"Yesterday" workshop

"Yesterday" is always one of the more challenging workshops-to start with its a huge 40in canvas which can take some covering, using acrylic paint ,which you have to keep working wet into wet in order to blend it..even so all of the students mastered it beautifully, we had 3 first timers and 4 doing their 2nd painting, Karen has lost count of how many , Anne was on her 7th and Julie her 4th.. Julie had already decided before she came that she wanted to do something a little different and wanted to leave out the horizon line--so her bright ,vibrant painting was just a beautiful sunset sky to start with no water...The most popular colour scheme was the browns,yellows and creams,with just a couple doing the reds/oranges..Karen chose the beautiful teal to match her spare room wallpaper that she bought along with her to match!

Jenny came along with Rosemary,both have never painted before--

we all loved the bright happy face that appeared in Jenny's painting..

A beautiful sky with lots of movement going on in Rosemary's sky..you would never believe they have never painted before..

Rachel came along with Pat for the 2nd time..Rachel's daughter is married to Pats grandson... they have both been and painted Poppy Field previous using oils so this was completely different for them both..as you can see they both did well with it..

Pat had a lovely sky with lots of movement happening..

I love the teal colour Karen used...

Hard to believe that Jackie has only painted once before--she was so chuffed with the end results..

Anne was painting for the 7th time--she had a lovely effect with the light on the water  on the horizon...

Tracey came with Pat and Rachel-she works with Pat..she has never painted before-but nobody would believe it! What a cracking job she made..

Hannah was with us last week to paint in oils--she mastered the acrylics just as easily--a beautiful vibrant sunset-well done.

Julie is adding her trees to her painting..she wasn't sure if she wanted 'naked' trees or some with foliage--I loved it without--

but have to say I loved it when she added some to the trees..

well done ladies

Lovely paintings !

Beautiful end results!

Summer Day Workshop

sorry I'm late getting the blog done--but better late than never! We had 9 first timers in the Summer Day workshop--all of whom were all convinced as usual they would not be able to create anything worthy of hanging up on a wall! Lots of nervous laughs all round as I explained the first stage of  using the bashing brush followed by the tickling brush!!  Several of them stood there brush in hand for several minutes before starting to bash--then it was hard to stop some of them!! Here you can see Kathryn who was one of the nervous ones! What a great job she made of her painting!

Margaret adding the finishing touches to her poppies--I met the two of them several years running at Burwarton Show and they kept saying they wanted to come--both are happy they finally did! You would never know they were first timers would you?

Jill was another first timer..she had a happy accident and used the 'wrong' green when doing the water-it turned out just beautiful and I will be nicking the idea next time myself! Well done Jill...lovely end results!

Hannah was another first timer...and again great results!

Sara  and her mum Margaret were painting with me for the 4th time--both seemed to find this one quite easy and got on really quickly with each stage--its amazing how quickly people get their confidence when painting..and make decisions really quick on their own..I love to watch the progress...

Some of my photos are a bit blurry for some reason....grrrrr...    here you can just about see Margaret putting in her poppies..

Annette was another first timer--she left a pathway through her grasses and used purple paint for her flowers which worked well..a lovely finished result--well done!

Janie was  quite scared to be fair when she first arrived ! She came along with John and Eileen who had been once before and painted the Birches..But once she got going she was fine..and is looking forward to coming back again--as are all the other students! Had a lovely email from her today saying how much she enjoyed herself!

John had some lovely waves--the paint created a shadow underneath which made the water very realistic.

Eileen nearly finished here--she had a good eye for the sizes of the poppies--a good mix and great perspective..

I think Sue was one of the most nervous students of the day,,we are friends on face book , and I have been winding her up a bit calling the students 'victims' etc! Her friend Angela had bought her a gift voucher for her birthday--Angela also came along to paint with her-and was also a bit nervous..both did so well....and we had lots of laughs during the class.it just shows though even if you are nervous--everyone is capable of creating a beautiful painting first time just by following my simple-one step instructions.

Angela -nearly finished-lovely bright painting--look forward to seeing you and Sue again !

Jenny is an old hand now having more than 20 paintings under her belt--she has done this painting 3 times now-and each one is completely different!

Jane's 3rd time-- she comes with Tony and Carrie-they have done the Waterfall -oils on black canvas--the Birches--acrylic and today oils on a white canvas--so have tried most of the different options I teach...they all do really well and follow my instructions easily!

I'm friends with Carrie on FB and she shows me what she paints at home--its very interesting to see how she adapts my techniques to the materials she has at home--she did the birches onto a cabinet after attending the workshop and it looked stunning! She tried using water based oils to recreate Summer Day today--and while the end result was good I don't think it was as easy as using my techniques..but if you don't try you will never know!

Tony is nearly finished here--he was really good at using the knife to do the waves--I only showed him once and he had the angle and pressure on the knife just perfect!

Its a good job the room at St Peters is so big--we can accommodate 16 or 17 students in there with ease...

beautiful results everyone--they all look quite impressive!

John, Eileen and Janie with their lovely results!

Carrie, Jane and Tony with their beautiful Summer Day pictures

Sara and Margaret with their bright cheerful Summer Days..

Annette, Angela, Jenny and Sue-well done girls!

Margaret, Kathryn and Hannah--beautiful results girls!

155 brushes were used during the workshop...

Bill was a star and cleaned they off using odourless turps as we had used Liquin and also brown oil paint--which does tend to dry really quickly on the brushes....a glass of white wine helped !!!

Today we finished the cleaning process --after the brushes have been cleaned of the oil paint using the turps, they have to be soaped and rinsed-twice.. then they have to be wrapped in kitchen towel to keep their shape--all in all a long drawn out process --but worth it--I'm still using some of the original brushes I started out with 10 years ago--

so its well worth looking after your brushes-if you do they will last you for years! I'm looking forward to seeing all of today's students again in the future--I loved every minute of it!!!

A New Woman....

Well Bill has got himself a new woman....well not exactly new but it must feel like it to him! No more listening to me shouting out in pain getting off the sofa, or in and out of the car---  Ive been taking a supplement containing turmeric for about 10 days , right away I felt  less pain and stiffness.    Now I haven't got any pain or stiffness at all...my tinnitus has almost gone away too...I was able to really enjoy our break away, to go walking with no problems , climb stairs and generally do anything I wanted to do..it feels like nothing short of a miracle to me to be quite honest.   I'm still taking my steroids and the other anti-inflammatory tablets Ive been on for 2 years but, its the first time Ive been pain free..  I have researched it thoroughly and it turmeric is good for lots of things including diabetes which of course I have too--I had a blood test done the day I started on the turmeric so it will be interesting to see how the results change next time I have one done..I'm off down to Holland and Barratt to stock up on some more now they have a sale on--don't want to run out of these now I know they works so well for me! I have 15 students in tomorrow to paint Summer Day,so Im extra happy to be pain free!

Back Home..

We got back last night from a wonderful break at The Black Swan in Masham, North Yorkshire.The difference between this and our last break was unreal! The Black swan was beautiful-spotless clean-couldn't fault it! Our room was huge with oak floors with underfloor heating...the bed was a super king sized, and beautiful fixtures and fittings everywhere..Its one of the quietest places we have ever stayed too--didn't hear a thing from other rooms or outside all the time we were there.

Some beautiful scenery nearby.,.

Autumn is coming, the leaves are changing colour..

The scene from our bedroom window..

I love the stained glass window of the black swan..

An interesting collection of potties adorn the ceiling !

The breakfast was all locally sourced-the bacon was to die for...

We went for a tour of the local Black Sheep brewery in Masham--it was very interesting  to see what goes on..

the smell was lovely..

We were able to try 1/3 of 4 of their beers--we liked all of them except for the Ruddy Ram which tasted a bit too bitter for our taste!

We were planning on going into Harrogate for an Indian meal later so we decided to share a hot beef chiabatta and chips in the cafe there--very good it was too!

We visited this restaurant 2 years ago and loved it so was determined to fit in another meal on this visit to the area-- Jinnah is an all you can eat place...

they bring you pickles and poppadoms

then  a selection of starters are bought out on a sizzler...

then you can help yourself to a huge selection of rice and curries...must admit--I didn't think it was quite as good as it was 2 years ago--but its great value for money at just £10.95 each..we drove back to the pub as full as ticks!!!

We had this amazing sunset on our last evening...