Nice To Be Appreciated

I have hd some lovely surprises over the past few days-on Saturday Carol presented me with this beautiful arrangment that she had made as a thank you gift for me, its really beautiful and is sented with rose oil so my room is filled with the most beautiful scent all the time.

I had a letter from Jan (Mrs Subtle!!!) who attended the class at Hadnall a couple of weeks ago thanking me for a great time and booking herself and her daughter in law in for the Tropical summer day class on the 10th Nov.

This morning I had a lovely letter from Alice who I met on Saturday at Onslow Park. She was a very keen student and created a beautiful encaustic painting.Her dad came back first thing on Sunday morning to buy an encaustic set for her as she was so excited by the experience.

Unfortunatly I had sold out of everything except for my demonstration set and a pack of card, I managed to make up a box of waxes out of my own and we eventualy managed to make up a set for Alice to start creating at home. Its so nice when youngsters take the time to say thank you. I will be writing back to Alice and enclosing a few more encaustic cards for her to frame and hang on her wall!!

Saturdays Class

We had a fantastic time in last Saturdays class.

Carol, Hayley, Jan and Mandy were as keen as can be to get cracking on ''the birch tree's'''

Jan was 1 st time artist who was a little nervous to begin with but she soon settled down and within minutes was saying what fun it was.

Carol and Hayley are now old hands at this painting lark--this was Carol's 9th picture and Hayleys 6th.

Mandy has been to me once before, but has done a couple of brilliant pictures at home which she showed us photos of.it was a beautiful sunny day and we went outside to flick the paint at the paintings to do the bark on the trees.Everyone managed to get freckles at this stage!

We used the encaustic pen to add detail of pink melted wax afterwards.

Everyone is bringing their paintings back for this Saturdays class for Bill to varnish them.

Jan is also having hers framed into one of our contemporary black frames for her daughters birthday. What a lovely surprise she is going to get when she opens her present!!

Jan and Carol are coming back this Saturday to paint Stormy Skies.

Orange

I was without any internet connection all day yesterday, until late last night--very annoying-my orange live box had gone wrong--will update when I get back on Monday night now--Bill left early to go and fetch my friend who is pet sitting-her hubby needs the car this weekend.

Paddy and Sparky will be spoiled rotten again this weekend!

New Pictures

This another of my encaustic paintings that I have framed in a lovely frame that has frosted glass around the outside edges, it gives it a lovely effect.

The total size of the picture including the frame is 13in x13in and the price is £50 including P+P in Uk. If you are outside Uk please get in touch.

Getting Ready For The Weekend

My student Penny had to cancel at the last minute today because of a serious family illness, however I spent the time getting some of my 4 minute paintings mounted and cellophaned for the weekends craft fair at Onslow Park.

They prove very popular with customers, especialy when they see me in action painting them!!!

I have now replenished my stock and they are boxed up ready to go.

There is so much to sort out when doing these events, pictures to pack,encaustic stuff to sell, leaflets and business cards to remember and all the caravan stuff to get ready too.

I think we are about done as far as I can see!

Floor Getting Done

Here you can see what we found when we took up the flotex that has been down for donkeys years-and then the new tiles going down-it will look stunning when it is finished.

They can be grouted tomorrow, although I have a student coming for a one two one tomorrow so I will see how we get on., It wont hurt to have a break from it really.

Onslow Park Steam Rally

We are off at the weekend to Onslow Park steam rally.
For more details take a look at their website http://www.steaminsalop.co.uk/
We are taking the new caravan and can park it behind the marquee for the weekend.
We are looking forward to it a lot--just to get away from the hard work going on here!
Must get the house a bit straight though before we go for my friend whos coming to pet sit again!!
We have a class on Saturday morning before we set off for the steam rally, although we will get everything ready to go on Friday, just have to pack up from class and go.

Next Job

The next job is to sort out the dining room-lots of stuff has been dumped in there from the kitchen--we are sorting it out bit by bit--Freecycle is great-the double glazing is going to a new home in the morning, and my daughters old bike has gone to a new home instead of going to the tip.
Bill has knocked out the old dining room door and is going to plaster board it tomorrow, then it will be cleared ready to tile the floor.

Grouting!!!!!!!

Just to prove that I have done some of the work!!!

I spent most of yesterday grouting the tiles in the kitchen-we had the morning at the boot sale at Leominster, but got stuck in as soon as we got home. Sat down at 9pm last night, totaly knacked!!

It has been a long job, but so worth it. The kitchen is really looking good now--just couldnt resist calling at Morrisons and picking up a new chrome bread bin and some new trivets to match!

Who Wanted Mosaic Tiles!!

I didnt realise when I chose the tiles for the kitchen walls, just how much work was involved in grouting them! 2 days Ive been at it, but what a difference its made, the whole lot looks much lighter than before, I will take some more pics tomorrow so you can see the difference.

I decided to tile behind the dishwasher and the cooker, or rather I wanted Bill to tile behind the dishwasher and cooker, so this has made more work for him-hes very patient with me bless him!

Nearly Finished!

Bill has worked very hard today doing the tiling--its hard to imagine that he has tiled the walls without using a tile cutter once! The tiles come on a hesian backing and you simply cut through to the required shape.

We will have to go to Hereford tomorrow because I have decided I want some more tiles putting up behind the bin under the worktop and we are a few short for around the windows.

Tomorrow I will grout the tiles while Bill has a well earned rest!

I am chuffed to bits with the result so far-might just call in Dunhelms in Hereford and check out the blinds for the new windows, the chap came and measured up tonight , so we will know the damage tomorrow! The house will be unreconiseable by the time we are finished!!

Getting On!!

As you can see-the tiles are taking shape very quickly-Bill satrted them at 11am and has finished that wall already-there have been a few swear words uttered here and there, and he says he will be seeing squares in his sleep-but I just love it.

I will have the job of grouting them tomorrow I expect-there will propley be a few more choice words then!!!

Lucky Toads

These are my 2 lucky toads-they are very special 3 legged toads that are supposed to bring money luck! They sit on a pile of money and hold a lucky chinese coin in their mouth.

You keep them by your front door and give them a rub when you pass them by!

I keep my lottery tickets underneath them and so far it seems to be working a treat!

When you have some money luck you have to thank them--I bought one for my mum when we went on holiday last year and she laughed when I told her they were for-within a few days she had a big win at bingo! My sister in law also had a lottery win shortly after recieving one as a gift from me!

Stripping

I spent most of yesterday stripping----grime off the top of the kitchen cuboards and off the wall tiles ready for retiling.

Sugar soap is the most amazing stuff ever invented-just one wipe with the sponge soaked in the soloution and the results were amazing!!!

Bill was very impresses with the results.!

He has finished putting up the tiles in the extra bits that I wanted them-after taking down the old cooker hood I decided that I wanted a bigger area tiling than was done before.Bill has decided to tile over exising tiles rather than remove them and risk having to replaster the walls- so today is the big day when the new tiles are going to start going up over the top .

We decided last night that we would like a new double glazed window in the kitchen to replace the secondry glazed one, of course that means that we might as well replace the bathroom window while we are at it , so we have the man coming round at 6pm to measure up!

To think that all this started cos I went to focus to get some odourless thinners!!!

If we hadnt had some luck on the lottery's we wouldnt be able to do it, but the way Im spending it I will need another win tonight! Im off to rub my lucky 3 legged toad!

Exhibition

In December I am holding my 2nd solo exhibition at Leominster Library this year,

along side it will be my students work produced in the classes-everyone is looking forward to it and it will be interesting for people to see the difference in everyones work-even when produced in the same class!!

Here is Penny, one of the many students who will be putting all of her work done with me in class into the exhibition.

Latest Painting---Manic

I spent most of the day in-between speaking to people- and doing demonstrations ,painting the latest in my abstract collection.

Painted in oil, this painting is called'' Manic''

It measures 80 cm x 70 cm and is painted onto staple free box canvas that does not require framing.

The cost of this painting is £150 including P+P to Uk.

If you are outside Uk please get in touch for details.

Craft Market

We had a fantastic day on the craft fair today.
The weather stayed good-sunny and warm-better than forcast!
Lots of people interested in painting classes-some interesting chats to visitors too--some people from Suffolk stopped by for a long chat. I am looking forward to hearing from them again.

Class in Hadnall

We went to Hadnall today to do a class of WI ers who we met earlier in the year.

We set up in Christinas consevatory which was very good of her!!

From the left we have Barbra, Betty,Liz, Jean, Christina and Caroline.

We had such a laugh -they were all nervous and convinced that they wouldnt be able to paint the picture-and all over the moon with what they achieved.

There was quite a variety of different sky's , ponds and trees as always. It is quite fasinating to watch how each student interprets every thing I tell them and show them-although we all use the same materials, each painting is totaly individual to each student-

All todays students were keen to paint again and I look forward to meeting up with them all again-next time at Carolines place !!!!!!!

New Class Saturday 10th Nov

''Tropical Summer Day''

This is a version of the popular ''Summer Day'' painting.

It is suitable for beginners and experienced artists alike.

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

www.paintingmyway.co.uk

New Class 3rd Nov

''Snowy Day''

This is the subject of the Saturday 3rd November class.

It is suited to all abilities--even if you have never painted before -you can paint this picture.

Please get in touch through the website to book

www.paintingmyway.co.uk

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

New Class Saturday 20th Oct

''Mystical Forrest'' is the subject for Saturday 20th Oct.

It is suitable for both beginners and experienced artists alike.

PLease get in touch to book through the website

www.paintingmyway.co.uk

New Class 6th Oct

''Poppy Field''

This is the subject for the class on Saturday 6th Oct. We will be painting it on a different shaped canvas though to ease transport !

It is suitable for beginners and experienced artists alike.

Please contact me through the website to book.

http://www.paintingmyway.co.uk/

Robbies Painting

Ive spent an interesting morning with Robbie from Wolverhampton. Its his 5th class with me, and today he wanted to do an abstract painting on a large canvas.

After looking through some of my paintings he decided to do one like 'Beneath the Waves''

Its an interesting painting to do, built up in layers and layers of paint.

It was quite funny to watch the proccess, because each stage was very good as a painting in itself, the first layers looked almost like a giraffe skin,the second layer looked like a photo of the world taken from space, and after the finished article looked like the underwater scene intended.

He is coming back later this month to paint a large seascape.

WELL DONE TRINE !!!!!!

Im so proud of my friend Trine's success in the art world.
Trine came over to stay with us for a week last year from her home in Norway and we had a great time.
She has just had a great article about her in Teen Trend magazine, she has worked very hard to get to where she is and we wish her loads more sales and success.
You can see her work and more on her blog http://www.mtv65.blogspot.com/

Decorating

I cant belive the difference already that a coat of paint has made to our kitchen. We have painted it white, I am painting the whole ground floor white,walls, ceiling everything, its the easiest option!

The new tiles will be going on the walls soon, We are going to tile over the existing ones to make life easier!

What a Difference a Few Weeks Make!

This the same stretch of river just a couple of weeks apart-amazing isnt it, the horseshoe weir is visible again, and Harry the Heron is underneath his tree!!

Green Man

We had this beautiful green man off freecycle yesterday, its a great site and we will be putting loads of stuff on there as we de clutter the house ready for the major decorating/tiling task!!!

I didnt realise how much stuff we have got a around us till we started to move it all out to start the kitchen!

Commissions

I am working on 2 commissions at the moment-the glass portholes for 2 doors and a painting of a local church at Corley-neither of which is my usual sort of thing.

Ive made a start with the glass-Im experementing with some different colours which the client wants and I am emailing the different examples to her to see which she likes the best.

Getting Ready For Holiday

I have been ordering the canvas's ready for the painting holiday at St Audries Bay.

We are there for 2 weeks this time, so I am having the canvas delivered straight to the venue.

Last year we had to take a small suitcase because the art stuff took up a lot of room in the car, as we are there for longer I need a bigger suitcase!!!

I am working on some new paintings to do there, we will be having several acrylic painting days as well as a couple of encaustic painting days as well.

The Summer Day painting will be popular as always.

The C Word !

I know the suns been shining for a little while now, but Bills thoughts have already turned to CHRISTMAS!!!!
The local Julian Graves shop has had a half price sale for 2 days and Bill has been and got his fruit for his christmas cakes.
It was a bargain I suppose, and its good to get oranic fruit too-but will anyone tell the difference after all the brandy and sherry has gone into the cakes!!!!

BBQ

Well after a morning mooching at the car boot sale, we decided to hold a family bbq, so we rushed off to the supermarket to stock up with steak and burgers, I have made some of my celery,nut, apple and sultana colslaw and Bill has made his own colslaw cos he dont like celery!
I have also made a delicious mango and tomato sweet chilli salsa to go with it all--I think the diet has gone out of the window this weekend somehow-but you have to make the most of this weather!!
Off now to prepare some more food!

Next Class August 25th

This is the subject of the next class on Saturday 25th August. There are just 2 places left for this class, it is different to my usual classes in that we will be working in acrylic apint and encaustic wax instead of the usual oil paint. Of course that means that the paintings will be dry for everyone to take home for a change.

Todays Class

This is todays class, from the left-Hayley, Carole, Brian, Jean and Sarah.

We had decided to do a mystical waterfall painting, and the results were beautiful.

It was the first time for both Sarah and her mother-in -law Jean who I had met at Shobdon Food and Drink Festival, and they were very surprised at what they achieved in their first class.

They all had an 'enchanted' look about them, right from the onset the paintings were completly different to each other, Sarah's sky was great, it drew you into the painting right from the start, Jean was a little nervous to start with and had to be encouraged to do a little more to her sky.

Everones waterfalls turned out completely different to each others, the difference is quite amazing we had big ones, wide ones -- all shapes and sizes!!.

Sarah also turned out to be a natural at tree's, much the same as Carole--its funny how some people find some things easier than others,some find trees a doddle and some find them more difficult, others find the waterfall harder than others.But that is what makes the classes interesting for both me and the students--we had such a laugh today- Sarah also won the messiest palette competition that we have every class-as you can see there isnt much space left on there!

Becki's Birthday

It was daughter Becki's 23rd birthday yesterday and a gang of us went out for a meal last night to celabrate, we intended coming home early after the meal but we were talked into going on to the Queen's as they had a soul night on there!! We all had a fantastic night-you can see Becki about to cut her cake watched by Rich, her boyfriends brother, and enjoying a boogie on the dance floor. We rolled in at 2am and my legs were hanging off from all the dancing!

Commission

I have been asked to paint a commission with a difference.
The customer has got 2 new doors with porthole windows in them. She wants an abstract seascape painting on them in glass paints so that the glass is still transparent-but she does not want any of the usual lead liner used to seperate the colours.
I have sorted out my paints and some old glass and Im going to spend the day tomorrow trying out some of the things I have in mind for her. Then I will email it to her for aproval and await the delivery of the glass!!!!!!!

Ray Of Light

I have been working on my latest painting in my abstract collection today.

Its called Ray of Light for obvious reasons!

I love the way the colours merge into one another--- yellow blue, green pink and purple, its hard to see where one starts and another starts.

It measures 80 cm x 70 cm and its painted onto staple free box canvas. The sides of the painting have been left black.

The price is £150 including P+P in Uk.

Tern Valley Show

We have just been informed that the 2 day event at Tern Valley has been cancelled due to the adverse weather conditions.
So we shall spend the weekend getting the house straight or then again, we might just clear off in the caravan for a few days!!!