Craft Fair

Today, although the weather was a bit iffy to say the least,was busy.As you can see we had plenty of warning of the showers that came along and had chance to cover things up!

I managed to paint the alterative "Summer Day " painting for Saturdays class and it recived a seal of approval from onlookers!.

Childrens Classes

I will be running a couple of childrens classes during the summer holidays due to demand!
As you can see---children produce beautiful works of art in my classes, they take to it like ducks to water.
They dont seem to have the fear of the canvas that some adults have.
They accept what I tell them without question--if I say'' bash the canvas with the brush'' they will do so, while the the adults look as if to say you are not supposed to bash the canvas!
If I say tickle the canvas the kids tickle without question!
I know its not the normal way to paint but thats why its called''Painting My Way''.
Anyway the class dates are to be sorted out shortly and will be posted both on here and my web site.

Mixed Bunch

We have a mixed bunch of people who come to the classes-ranging from small children to adults as old as 90 have been.

This Saturday Kevin is coming back for the 2 nd time and he is a Methodist Minister-although he was quick to point out in the last class ''dont hold it against me I am human as well'' which had us all laughing and broke the ice!

The same week Pearl came for her one to one lesson that her daughter had bought her, after we were finished she mentioned that she was a Jehovah's Witness and she would be doing more paintings to give as presents for her 5 daughters!

Talk about a mixed bunch!

its Kevins wifes birthday on Saturday so the painting will be an ideal pressie for her-we are doing a version of Summer Day. There are going to be several changes to the original painting,something I will be working on when on the craft fair on Thursday.

Another busy week!

Well after the busy weekend- we were looking forward to a bit of a quiter week, unloaded all the paintings and lugged them up the stairs ready for the next big event when we will need them all-----then Bill checked and saw that we are on the local Ludlow craft market this thursday so they all have to come down again!
Thats the trouble when its so busy, its easy to forget-I had it in my head that the craft fair was next week!

Craft Fair

Well it was soooo busy today at the craft fair-its a good job Bill was there too! I was kept busy all day with teaching children how to do encaustic art and doing demonstrations of my 4 minute paintings for people!I have to post one wet painting off --when it dries.Funny how people always want the wet ones-it doesnt matter how many similar ones are dry and mounted in the rack-they always want the wet ones!

The weather stayed dry but cold which was great for the carnival and everything else that was going on in town.

I have 10 small wet paintings drying in the garage which will be mounted and for sale at the next event. I have to catch up with the small paintings-I have nearly sold out of stock and with there being over 130,000 people expected at the 3 counties show in a few weeks, I need to replenish my stock!

Starfish

This painting created using an electric iron and special beeswax caused quite a stir when I was creating it at the craft-fair today.
It measures 21cm x29cm and is created using just coloured beeswax and an electric iron.
This is the affordable way to buy this successful artists latest work.
The more you view this work, the more you will see, creatures from the deep or just weird things-you need to view this work live to see it at its best!
The price-un-mounted and un-framed is just £40 including P+P in UK.if you are outside UK please get in touch for details.

Star Gazing

This painting drew so many gasps from the crowd as I painted it -it was unreal!

I used my special tool instead of the useual iron to create the image that measures 21cm x29cm.

So much depth and so much to look at-this painting has everything if you are into abstract art!.

The colours are vivid and crisp but there is so much to look at, and the more you look the more you see!

This is the affordable way of collecting my work,which is getting more and more collectable ---un-mounted and un-framed.

This work is priced at just £40 and comes unframed and unmounted so you can choose how to display it.

Fantasia ll

This is one of the encaustic paintings I worked on today.The detail has to be seen to be belived.
It measures 21cm x 29cm and is available unmounted and unframed for just £40 including P+P to UK. Please get in touch for P+P outside UK
It would look great in a black mount and chunky frame but that is just personal preference!
It is called 'Fantasia ll 'and is very bright and vivid.
A great chance to buy art from this popular british artist ar affordable price's.

Brilliant Day

Despite the weather-which in a way worked to our advantage because people came in the craft fair out of the rain-we had a great day!

I sold loads of encaustic art-which people saw being produced as they stood watching, and some of the encaustic art materials I sell were going to be making their way to the USA and Canada!!!

Coventry Class

This happy group came all the way from Coventry to do the class today.Cheryl (2nd left )had booked it for Grant (on left) 40th birthday.

We had such a laugh- they were a great bunch and I think we will see them again!

As you can see the paintings turned out quite different to each other-some were quite bold with the colour wash and some more subtle!

Grant certainly had a birthday to remember after the class they were off to The Feathers for tea, then back to Coventry to go to the theatre-and Im told there are more suprises to come tomorrow--Grant should think his self lucky he has such great friends!!!

Talking of friends-a lady and her hubby came talking to us for quite a while after the class,then about an hour later she was back-they had lost their keys and were retracing their steps.We looked and couldnt find them anywhere, so phoned my son who is a mechanic to see if he could help-he was on his way to a rally so I phoned the owner of the garage where he worked and he said he would come and get it started for her.They had a dog with them and they were looking at either staying in B+B for 3 nights until Tues cos they thought the keys might have been left in post office or having the streering lock broken and fixed which would have been cheaper!

She kept saying how good we were helping her-we said no problem.She went to find hubby to say we could get the car going for her and came back to say hubby had found keys-she had a beautiful bunch of flowers for us for helping, a lovely gesture.

They say what goes around comes around and I am finding more and more that this is true-you get what you sow.

Travel Lodge

Great deals at the brand new Travel Lodge that has opened up a few hundred yards up the road from us.
If you book 21 days in advance over the internet you can book a room for just £15 a night, if you book 7 days in advance you can stay there for just £26.
Ideal if you want to take in the beautiful sights around Ludlow and the surrounding areas as well as painting classes.
Check out their website www.travelodge.co.uk
The Travel Lodge is situated just over the road from the new venue where we hold the classes so it ideal and very easy to find.

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!

Bank Holiday Weekend

These paintings are all done the same way,The back ground is produced using a variety of different sized and textured natural sponges and black and white acrylic paint.

Then if you wish a oil wash is applyed, it takes just seconds to transform a monochrome painting to one with lots or little colour.

This is going to be the class subject this Saturday.

We have a busy weekend ahead- we are incorporating a class in the craft fair at Ludlow college this Saturday.The craft fair is in aid of the air ambulance which is a very worthy cause.

I have a group coming from Coventry-long trip for them so it has taken the pressure off them a bit to get to the venue on time beacuse we will already be there!

We will be at the college the night before setting up to save time on Saturday morning, there is quite a lot extra to do with putting out easels and tables as well as putting up the display stands and hanging paintings!

The painting class is a birthday pressie from Cheryl to her friend,but they are bringing along 3 others to join them.It will be great for members of the public to see what exactly goes on in a class!

Pearl's Painting

I have had Pearl here today to paint a one 2 one. Her daugter bought it for her as a birthday present.

Pearl had been to my exhibtion in Leominster a couple of months ago and had told her daughter that she fancied having a go at painting, as her daughter dosent live localy she had to do some detective work to track me down!

In the end she just put my phone no in her mums card with a message saying to ring up for her birthday present--Pearl was over the moon with her gift, but because she runs a busy pub/hotel she couldnt come on a Saturday for a class so had to have a one 2 one.

She admitted to being very nervous when she arrived here this morning, but soon settled down and was amazed at the speed that she created the painting, we stopped for a couple of breaks but we were still done in around 2 hours.She handled the knife as if she had used one for years, and loved the effect it gave on her trees.She was chuffed to bits with the finished painting and wants to do some more.

It turns out that they have a great funtion room at the pub(The Black Horse) that we can use for classes.

As we have several students that come from Leominster it will be useful for holding classes there. Pearl has also gone away with some of my flyers and a big poster to put up in the pub.

I would imagine after her regulars see her painting I will be getting a phone call to book a class there!

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

Yachting

I have been trying out my new oval canvas today.They are a little different to the norm.
Staple free sides, they make a lovely addition to any room.
This painting 'Yachts' is painted in acrylic, using some metallic paint to add texture to the sea.
I am really please with the overall painting and it is for sale for £95 including P+P in 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

Reflections 3

You can see from the pictures here how I painted 'Reflections 3'

This one is painted on a much bigger canvas measuring 90 cm x30cm.

Again it is painted in acrylic, but built up in many thin layers--up to 10 different layers in places.

I love the vibrancy of the reds and yellows,it really glows.

It is for sale for £150 including P+P in UK.

I always use special delivery to send my work when it is sold. It is insured, trackable and is next day delivery -signed for.I have never had any trouble sending work this way.

Bill and Callum

Our grandson Callum was bought round to see Bill on his birthday yesterday-as you can see little Callum was engrossed in watching the tropical fish.
He is such a happy little baby and so knowing-he laughed his head off at Paddy the parrot-who didnt find it very funny being put back in his cage for safety's sake.
We cant take any chances with Paddy-he is so jealous of everything that comes here--he attacks poor Sparky on a regular basis, you would not belive how scared of cats he was when we bought him 2 years ago!

Rabbits

This is what Sparky bought back yesterday-poor little thing!

This was the 3 rd one that we found yesterday.

The other 2 he had killed and ate! He brings them in first for us to see-unfortunatly they were already dead.

This one was rescued and let go up the field.

Then when we got home tonight Sparky was loitering by the shoe rack in the hall and low and behold when Bill moved it there was another one, even smaller.

So another journey up the field for Bill to release it.

Latest Painting

This is my latest work. Bright, vibrant and bold, blues merge with reds and yellows to produce all sorts of beautiful colours inbetween, its hard to see where one colour starts and another one ends.
A great piece for the modern contemporary home.

Its painted on deep edge box canvas and is painted on all sides for easy hanging with no framing required.I created it using high quality acrylic paint.
It measures 30cm x 90cm so its quite a large piece.

It started off life as a horizontal painting but when I turned it on its side to paint the bottom-everyone prefered it this way!

At the end of the day its personal preference, the painting can be hung in 4 different ways-you can choose which way you like it!

The title is 'Desire' and it is for sale at £150 including P+P in UK.

If you are interested in buying it or commissioning one like it please get in touch, through either of my wesites
www.paintingmyway.co.uk
www.dianetheartist.com

Lovely Day

We are just home relaxing with a glass of rose wine after the most enjoyable day. We have been to Pershore to see fellow artist Rob Kirbyson's fantastic work in exhibition at No 8 in the high street. He's a fantastic artist working mainly in acrylic's. The exhibition is called 'Beyond The Concrete'
His new website is well worth taking a look at www.acrylicsandoils.com

After that we called round at the 3 counties show ground to suss it out before we attend for 3 days next month, then a quiet drive back to The Salway Arms near Ludlw for a beautiful steak as it was Bills birthday yesterday-great meal and very reasonable too! Can highly reccomend it!

WI demo at Bishops Castle

There was a lovely atmosphere at Bishops Castle WI last night, it was held in a lovely cosy room next to the local church.As you can see there was a lovely lot of goodies for after the talk!

The winner of the draw chose the waterfall painting and I left the Summer Day painting for them to use to raise funds for their chosen charity.

Bang goes the diet again! Put 1 lb on today when I went to weight watchers!

As its Bills 59th birthday on Friday I expect we will be going out for a meal so the diet will definitely out of the window this week!

Bishops Castle WI

We are going to do a demo at Bishops Castle tonight.Its not to far from home for a change!
Will post photos here later !

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!