A Bit Sad...

Its a bit sad to see that another of my workshops subjects (above) is being pinched by an ex-student of mine as a subject for her classes. Its a very bad copy to be fair...and I would suggest to her that she tries to come up with some unique ideas of her own for her workshops..

Painswick Weekend

We have had a lovely weekend away for my Bill's 67th birthday in Painswick in the Cotswolds. We stayed at the Cardynham House in the centre of Painswick...beautiful  room, spotless clean and the food was to die for!

Lovely comfy 4 poster bed..

Loads of storage in the room..

A huge walk in wardrobe....

lovely shower room..

Lovely toiletries..

Loads of soft white towels..

The breakfast was to die for---

Just around the corner was the local church--the yes trees in the grounds were just stunning--every one trimmed up into beautiful shapes..

The front of the Cardynham House..

The door in and out is quite a bit shorter than my Bill--

Not the best of views maybe ..but hey who spends time looking out of the window? It was the quietest place we have ever stopped--no sound of traffic at all...

We ate at the pub next door --The Royal Oak--both nights...didn't want anything else to eat until evening after the huge breakfast!  First night we had beautiful gammon with eggs and fresh pineapple, and the next night a beautiful Sunday dinner..lovely thick gravy! Been back on the Slimming World plan since returning home--so the few LB's gained will be shifted asap..

Oriental Dawn

Better late than never! All the students hard at work..Not the easiest of subjects to do but good results from everyone..

Well done everyone..

Dilwyn Show

Well its been a very busy time with one thing and another! Last time I tried to do my blog it played up and had not realised that it had not published--We had a lovely, very busy time at Dilywn show at the start of May-- a great space as always!

Lots of sales and looking forward to seeing some of the folk we met there in the future workshops..

Facing Up To Kidney Cancer

I had the pleasure of meeting a lovely lady last autumn, who got in touch about coming to some of my workshops..Sarah went on to explain that she may have to cancel some of the workshops because her husband Jon had been diagnosed with terminal kidney cancer and had to make visits to the hospital sometimes at short notice...

She has gone on to be a very good friend to me and we have had many long late night chats / emails together because as you probably  know my dear son is fighting Hodgkins Lymphona and Haemophagocytic Syndrome .

Sarah has a lot of knowledge about chemo,scans and lots of other things that means I don't have to bother my son or his specialist for answers.

Sarah and another dear friend Jan who also has much knowledge about cancer have been my rocks in the darkest hours I can tell you... I am forever grateful for that.

Now Sarah's hubby Jon  has decided that he wants to raise awareness and money for the James Whale Facing Up To Cancer charity--- it is one of the hardest cancers to diagnose and its often too late for the patient by the time it is--which is what sadly has happened to Jon..more people die of it than are killed on Britons roads every year.

Jon is planning a 5,000 mile trip around Britain for the cause on his motorbike...starting at Blackpool Tower in June -- if you can spare a little for the cause all the details are on the website  a link here with more info here http://www.gaj.org.uk/news/5000-mile-ride-raises-kidney-cancer-awareness --- also here is a link in which Jon explains more about it https://www.facebook.com/midlandstoday/videos/vb.21263239760/10153256906484761/?type=2&theater

I hope the trip goes according to plan --and the weather is kind to him!
 If you have a motorbike I'm sure Jon would like you to join him for some of the trip-- Sarah is also organising other fund raising events including a auction to raise money--I have donated an oil painting and there is also a beautiful hand crocheted blanket made by Sarah herself--its really stunning,,

We wish Jon and Sarah all the best for the trip-- its an amazing thing you are doing!

It has made me think about raising some money for the unit that is looking after my Jim..they really are wonderful   - Dr Nigel O'Connor is a very ,very special man along with all his hard working staff...watch this space--

Foxgloves And Dragonflies

It was lovely to see Pamela again...her second time with me--and no nerves this time! She was one of the most nervous students when she was given a gift voucher by her daughters! She came by the market to see me and was convinced she wouldn't be able to do it a all! She was happily proved very wrong!  She came along with her daughter Carolyn on Saturday, and both made lovely jobs of their paintings!

A happy Carolyn with her beautiful painting..Its an interesting painting to do--using acrylic and oils..Just black and white paint with a tiny bit of colour for the foxgloves and some shiny metallic green for the dragonflies.A couple of students added a touch of bluebells blue as well which looked lovely.

It was great to see Derek again-- he does so well in the workshops--he has Parkinson's and also had a stroke in Nov so he really is amazing ! He is booked in for another couple of workshops in the near future too..so will look forward to seeing him then.

Lilli came along for the first time with her mum...she created a lovely spooky enchanted woodland scene!

Derek with his finished painting.

It was lovely to see Joan and Claire again--both did very well--its a great picture to perfect your trees!

Andrea and Audrey made great jobs of their paintings-- 2nd time for Andrea and the first for Audrey-though you would never have know from the results!

Lisa and Lilli with their masterpieces..well done!

1st time for Judy who came along with son Nick and Jen who were painting for the second time with me..

Dot was another first timer with me although has used acrylics before--though not like she did in the workshop! Bob will be back this Saturday to paint Oriental Dawn with his daughter!

Pam and Carolyn with their beautiful paintings!

Amazing just how different the pictures were isn't it? This is one of my favourite subjects to teach and I will be setting another date for it in the autumn..keep watching the website for more dates..