Craft Fair

We had a great day at the craft fair today.

It rained pretty much all day which ment that all the visitors that had come to town for the vintage car show ended up coming inside to us!

I have taken lots of bookings for classes and sold a few of my smaller paintings. We are back there at the bank holiday weekend for 3 days and I will be doing the class that is booked there too--We have been given loads of room in the venue so I will kill 2 birds with one stone!

Close Up

I just had to put a close up pic of Carole with her painting. She was so chuffed today!

She got everything just perfect and you could tell she was pleased when she signed her painting!!

You would never belive how nervous she was when she first came to me just a few weeks ago--she had no confidence at all-now she is producing beautiful works of art with ease!

She was terrified of doing trees at the last class--today she produced the most beautiful tree's within minutes using the knife and a brush from the £1 shop!!!

You really dont have to spend a lot of money to get great results!

I am really looking forward to the next class with Carole and Co!

Everyone is going to be amazed at what she has done today-she couldnt wait to get home and show everyone her painting!

Craft Fair

We are doing a craft fair tomorrow in aid of the air ambulance-a fantastic cause.
I shall be demonstrating all day using oils and acrylics and Bill will be demonstrating the encautsic art---he is getting really good at it amd has sold several pieces at various WI's!!!
It is also the vintage car show in town and it promises to be a busy day.
We set up a lot of our stuff yesterday and we have a car full to take tomorrow! Up bright and early---got to be there at 7:30am , so off to bed now!!!

GREAT CLASS!

As you can see we had some fantastic results today with the Waterfall painting.

I gave everyone the option of 2 different paintings with 2 different waterfalls and colours.This gave an interesting mix of paintings at the end!

It is so interesting to see how the paintings develop----wide waterfalls,-thin ones,-several of them,- just one, the skys the limit! Thats what makes my classes so interesting!

We all started out with the same colours on the palettes but look how different the paintings turned out!

There is one person missing from the line up though--Bill joined in the group after Carole's daughter Hayley couldnt make it!

He did a great painting but chickened out of having his pic taken with the rest of them!

Carole was over the moon with her painting!

Pauline next to her had never painted before and this was birthday pressie from her husband.

Pete next to Pauline has never painted before and he was suprised at how easy it was,Kevin on the right has been to some other classes in Woverhampton and said he was far more relaxed in my class and learned more than he had before in previous classes with an approved instructor!!!.

He is off to The Works in Kidderminster on Monday to buy some of their large round brushes and their 2in brushes, which are just £1 each and also calling at the £1 shop for a set of the flat brushes.

Little Darling!

I cant belive how quickly little Callum ,our first grandchild is growing up,now just over 3 months old, he is laughing like a good un!!!

We called by last night as he was having his bath and boy does he love it, kicking and splashing the water everywhere!

He is starting to get a real personality and he certainly reconises people.

I cant wait to get him painting!!!!!

Penny's One 2 One

I had a lovely time today teaching Penny to paint the waterfall painting.

We put the world to rights while painting--she was so easy to get on with and we had a lot in common.

She is coming again in June to paint Summer Day.

Although she had painted before, she found the technique easy to do and very satisfying to find the painting develop so quickly with amazing results.

There was a small piece that she was not quite happy with as we neared the end, down by the waters edge on the left,--the solution was to turn the bit of foliage into some bullrush's which worked a treat and added another bit of depth to her painting as it looks as if the water is behind them, she was more than happy with the end result, which we agreed looked very mystical!

Hadnall WI

We had a great turnout last night at Hadnall WI. It was a suprise to to see a member of the opposite sex there besides Bill!!! Here you can see Gordon enjoying his cake after the demo!

Gordon is a very keen watercolourist, as were many of the WI members and he came along to see the oil painting demo.

I painted 'The Waterfall' and 'Summers Day' paintings as these continue to be the most popular pictures of all.It also gives me the chance to show everyone how each brush produces different effects.

I have a group of 6 of them doing a class in August-everyone agreed that it was a lot easier than watercolour!!

The lady who won the draw and chose the Summer Day painting soon came up with 5 of her friends to join her to do the class!

I also took a booking for another WI for next year from some visiting members, so all in all a great evening was had by all.

Gorgon said he was considering joining the WI just to have the slap up food afterwards! There was certainly a fantastic spread of food there and the lemon drizzle cake was to die for!

Steve and Barbra

While we were away we met up with someone I have been speaking with on an art forum. Steve invited us to call by as he lives a short drive from where we were staying.

It was worth the drive-Steve and his wife Barbra live in the most beautiful little cottage.They used to run the local post office in the village but trade has been bad and they have now had to close and he is turning the shop/post office into a picture framing shop.

Judging by what he showed me of his work -he will do well there--we certainly wish them well!

It was most amusing when we were leaving to be told that their front lawn was in fact astro-turf-left behind by the last owner who used to hoover it regularly--I had to take a picture of it!

We were both amazed at Steves work-he showed us a lot of his paintings and the detail is amazing-they look like photographs-I am the now the proud owner of one of his limited edition prints of the local church, in return I left them an encaustic work and an oil piece.

The difference between the two of us could not be greater--Steve can take up to 6 months to complete a painting-each tiny detail is perfect--the man has the patience of a saint- while I can take as little as 4 mins to complete one--yet just the fact that we paint is enough for us to be able to meet up and get on like a house on fire, I felt as if I had known him for years!!

Thanks Steve for making us so welcome!

Tenby

I will be painting some pictures based on the photos we took when visiting Tenby whilst we were away.

Its the most beautiful town--so pretty.

As you can see its like a chocolate box picture, its so relaxing there.

The weather was great and we found some great places to eat--Im afraid the diet has gone out of the window since we have been away--the 1 1/2lbs I lost last week has gone back on joined by a little more!! Never mind its been worth it!!

I am looking forward to doing something different for a change-and I dont do buildings as a rule--watch this space!

Lots to Catch Up On!!!

We have just got back from the most enjoyable holiday!

We took Bessie off to Saundersfoot, nr Tenby for 4 days.

Just me and Bill and the caravan!

We stayed on a great site--very clean,quiet, loads of space between each van--I can recommend Moreton Farm highly if you want to get away from it all!

Great company,brilliant food,weather great,RELAXING!!!!!! What more could you want?

We have had a game of scrabble every night-something we had not done for some time-

I had forgotten what fun it was!!.

Simple pleasures , just relaxing away from work have done me the world of good, I have come back refreshed and ready for work again---thats here before I can turn around-I have a WI demo tomorrow night and a class on Saturday.

Jeans Masterpiece!!!!!

I have had the most enjoyable morning with Jean who had travelled over 70 miles to do her one to one class after recieving a gift voucher from her daughter for mothers day.

I met her daughter Debbie at the WI at Morville back in Feb.

Apparently Jean had expressed a wish to paint but like so many people thought she couldnt.

It only takes something like an off the cuff comment about someones art not being 'good'to put someone off painting for life.

Jeans teacher when she was schoolgirl had laughed at a painting she had done, and poor Jean has gone through life thinking until now that she couldnt paint-well shes proved she CAN paint today and she really enjoyed herself!!!!

She was really nervous when she arrived and said 'I wont be able to do this' I reasured her that she could and in less than 2 hours with a couple of breaks this is her finished result.

Her comment in the comments book says it all

''From fear to exhilaration in such a short time- the 70 mile journey was more than worthwhile'

I am so glad Jean enjoyed herself today,its so satisfying when you get someone who is scared stiff to achieve a beautiful painting, she wants to come and do some more classes so I will be seeing her again sometime.

She also wants me to go to Burton on Trent where she comes from to do demo for a group she belongs to.

another sale

This is the latest painting to sell, I must admit it is one of my favorites- quite simple but effective, bright and bold !!!
Its not going too far away from here--Monmouth-could almost deliver it in person!

Todays Class

We held our first class at our new venue today.We had some great classes at the old venue ,but it was a long way for Bill to carry the stuff needed for the class and also there is going to be some major building work going on there and the car park will not be able to be used.Many thanks to Julie for all her help while we were there.

The new venue- Guy Thornycroft is just up the road from us and just over the road from the new Travel Lodge, so it will be handy for anyone travelling a long way for the classes.

Due to late cancellations we only had Carole who has been once before and her daughter Hayley who had never painted before.

It was a painting that I had never tryed before in a class and they turned out lovely.

They both looked surprised when I explained that we use sponges to do the base coat. After the initial nerves of being faced with a clean white canvas both of them settled down to painting away with the sponges and the black acrylic paint, very soon they had the base for their paintings done.

Then with some blue , black and white oil paint they soon had the winter scene complete.

The trees finished off the painting lovely, and they were really happy with what they achieved .

Why does Sparky do this?

My dear cat has struck again! He has eaten about 6 of my beautiful houseplants recently!

I caught him having a go at this one and moved it into the bath --out of his way I thought, got up this morning to find that he has found it and finished the job good and proper!

Any ideas why he does it anyone?

Craft Fair

How are we supposed to stick to diets when you have a pig roast next to your stall all day at the craft fair!!!

The smell of bacon and pork sizzeling away all day is torture--we gave in at lunch time and had a beautiful pork bap complete with apple sauce,stuffing and a little crackling!

The one advantage is the smell of the cooking brings people from all around and while they are waiting for their pork baps to be prepare they wander over to my stall and usualy end up with something!!

Money

Its funny how money comes in one hand and goes out with the other!!
I recieved payment for some canvas I sold and then Bill decided that we needed some new stands for doing the craft fairs!
To be fair the old ones were getting tatty-but then they have done 3 years of being lugged around the country in a trailer to various fairs, and we couldnt get them in the caravan!!!
they will need to fit through the kitchen window of the caravan for transporting, cant use the trailer with the caravan!

So we have been off to the local builders merchants and bought the wood, Bill will be busy over the next few days making them.
Its a lot of work when you are a perfectionist like Bill.When he has made them they will have to be painted black and varnished to protect them.
The cost of the wood was exactly what the canvas cost , so no hardship really.And they will look great!

Busy Updating

I have spent most of the day updating various sites that I have my work on. There have been paintings to mark sold and news items to be updated.
A few new works have been added too.Its been a long day, we are on the craft market again on Thursday and Sunday so tomorrow will be spent getting everything ready for that.

Fun In Bessie

We had a great night last night-some very good friends came round for a BBQ, after quite a few drinks and loads to eat sitting around the chimanea watching the glowing embers we decided to christen Bessie!.

So off we went to the front of the house where she is parked and we settled down with the central heating on for a game of scrabble!

The neighbours must think we are mad-the sound of us drinking and laughing and generaly having fun must have echoed around the road.

It was fantastic, it is so warm and cosy in there- and at midnight I decided that the cooker must be tryed out and we had sausage baps and brown sauce, it tasted lovely!

We went off to the boot sale today and bougt a lovely colour TV for just a £5. Then we called back in town to go around the green market, called in Woolies and they had some kitchen utensils reduced to just 34p each, so there is very little we need now to complete the rig out in her!
I just know that we are going to have loads of fun with her.

Bessie

This is the latest addition to the family! Meet Bessie.She was a bargain off Ebay!

We have spent the past 2 days getting her cleaned up-she has been stood under a tree for 4 years and was a bit grubby.

She is going to be very useful when we do the 2 and 3 day craft fairs. There is a a loo and a shower -that was the only thing I insisted on when we started looking for one!

There is also a great fridge with ice box( Vodka and tonics will be nice and cold!) a big awning, even a burglar alarm!

We will be off to the boot sale tomorrow to get some bits and pieces to go in her-got to get a a portable TV, the ariel came with the caravan,complete with pole.

We are looking forward to shooting off for some short breaks soon!

Dorrington WI

We had a lovely night last night at Dorrington WI.

As you can see I was put up on the stage to do my demonstration,the bright stage lights made working on the black shiney canvas interesting to say the least!

Everyone was amazed to see how much detail was in the paintings when I took them into the audience to show them close up.

New Work-- Bubble Land 2

The picture above is a small part of the Bubble Land painting
The picture above is just a small part of the Bubble Land painting

This is the 2nd in my latest fantasy land encaustic works.
I love the vibrant colours in this work.
Each painting created using melted wax is totaly unique due to the unpredictabile nature of the medium.
It is for sale £15o including P+P

completed new work

This is the finished result.I love the vibrant colours in this work.
All that remains to be done is for the coat of special sealer to be applied to the surface to protect it.Then the hard part--cleaning the glass from the frame with out leaving any smears! Then I will be uploading it onto my website to sell!! It is for sale for £150 including P+P

New Work

Once the whole surface is covered in wax I can begin to manipulate it using the iron and the special tools that I use.
The pictures are close ups of parts of the painting-you can see how much detail appears in it as if by magic--you just couldnt achieve the same effect using paint-encaustic wax is a totaly unique way of creating art.

New Work

I have got started on the new encaustic work. I belive in recycling as much as possible so this is the perfect chance!
I bought 2 large framed prints at the local boot sale last week, so I have taken them apart and have used the print to work the wax onto. The large sealed surface is the perfect surface to do this technique.You can see how the painting is developing form start to finish.

Catching Up!

With the weather being so good , I have spent the time outdoors and now I have a lot of catching up to do-websites to update with all the new craft fair dates and paintings etc.I shall be knuckling down to it this week and getting everything up to date.
I am looking at a new venue for the classes a bit nearer home than the usual room I use. The parking is right outside the door so there will be less carrying for Bill to do, he is not supposed to carry anything heavy for any distance because of his heart.It is just as easy to find and I will be putting directions on the website when it is sorted out.

Sunday Night

Because as usual we had over-stocked with BBQ food and drink we invited all my family around for another BBQ on Sunday evening,as you can see my little niece'Bubbles', as she is now known enjoyed the chocolate gataux!

There are also a few more photos of 'Bubbles' that will catch up with her when its her 18th birthday!-she might regret having a face pulling competion with her uncle Bill!!!
These parties are ok until morning when you have the clearing up to do--thank goodness for dish washers!

Great Time At The Weekend

The weekend started off great--I backed the winner of the Grand National-Silver Birch because I paint so many of them!
I won £86;50p so I was chuffed to bits!
We had already arranged for all Bills family--his 3 boys and wives plus his brothers and sisters and families to come round for a BBQ on Saturday night, so it covered the cost of the food and drink!.
We had spent the day getting the summer house sorted out and the fridge plugged in there ready for the evening.We had a great time, Bill couldnt wait to try out his new toy-the chimanea properly, he got it fired up as it dropped dark and it was lovely--now all his family want one!

Latest painting

Here is my latest painting in my 'almost monochrome collection.Painted on 3 canvas each measuring 10in x12in this triptch looks good on any colour wall.
I have added the detail with melted wax and they will be varnished tomorrow and ready to go to their new owner.

Lovely Day

Well it was lovely to be able to have some time off today--what better way to spend it than a trip to the biggest boot sale we have been to for ages!
Boy did we have some bargains!

We couldnt resist this lovely chimerea for the garden--our BBQ's have been known to go on long into the night and now we wont notice the chilly evening air-Bill has loads of wood around the place to burn in our new patio heater!
We couldnt resist trying it out this afternoon,it was beautiful,just listening to the wood crackling away while we sat drinking our rose wine was so relaxing it was unreal!
Bill alao bought a great big piece of solid oak-he is going to be busy down in his shed making me some lovely chopping boards.

But the best bargain I had today was 2 great big framed pictures complete with glass and mounts that were just £1:50p each! I will be using the pctures that come with the frame.
Prints are always done on shiney paper that is ideal for encaustic art--it is almost immpossible to get paper bigger than A4 size for encaustic work so whenever I can I always buy prints and reverse them to work on with the melted wax.I shall have a busy day tomorrow creating some new encaustic work, it will be a first to work on this size so Im quite excited and looking forward to it!

Craft Fair

We had a great day yesterday at the craft fair--the weather was great and there were loads of people around-all in the mood to spend!
We only had one stall instead of the usual 2 but Bill soon sorted it out so we had as much room as we do when we have 2 stalls--you simply extend backwards.
It worked perfectly, our new table is almost twice the size as the old one and we got everything out just right.
The usual thing happened--it dosent matter how many small paintings I have in my racks, mounted and ready to frame-people always want the ones that I have painted in front of them-so we had to be very careful how we got the wet paintings home so they can be posted off to their new homes as soon as they are dry!
The paintings above are some of the ones I painted yesterday.

Class

Here you can see the happy,proud faces of todays class.
Susan was back for the 5th time--her family keep nicking her paintings off her as soon as she takes them home--this time the painting is a gift for her mums birthday--Im sure she will love it!
10 year old Jordan joined us for the 2nd time today, he really enjoyed his self again and cant wait to come again! his mum was amazed when she came to pick him up and saw his Summer Day painting.
Carole came from Leominster by bus and Bill picked her up from the bus-stop-when the bus eventualy arrived-we were getting worried something was wrong when the bus didnt turn up,they had changed the times due to it being easter.
Any way after a slightly later start than planned the day went beautifully, everyone enjoyed it and some beautiful paintings were done.
Susan and Carole are coming to the next class which is the Walk in The Snow painting which is created using both acrylic and oil paint.
Jordan is coming again in the summer holidays when I will be getting a childrens class sorted all being well.
Its funny how children have no fear of the canvas while the adults can be almost too afraid to apply paint to start with,especialy when doing a painting on a white canvas!

Time For a New Painting!!!

I found this 3 ft canvas that I had started last year when having a sort out, I had only got as far as doing the sky when it got put away for some reason.
I havent painted a large canvas for a while so I am going to have a go at something today!
In my head I wanted to do something along the lines of 'summer day' but using different colours but who knows where it will end up. I know I will enjoy myself and thats all that matters really!

new painting part 2

I have added some hills and water in the background and have put in the rough outline of some dunes in the foreground.I love to play with the paint at this stage and because its wet on wet the paint moves around very easily on the canvas. Im not sure at this stage exactly what I want to achieve,I have so many ideas going around in my head when I get in a creative mood, it can go from one thing to something completly different in a few brush srokes!

new painting part 3

I have decided to be brave and put some long grasses in the painting to give it more feeling of depth.

new painting part 4

Well as you can see, its nothing like the summer day painting!!
It was lovely to go with the flow and this is what I ended up with, the daisies are in really thick paint and stand out from the canvas,its totaly different from what I expected to do.
Thats what I love about being creative,I can switch off from all outside forces and just pick some tubes of paint from my box and create things like this.
Its the most enjoyable afternoon Ive had for a while.

Happy Easter!

I recieved a lovely surprise through the post today from my friend Tom! The only easter egg that will be passing my lips this easter!!.
I had gained half a pound at the weigh in yesterday, so I am back to it now!
It was very hard to stick to the diet in Ireland because we went out everyday for meals-but I didnt gain any weight while there so that was something!
Im finding it hard to get back into the routine of preparing meals since I got back though!
So a big thank you to Tom--I will savour it later!!!

Feliway

Well we have bought the plug-in recommended by the vet and its has worked great. Its called Feliway and scince we plugged it in Sparky has been a different cat, much more laid back and even catching mice again--something he hasnt done for months.
As you can see from the photo Sparky is well zonked curled up in his bed which he had never even looked at before we used the Feliway.
If you have a cat that is stressed for any reason I would recommend using one. Its available from vets but I found it much cheaper at a site on the web.

Having a Laugh

This is Phyllis who joined us for 2 of the classes in Ireland--she was a scream--on the Sunday she managed to get more paint on her face than on the canvas almost--she was so funny-every colour we had on our pallette she got on her face!! Good job we had a good supply of baby wipes with us to keep wiping her face clean!
We will be keeping in contact with Phyllis by email when she gets back home,she will be showing us what other paintings she does.

Irish Scenery

There was some beautiful scenery where we were staying in Ireland, this lake was at the back of Ruth and Jasons house where we were staying.