Some Onslow Artists!

Many thanks to my friend Karen who called by to help with the mad rush of people we had at the show--Bill was able to go back to the van and make us a lovely sausage sandwich to keep us going! When we had a few  minutes I introduced Karen to the encaustic art--she was instantly addicted to it--its a really addictive  art form--and she was engrossed in it right away! She managed some stunning pictures too....

As usual there was a steady stream of folk wanting to have a go at encaustic art---I hope I have got the names correct but the photos have not been loading in the same order as my list of names! If they are wrong please accept my apologies!  Above we have Fallon  Jay--

Kayleigh made a brilliant job of hers---loved the colours---everyone was amazed at the results they got--as usual all manner of weird and wonderful things appeared in the melted wax--faces,animals and sea creatures--we all had lots of fun spotting them!

Alice really enjoyed herself--and the orange and green made an unusual combination--Mum was warned not to hang the finished picture behind glass in direct sunlight as the picture will re melt again!

Isabel used pink,silver and orange and got some great results...

I showed Lucy how to do a landscape painting using the iron--and she made a beautiful job of it--bright and vibrant!

Onslow Park Steam Rally Sunday Aug 28th/Mon 29th

We left Ludlow on Saturday morning to go to Onslow Steam Rally...its one of our favorite shows of the year..and this year was the 50th anniversary with over 100 steam engines taking part..It was the last time out with our caravan as well--we have decided to sell her as its only being used for this event now-so it isn't worth paying storage fees for it....so will be out with the camera soon to get some pictures for auto trader!

Its always amazing how to see the bare space provided in the marquee  transformed....though it is a long job---over 3 hours arranging stands and hanging paintings-setting out tables etc.

The Stormy Poppies on far left, and Grasses with Poppies -the third from left on row above ,and the large encaustic red poppy in foreground all sold--along with 5 smaller ones...

I managed  to get a good mix of paintings up..

dug out some of the older ones to take as well!

I had plenty of space to paint while there..

We have been taking bets on how long til some silly bugger touches the wet paintings on the easels--so far its happened every time my back has been turned---despite there being "Please Do Not Touch-Wet Paint" signs being there--and Ive also added another one-saying "Only An Idiot Would Ignore A Wet Paint Sign" as you can see it made no difference!!!!

You cannot begin to describe the atmosphere of the show when the steam engines are chuffing around--the noises and smells are wonderful.I managed to record the Grand Parade this year on my video camera--and will be uploading it to YouTube shortly---its a very emotional scene--and lots of grown men and women stand there wiping tears from their eyes as the huge chuffing giants make their way round the arena...

Onslow Park Steam Rally Sunday Aug 28th/Mon 29th

I cant believe its come round so quickly again---one of our favorite shows of the years--Onslow Park Steam Rally.Its the 50th anniversary and there will be over 100 steam engines there.There are also heavy horses there as well.I will have loads of paintings on display and will be demonstrating in acrylics,oils and encaustic wax.Members of the public will be able to have a go at the encaustic art as well...We have spent the day getting the caravan ready to take--after being in storage for ages it needed a good freshen up-so have been busy with the hoover,Mr Sheen and anti bacterial flash liquid. She looking and smelling much sweeter now---but we have decided to sell her after this show--seems silly to be paying storage for her and only using it once a year for Onslow Park.So will be taking lots of photos and getting her put on Pre-loved when we get home...

Compliment!

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We are on the market again today--and also have some paintings in the Ludlow Art Society exhibition a few hundred yards away as well.Ive just had a very nice gentleman come over talking to me ...he asked if I had painted the ones in the exhibition---and that he had voted for the one shown as best in the show! He bought the greetings card of the painting from me..its really made my day to have some feedback like that!

A Break Away--In Yeovil

This is going to be a megga blog--lots of photos from our recent break.......We went away early Sunday morning for a 2 night break at The Manor Hotel Yeovil..I love traveling over the Severn Bridge--got some lovely photos of it to work from in the future.

Our room was lovely---huge 4 poster bed....and loads of room to put everything!There is always good WIFI at Old English Inns so I was able to keep up to date with bookings etc.

Lovely bathroom..also had a huge corner shower as well as a bath.....

A facebook friend told us about Ninesprings which is a huge park area just 5 mins from our hotel with some very interesting sights---I took over 3oo photos there--all sorts of things caught my eye.I'm getting more and more interested in photography and catching  interesting scenes to snap...I just loved this tree stump complete with fungi..

A lovely place to sit and take in the views---the seat at the end of the steps...

this pond was alive with fish,dragonflies and moor hens...

I think the fish are roach but I'm not 100% we did have a couple in our pond once--not sure what happened to them! Haven't seen them for ages!

really pleased with this snap--got the reflection of the swan just right!

another favorite snap--more reflections...

the tree roots are just great on this steep bank.....and the light was streaming through and making wonderful patterns on the ground..

admiring the view!

lovely old fence..

this beautiful waterfall besides the steps was so pretty...

more reflections!

Looks like a ghostly figure in this picture....

this amazing tree must have been struck by lightening at some point--its completely hollow but still growing!

another lovely place to sit and watch the world go by...

I love a nice firm bum!!!!!

The Manor Hotel

an interesting view!

After a long walk around the Ninesprings we went back to the hotel for a coffee and lie down before heading into Yeovil for a mooch round the charity shops--there are loads of them there--picked up loads of bargains.Then as the weather was sooo beautiful we drove to Weymouth which was just 27 miles away.It was heaving with people all enjoying the sunshine on the beach...

as The Manor is over 300 years old it is quite quirky and quite unlike a modern building!The sash windows just wouldn't stay up and we do like the windows open when its warm..luckily Bill had a brainwave and used an empty water bottle to jar it open! It was 8 weeks on Sunday since Ive had any booze---am feeling quite chuffed with myself! I'm enjoying ginger and lemongrass with sparkling water most of the time but occasionally like an elderflower spritzer as well! So we had plenty of  bottles of water with us -that came in handy!

After a full English breakfast this morning we we set off to one of our all times favorite places -Weston -Super-Mare.The weather forecast was completely wrong--it said it was going to rain a lot and it didn't-so we had a lovely mooch around more charity shops. I also managed to pick up some more canvas's.So the car was really loaded up by the time we got home...

there is always something to see on the seafront..we loved this trike...

the Weston Wheel-----never again LOL

We sat and people watched for a good 30 mins--this living statue was soooooo good.I don't know how they do it--he earned every penny.We had a lot of laughs when he scared several people and children by moving when they dropped money in his bucket!

a few miles from home we were caught up in a huge traffic jam--we feared the worse-an accident..but were relieved to see it was just an old steam roller en-route for Onslow Park this weekend...

Stormy Poppies Workshop Aug 20th

Emma was painting for the very first time today--a few nerves to start with which is quite understandable--but soon settled down and we had lots of laughs and banter between all of them!

Ade was also a bit nervous....but he did a cracking picture and after tagging his pictures on facebook tonight asked what the family thought of his painting--he said they didn't believe he had painted it!

Sally has dabbled with acrylics and oils at home..but never painted like this before...she tended to fiddle a bit---when I turned my back...but she soon got the dark paint she added to the sky toned down again!

James came to me a couple of years ago and painted Emerald Woods along with his step dad.We met again at Tenbury Show recently and he booked on the spot for today's workshop. His nan and grandad were very impressed when they came to collect him--I think maybe we may have another new student or 2 in the future..

Ade, Emma, Sally and James with their finished paintings.....I have added them to Facebook as well--if you want to join me on face book just look up Painting My Way on there!