago, she wants me to get a whole set of brushes, paints and mediums together for her when she comes back to Ludlow tomorrow.
Ive also got to get her booked in for another one to one!
She wanted to come next Tuesday but I'm already booked up to do a demo at Four Rivers In Ludlow, so we will have to sort out another date!

I'm on the craft market this Sunday for the first time this year-hope the weather is a bit warmer by then!

Its going to be a busy time by sound of it--we have the granddaughters Hollie and Lucie coming down on Saturday to stay the night as well while their mum and dad go to a wedding in town.
Haven't seen them for a while-bet they have grown a bit!

Ive got a commission to do for a lady who wants one of my Poppy paintings that I do in acrylic and wax-she likes the one on 4 canvas but wants the same thing on a 3ft canvas instead.

Ive ordered it and will make a start when it arrives-I love doing these paintings--lots of layers of paint built up over and over and then the touchy feely wax goes on before having 4 layers of varnish to protect it all.

Well I'm off to start getting paintings etc ready for tonight--

Sunflowers class April 3rd

I have now decided that this painting will be the subject for the class on April 3rd.

Its painted in oils and is suitable for all ages and abilities from children and first time artists.
We will use a 12in x 24in chunky canvas.

I will be making a separate class of the other sunflower painting done in acrylic later in the year.
For more details please check out the website where you can now book and pay for the classes online if you wish!

www.paintingmyway.co.uk

Whitton WI Demo

We had a late night tonight after travelling over to Whitton WI to do a demo for the ladies there.It is only a small group so they had invited a few visitors as well.
We got there for 7pm and set up the display stands and table with the cards of my paintings for sale etc.

I started my demo with The Waterfall painting on a black canvas and I was soon getting lots of questions about the technique I was using from the ladies!
They were astonished at how quickly the painting was done before their eyes, and when I took the painting round for them to see at close range they couldn't believe the detail I had got in there !
Bill cleared away the dirty brushes and put out my clean ones ready to paint the second painting while I was chatting to the ladies.
I painted Serenity in Green on the white canvas--but forgot to take a picture of it-will ask the secretary to take one and email it to me!
The winner of the raffle Maureen was one of the visitors and she was thrilled to bits to win-she chose The waterfall as her prize and I donated the Serenity painting to the WI.
Lots and lots of my leaflets went and several of the ladies want to come to join us in class-we will look forward to seeing them again!
We stayed for some delicious sandwiches and cake before loading up the car and heading for home at 10.15pm--it was a late one getting home but dont mind that when we have met such a lovely bunch of ladies!

Classes for 2010

At last Ive been able to sit down and sort out some dates for next year-hard to believe its nearly here-where has the time gone?

Anyway Ive done the dates until March 27th 2010-- if you want to join us in any of these classes please contact me via the website to book your place--I have increased the class numbers to 9-though some of the classes I can accommodate a few more--but if this year is anything to go by-places will go very quickly so you will need to book earlier rather than later.
You can book via the website www.paintingmyway.co.uk

Knowbury WI

For once we didn't have far to travel to do the latest demo-just 3 miles up the road to Knowbury village hall.
The new stands mean that the setting up time is cut by over half which is great for both me and Bill!
They were a lovely group of ladies and lots of questions were asked throughout the evening about the painting technique.
I had some of the lovely mauve paint left over from the day before so decided to use that up and instead of painting the usual Summer Day painting I did a Serenity one instead.
I hadn't painted a waterfall painting for absolutely ages so that was my choice for the black canvas.
I started my demo at 10 past 9 and I had finished my demo and talk by 9pm!

I think everyone was gobsmacked by how quick the technique was and just how much detail there was.
Carol won the raffle and chose the Serenity painting-and the WI were more than happy to accept the Waterfall picture to use for raising funds for their chosen charity.
We are looking forward to seeing Carol on Saturday-she has booked for Poppies and Daisies and also Mellow Moods in August.

Summer Days

Theres nothing quite like a nice rib eye steak done on the BBQ.!Lots of salad and some good wine! Although we have been having a BBQ every evening since Friday, making the most of this beautiful weather,I was happy to find that Ive still lost some weight!
So Im a happy bunny!
We are doing a demo tonight , so hope all our hard work isnt spoiled by the usual lovely food we get at the WI's !

Forest Pool April 18th

There are only 2 places left now for this popular class subject "Forest Pool"
We will painting this using oils onto a black canvas.
Suitable for all ages and abilities including first timers.
If you would like to join us for this class please get in touch via the new website
www.paintingmyway.co.uk

First Commission of 2009

Ive just finished going through the details of my latest commission with Angela who wants me to paint a mixture of Fire In The Sky and Heat, in oil on a large canvas.
I'm hoping I have got a canvas in the store so I can get cracking tomorrow.
I love working on commissions-its so exciting to interpret exactly what someone wants in paint onto canvas.
I shall be sending Angela regular emails showing how the painting is coming along, she will have as much input as she wants in the finished painting although she has told me to use my artistic licence as much as I want, so Im really looking forward to it!
Will keep you all posted of it on here too!

Annabels Class

It was a special day for one lucky little girl.

Annabel (on right) celebrated her 12th birthday today. Annabel came along with her friend Beth and her mum Jane for a birthday treat.

Her mum Jane has been to 6 of my classes before and today she received her brooch I award to advanced students.

The girls had looked at the websites and chosen a combination of several paintings that they fancied doing.

They chose a seascape but in warm colurs of yellow ,oranges and reds.

Everyone was surprised at how quickly the paintings developed, and how different they were to each other.The girls were very good at at using the knife for the waves,and needed very little help with it.

The day went well with loads of intervals to listen to what Jake was coming out with--everyone was creased with laughter at him!

We put the birds outside when the weather is good as the sunshine is good for their health--all the neighbours love him and come outside to chat to him!

Today we had the full works off him he didnt shut up all day--seagulls, hellos, good boys, I loves Becki, I loves Bill , Jakes a clever boy,wolf whistles and now he has got the Clint Eastwood-the good , the bad and the ugly theme off perfectly! He started laughing like Jane at one stage which amused everyone!

After we had finished the paintings I got out the encaustic art stuff for everyone to have a go.

They loved it--what Annabel didn't know at the time but will do by the time she reads this-is that her very kind mum had bought all of the equipment off me in order to carry on doing it at home as a surprise present!

She really is a very lucky girl to have a mum like Jane!

I know they will have hours of fun with it.

They went home with something else totaly unexpected--some baby stick inscects and the tank we used to keep ours in!

We gave ours to my sister and they have been busy breeding--so she had some spare ones.Annabel is going to share them with her friend Beth.

I also printed off some photos of them all to take with them as a memento of their day with me!

Hopefully we will be seeing Jane next week for the Birch Tree Class.

Jake and Paddy Parrots

Every day is a laugh a minute with the parrots. Jake learns something new everyday.

Bill had a sneezing fit the other night and all Jake has done since is sneeze and say in my voice ''Oh dear Jake'' ''Poor Jake''

When we went away for a couple of nights to do a demo at Wellesbourne Art Society, my daughter and her boyfriend moved in to look after all the livestock--when we returned Jake was talking in her voice--we knew exactly what they had said to him cos he was saying it all to us!

He soon learned to do Paddy's squawk too, but after we covered him up for doing it once too often( A little voice was then heard coming from the covered cage''hello'' ''hello''-he knew it wasn't bed time as he could still hear the TV!!) he soon learned it was not a popular thing to do--and now he tells Paddy to '''Shut up'' when he starts doing it! Its hilarious to hear.

They are sooooo intelligent and the best way to learn them something they do is wrong is to just cover them for 5 mins.We also use a clicker -the sort you use for training dogs.

Its amazing how quick they learn new things when you click and give them a treat.

Jake will copy Bill whistling any tune, he listens intently to everything we say to him and you can hear him practising new words all the time.

The next door neighbours love it when we put them outside-as we do most days when its fine-under the sun blind so they don't get too hot.

Jake talks away all day and he chats back to them over the fence!

Yesterday we had a shower of rain in the early evening-Paddy was upside down straight away enjoying the soaking, wings spread and really loving it--Jake wasn't so keen-never has been a lover of water!. They have to be showered regular to keep their feathers in good condition, so he has to put up with it!

Jake has also learned that if he puts his head into his stainless steel food bowl whatever he says echos so that is his favorite thing to do at the moment!

I dont think we have watched a complete programe on the TV since we had him--we end up watching him instead!

Shobdon Food And Drink

As usual we met up with all of last years exhibitors and had a quick catch up on all of the previous years events--we had our usual spot in the corner just through the entrance of the marquee.

My good friend Jones The Bead who makes fantastic beaded jewelry etc was at a wedding today so had a good friend of hers running the stall for her next to ours--cant wait to meet up with her tomorrow! She is a laugh a minute is Elaine!

We had to take Punky ( so called after the sticky up hairstyle hes got!) the baby chaffinch with us as he needs feeding every 20 mins or so and his chirping every so often had people curious as to what we were feeding in the little covered box!

We are feeding him a mixture of corned beef and brown bread crumbs mixed with water.

He gets so excited when we take back the tea-towel we use to cover his little box he dances from side to side before he starts feeding from the tweezers!

He is feeding so well, we let him out in the evening to stretch and strengthen his little wings--he can run around like a little mouse but cant fly much at the moment. I do hope we will be able to let him go soon and he can fend for himself.

When we let him out last night he jumped onto Jakes cage-squeezed through the bars and sat quite happily there with Jake wondering quite what this little ball of feathers was!

I asked for a small cage for him on Freecycle but was advised by a fellow Freecycler that Punky would be better off as he was in a small cardboard box as the baby birds tend to injure themselves on bars of cage trying to get out.So for now he will stay in his nest sized box.

We will really miss him when he goes..

Clive and Grinshill WI

We had a long journey last night to the Wi talk and demo at Clive and Grinshill.The normal room at Clive wasn't being used so we had to travel a couple of miles on to the village hall at Grinshill.

There was a full house of almost 40 members.

We set up early and sat back and listened to the Jerusalem anthem being sung and played on the organ--one of the better versions we have heard on our travels on the WI circuit!!

The members were amazed to see 2 complete oil paintings being produced in such a short time--I had quite a few questions fired at me while I was painting-and I'm always aware of the time--people need to be out of the village hall at a certain time usually so its a fine line between talking and painting! Bill keeps a close eye on the time as well, and hurries me on if need be!

Lots of the members were interested in doing a class in the future and I was asked if we would travel to the Grinshill to do a class----I explained that it would be better if they travelled to Ludlow---

By the time we get the car loaded and drive for over an hour to the location----set up the class with the easels, palettes,paint -- etc------do the class-----pack up --- drive home, unload----clean upwards of 100 brushes--I would have to charge more than I am at the moment. It would add at least 2 hours to what is already a long day ,and I don't think that would be a good thing for Bill or me!

I have kept my prices for the classes down to what they were when I first started up over 4 years ago--just £35 and that includes the canvas, paint, refreshments etc. I have absorbed the price increases of the canvas and paint etc without passing it on to my students.

I'm sure the people that were interested in coming to classes wont mind making the journey-the scenery is beautiful on route!

The raffle prize was won by Janet who chose the Summer Day painting.

Next Years Demos

I had forgotten that all the WI's and clubs book up at least a year in advance!!.
I had a call last night to book me for a demo next 2nd June 2009.

Its difficult to think so far ahead but decided on early June rather than July to go to , Leighton,Eaton and Constantine WI, as July tends to be a busy time of year for me.
Good job my diary has a forward planner in it!

Bills Garden

We have had a a busy few days. We wanted something unusual for a little pathway through the newly laid out garden- we found just the thing in the form of these slabs with ammonites detail on them, they fit in the colour scheme beautifully.

Now that the plants have started going in ,its really taking shape.

We have got a new patio set to go on the stone circle-cant wait for it to be finished and sit out there with a glass of wine or two!

We saw the giant fish ornament yesterday when we went searching the various garden centres and just had to go back for it today. Its going to live next to the fish pond.

The top of the garden , the patio area next to the house is looking a bit tatty and neglected after the transformation on the other 2 levels of the garden-its going to be the last bit to be finished by the look of things-Bill has got his tomatoes and beans in containers and grow bags on the patio and also some of the plants waiting to go in down the bottom end.The project is nearing the end--its been a lot of work but so worth it.

It will be a minimum amount of work to keep it looking good because of the special membrane that was put down under the gravel.

The summer house is almost ready for the first BBQ to celebrate the new look garden--most of the things stored in there have gone onto Freecycle and have all been collected-all that needs to be done in there now is de-spidering (Defiantly Bills job!)and plugging in the fridge in Bills Bar!!

Nat A Tat at the Craft Market

My sister in law Jan called by in the morning of the transport show along with my niece Natalie otherwise know as Rat a Tat or Nat a Tat!

Natalie is just 11 years old and normaly she loves to just have a go at the encaustic art, she did a couple of these melted wax paintings, then went off with her mum for a look around in the castle.

I got a call a from Jan a bit later to ask if Nat could have a go at the oil painting. she had been gagging to have a go when I was painting earlier!

They arrived shortly after , and I went through the different stages of the painting on my canavs paper and Nat did the same and we soon 2 paintings almost identical-much to the amazement of onlookers!

I went through each stage of the painting in the same way as I do in the classes-Nat was able to follow my instructions with ease-even with onlookers watching!.

It showed what can be achieved with instruction, and I will see some of the people watching later in the year!

Marden WI

We were over at Marden WI last night to do the painting demo, it was a stormy evening but just as we arrived there was the most beautiful bright rainbow above the hall .For once I managed to get a decent photo of it, you can see its a double one!
It wasn't the biggest group we have ever been to but as usual we were made to feel at home and we had a great laugh all evening.
EVeryone was surprised at the speed in which the 2 paintings were done,in around an hour the two were completed, and we were treated to a lovely cup of tea and a slice of lemon drizzle cake!
Sue won the raffle and she chose the "Summer Day" painting
Most of the ladies want to have a go at the painting at some point in the future, and they were going away to check out which pictures they would like to do.
At the end of the demo, one of the ladies came and asked if she could buy "Poppy Fields" which you can see on the stands behind me.Its for her little granddaughters 4th birthday-her name is Poppy and her nanny thought it would be something for her to treasure for years to come.
I wrote an inscription on the back of the painting for her, and I hope she enjoys her surprise pressie--Her nanny said she is expecting a new dolls pushchair!!
We have been asked to go back next year to do an encaustic evening which I will look forward to.Everyone will be able to have a go at it and create a postcard size painting!

Dilwyn WI Thursday March 20th

We were at Dilwyn WI on Thursday evening doing the usual demonstration,there were lots of questions from the audience during the demo, as several of the ladies were already artists.
One of the ladies went away with a free copy of 'Paint' magazine and the catalogue and joining forms for the SAA of I am a Professional Associate of the SAA (Society for All Artists) which means I carry their endorsement as a tutor and demonstrator.
For just £22 a year you recive high discounts on art materials, a bi-monthly Paint magazine and lots of other goodies.You can also enter their yearly art comptition.Well worth joining. The postage and packing is free if you are a member and they deliver the next day as a rule.

Dusting !!!!

Ive nicked this off one of the artists forums that Im on--sums it all up really! lifes too short to dust!--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dusting!

Remember...a layer of dust protects the Wood beneath it.

A house becomes a home when you can write 'I love you' on the
furniture

I used to spend at least 8 hours every weekend making sure things were
just perfect - 'in case someone came over'
Finally I realized one day that no-one came over; they were all out
living life and having fun!
NOW, when people visit, I don't have to explain the 'condition' of my
home.

They are more interested in hearing about the things I've been doing
while I was away living life and having fun.
If you haven't figured this out yet, please heed this advice.

Life is short. Enjoy it!

Dust if you must ......

but wouldn't it be better to paint a picture or write a letter,
bake bikkies or a cake and lick the spoon or plant a seed, ponder the
difference between want and need?!
Dust if you must,but there's not much time . . . .

with beer to drink , rivers to swim and mountains to climb,
music to hear and books to read, friends to cherish and life to lead.

Dust if you must,

but the world's out there with the sun in your eyes,
the wind in your hair,
a flutter of snow, a shower of rain.
This day will not come around, again.

Dust if you must ,
but bear in mind, old age will come and it's not kind. . .

And when you go - and go you must - you, yourself will make more dust!