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 We have a busy time this week...no doubt I will have to increase the steroids as any extra being busy/stress really effects me and I will seize up if I'm not careful!  The polymyalgia is getting better quietly I think but I still have good days and bad days.. I will be on the door of the Church Stretton Art exhibition on Tuesday 11am-2pm which I always look forward to..I meet so many interesting people there!       I have the very busy Burwarton Show on Thursday-I will have to leave the market on Wednesday early to go over and set up...and on Saturday I will be at Tenbury show so will have to go over on Friday to set up the stall there..ready for the show on Saturday. I'm busy doing new paintings,and hoping they will dry in time! My lovely daughter Becky will be 29 on Saturday ..but by the time we get home it will be too late to do much so we are having a BBQ on the Sunday for everyone...will be looking forward to having a rest then on the Monday and Tuesday!!!!

Its always lovely to meet up with old friends at the shows...and great to meet new people and potential students ...you never know what will happen at these shows---never a dull moment that's for sure!

Serenity Workshop

Josie's 3rd time painting with me--her confidence is growing and she has bought a set of brushes from me so she can have a go at home-she knows she can give me a ring if she gets stuck on anything...I'm always happy to help students who want to try it solo! She called by the market this morning to pick up some odourless turps, and she was telling everyone how wonderful the workshops were bless her! I think I will be getting a few new students to the workshops now LOL..

Martins wife Anne came long to paint The Waterfall the other week--he fancied having a go at the Serenity one  with her... he made a grand job of his painting--though at the end he joked ---"Ive been less nervous resuscitating someone"--he is a first responder! I don't think he will be as nervous next time though...he made a lovely job of his painting..

Anne used the dusky lilac shades for her picture-- it gives a completely different feel to it--quite a warm feel to it! She mastered all the different stages quite easily,,and remembered things from the previous workshop!

Sue was with me for the first time--she absolutely loved every minute of it--she came by the market today so happy with herself and chuffed to bits with her painting! She wants her hubby to join her in another one soon! Its so satisfying for me to see the end result and see how happy it can make people to achieve something they thought was beyond them!

We met Katrina recently on the market--she is from Tewksbury so had quite a drive to get here...she was a little nervous but surprised herself with what she achieved--she said once she had booked on-line she thought "OMG what have I done-well Ive paid so I have to go!"  But she is so glad she did--it really does boost peoples confidence when they see the painting develop before their eyes..

We had a group of  5 friends join us...Debbie didn't seem to struggle with any of the steps at all..

Martin chose the green version to do--its still my favourite colour for this painting...his background trees were lovely-its always amazing for everyone to see just how different everyones painting turns out--all as individual as they all are!

Angela was amazed with herself and what she achieved..

Margret adding her snow to the bushes---she didnt seem fazed by any stage of the painting!

Jennifer adding her finishing touches to her painting--   I really enjoyed teaching this painting..its lovely to watch the confidence grow with each brush stroke and see the students making decisions, and comparing each others pictures..there are always bits that would be painted slightly different if they paint it again..but that's only natural and its part of the learning curve--I still do it with every painting I do now!

WOW what lovely results from everyone-- they all want to come again and do another one!

Its always quite amazing how different the paintings turn out-- a bit extra paint here and a little less pressure on the brush there makes a big difference to the end result...

Lots of depth and distance in all of the paintings--well done everyone!

All Sorts!

We spent last weekend at Much Marcle Steam Rally...

The space we had was good---but that was as far as it goes....written complaints going in to the chairman of the show..

With the weather being as beautiful as its been we have been able to sit down outside every evening and watch the fish in the pond....they all have their little characters  and its fascinating to watch them in action! All the new ones have settled in lovely and some have been pairing up !

The bottom layer of the garden is looking good...very colourful--the sweet peas are coming into flower and are smelling beautiful!

The calla Lily that Becky bought Bill many years ago has started to flower--its looking quite pretty with more flowers appearing each day!

I had little Tommy this morning while his mummy went to work...he made himself comfortable in his pushchair and went to sleep-legs up over the bar in his pushchair bless him...we went to visit my Mum who lives just round the corner from him and had a lovely time...

The water lilies are starting to bloom, colour isn't showing up great in this picture--but some are pink and some a beautiful cream colour...

I'm so chuffed----my orchids have flowered again! they usually die after flowering with me LOL--but I have learnt not to water them very often and it seems to be the secret...my other orchid is not far behind either

What A Day!!!!!!!!

I bought Bill a flying lesson voucher from nearby Shobdon airfield in 2007 for Christmas,,,,it got mislaid for several years and came back to light recently...so Bill booked up for a flight in a couple of weeks time as they were very busy! Then last night he had a call to say there had been a cancellation and he could go today at 1.30pm..So off we went with our friends Marion and Phil....ideal weather for it--we all sat in the sun waiting for Bill to fly away!

The little 2 seater plane

must admit I didn't fancy going up--the cockpit was tiny!

Bill got in there quite easily! Getting out was another matter LOL

Got some cracking shots of Ludlow---

cant believe how big it looks from the air!

to the left of this picture is Greenacres and the light coloured field is the one we look out on from our house..

brilliant view!

WOW!

Booking in was done here!

Bill had a lovely certificate to show he had flown the plane!

We came home for a lovely BBQ to find a message from one of my students saying she had some fish for our pond--we had seen her and her hubby on Wednesdays market and she mentioned she would have to get rid of the fish as her pond had started leaking.. so off we went to their house after the BBQ to collect them! All 57 of them!!!!!!! All shapes and sizes including some tiny fry..some real beauties they are!

ready to go in,..

swimming away happily

The large ghost koi is called Patrick--after Patrick Swiz of the film Ghost fame..

some beautiful big shubumkins..

the big koi is called Inky because he looks like he has ink spots on him...they all seem to have settled down OK,,,the filter will have to be cleaned out more often now no doubt but it will be so worth it...they are a beautiful sight! All in all a  very busy day--all quite unexpected..but what fun we have had! A tiring weekend ahead-- we are off to set up my display at Much Marcle Steam show tomorrow ready for the weekend show...never done this one before--so am hoping it will be a good one--the sun will be shining at least and we will be taking the  fan with us to keep us cool in the marquee..Im really looking forward to it!

The Waterfall Workshop July 13th

We had a lot of fun on Saturday,,one of my students Anne had to arrive early as her hubby had to be somewhere else, so she came to the house at 8am ,,,it was lovely to have a chat while getting ready to go to class...and she was a huge help helping me unload the van at the other end!  When we started the class I showed a few different ways of creating the initial background...it was amazing to see how Megan's background took on the form of a moth! Tony however could see a werewolf in Janes background--however-none of us could see it! It was a smallish class with 7 students--3 of them had been once before and 4 newbies--all of whom I had met at either Shobdon or Bromyard show in the previous weeks...

Jane's painting was very quiet and tranquil..it was hard to believe that she had not painted since school.

Carrie has painted before using water mixable oils so this was a new experience for her and she loved it...

Tony was I think, a little sceptical that he would be able to achieve anything any good in the class--however he was amazed-as were all the students by their results,-they all followed my instructions well and we had most of the painting done by 12pm when we stopped for lunch,

I loved Ann's mackerel sky background..it created a lot of depth in her painting..

Emily soon got the hang of the 'bush' brush and had some beautiful effects happening!

Teressa seemed to find it easy going! Beautiful!

I love the beautiful vibrant results achieved by Megan..she just has to add the water lines and the moon to her painting

Jane's finished picture..the rays from the moon give it quite a spiritual feel I think!

Carries finished painting--love how she added the moon peeping out from behind the tree..

Tony used quite a limited palette  in his picture and it worked really well...

Ann's painting also used a limited palette, love her waterfall with the splashes,-we wiped out a little of her branch on the tree after because it looked as though the moon was balancing on it--but it only took seconds to rectify-which is the beauty of oils!

Teresa's painting was quite vibrant, loved the colours--and the waterfall is just perfect!

Emily did so well..she had a huge boot on her foot/leg as she had a stress fracture! I was amazed she was able to stand to do this beautiful picture!

Well done everyone--will look forward to seeing you all again!

Anne came home with us as Martin couldn't pick her up til later-- It was lovely to sit by the pond having a Pimms or 2 and put the world to rights!  We both felt like we had known each other for years! It was lovely to see Martin and her 2 sons reaction to her painting--they were all chuffed with it! We will see Anne again for the Serenity painting in 2 weeks!