Wow--What A Weekend!

After a busy class of 15 students on Saturday we rushed home to clean the brushes--over 100 of them! Then we packed a few few over night things ready to get over to Birmingham with my daughter Becki and her partner Wayne--it was their 6th anniversary together and also Wayne's birthday this Wednesday so I had arranged for us all to go  for a 5 course meal meal  on Sunday in a posh hotel in Solihull-- we stayed the night at another lovely hotel--and had a most wonderful Indian meal on Saturday night--then on Sunday we went to a new crazy golf complex and had a great time together!

Becki and Wayne--

The dining room at the hotel was lovely--very atmospheric--and the food was some of the best we have ever had...

We had so many laughs playing crazy gold on the Sunday morning---what a great place it was---

the golf course was very well thought out--not too hard and not too easy..

there are 2 different courses to try..

Wayne proved to be the winner--but I think he has played before!

ready for action!

the last hole!

 

After playing golf we went off to do some retail therapy--couldn't believe just how cheap the shops were round there--me and Becky picked up some real bargains--including a lovely wrap for my birthday party--Ive been looking for one the right colour for ages! We went on from there to The Village Hotel , Solihull for the finale of the weekend-the 5 course meal! None of us managed the 5---choice of smoked salmon, salami, prawn cocktail, salads or leek and potato soup with crusty rolls etc to start---help yourself to what you would like!The smoked salmon was beautiful-and some of the salamis I had never tyred before--all delicious! Then there was a pasta course--all cooked in front of you by the hotels chef---we all passed on that one! Then onto the carvery--the roast beef was to die for--it melted in your mouth--and the veg were beautiful. And I just loved the homemade horse radish sauce that was both creamy and made your eyes water at the same time --yummmy! There was a huge array of cold desserts-from cheesecake, profiteroles and chocolate mousse , if you didn't fancy that  there was a fresh waffle bar with waffles cooked in front of you-served with fresh fruit and cream -Bill and Wayne passed on the next course--the cheese board--but me and Becky gave it a go---the ripe brie was melting all over the plate, the stilton was just perfect and the cheddar was some of the best Ive had--it was a real jib to squeeze it all in but we gave it our best try! The whole weekend was at a bargain price thanks to Groupon-- Hotel was just £37.50 for 2 people B+B including a bottle of wine, vouchers for 20% off meals, 30% off next time there, vouchers for half price cocktails---cant go wrong can you? It was far better than we expected for the price--we thought we might get sub standard rooms--but no--they were just great! Spotless clean and a lovely bed! The crazy golf was just £8 for the 4 of us again thanks to Groupon--and the meal--well that was the bargain of the year--again thanks to Groupon--5 courses for 2 people including glasses of wine  was just £15 . We got home just after 5.30pm just in time to unpack and get ready for the finale of the weekend--off down the town to see Alan Carr at the Assembly Rooms---he was brilliant-laughed out heads off at him--he is doing some small shows called "Work In Progress" where he is trying out new material for his big tours--it rounded off our weekend perfectly---thank goodness I have a quiet week to get over it all!

k

Latest Birch Trees

I have just completed my latest Birch Tree Paintings. I mentioned a short time ago that I had used a metallic silver paint to do the birches on a previous set of paintings.
I wondered if it would work on my browns and beige background or not--only one way to find out and that was to try it! 
It really looks great--it dosent show up in the photos very well but in 'real life' looks good.
Each canvas measures 12in x 24in chunky canvas--all of the sides are painted and its been varnished to protect it.
Chocolate brown,, a lovely warm reddish brown have been combined with a soft cream to create the background folliage-and the silver birches are --well --silver!
You can find more details on my website --the price of this painting is £200 including P+P in the UK-if you are outside the Uk please get in touch for details.
www.paintingmyway.co.uk

Sunshine After The Rain ---Sat 30th Oct

I have a couple of spaces left this Saturday due to cancellations due to work commitments--we are using a black canvas and oils to create this painting.
Its suitable for all ages and abilities including first time artists.Please get in touch if you would like to join us for this class.

www.paintingmyway.co.uk

Busy Times Ahead!

I have a busy week ahead of me again. Ive got a workshop on Saturday painting Sunshine After The rain--a new subject for this year--Im really looking forward to it.
It seems ages since I did a black canvas class!
Then on Sunday we are back on the market up town--this time its a Halloween market-though we havent been told to dress up or anything-should be busy if the weather is something like as the kids are still on half term.

Then we are back up there again on Wednesday Nov 3rd for our usual market and again the next day Nov 4th for the craft market.Shame we cant just wrap the stall up on Wednesday after we finish and unwrap it on Thursday!
It take 2 hours to set the stall up with the stands, tables,,paintings cards etc -much quicker taking it all down--just over 30 mins!

More from Our Holiday!

We had a lovely day out yesterday-we went round the coast to Brixham. We had been there last year and really enjoyed it.
Its a beautiful town with a working harbour-lots of things to see of interest there.

The junks shop window made us laugh-a notice saying breakages DONT have to be paid for!
We also paid a return visit to the  Strand Art Gallery -there were some great paintings in there--as well as a old fashioned market barrow which had paintings displayed on it with nobody there to make sure they didnt get nicked!  Very trusting!
Today we have been to Exmouth, and back to Dawlish to feed the ducks and swans.
Ive got some more photos to load onto the computer from today, so will add more to my blog tomorrow.

Latest Work-- new gallery --small paintings--under £50

I have just created a new gallery on my websites www.paintingmyway.co.uk   and www.dianetheartist.com   I have done a series of small paintings measuring 8in x 10in  and 10in x 8in aprox.in both oil and acrylic mediums.
All of them are under £50 including the Birch Tree diptych.Some are as little as £30 which makes them ideal as affordable presents with Christmas coming up fast!
I will be adding to this gallery shortly-so keep a look out for the new ones!

New Work --" Surfing"

Surfing has been created using oils on a staple free box canvas measuring 16in x 20in .
I love the vibrant colours-the blues and turquoise mingle with the yellow light flooding through the top of the huge wave that is crashing over.
The price of this painting is £130 including P+P in the UK.
If you are outside the UK please contact me for details.
www.paintingmyway.co.uk
I am planning on painting a version of this painting on a 36in x 36in canvas in the near future-watch this space!

I have logged this painting with
www.protectmywork.com

Sunday Workshops

I have come to the conclusion that I need to start looking at adding a few extra workshops into my diary--Janet who came to yesterdays workshop along with her 2 daughters rang today while I was at the private class.She wanted to join the Mellow Moods class on Nov 20th with her daughters-but I'm full--so she has booked them all into the Jan class. They have also booked into the Sunshine After The rain class on Oct 30th  so I'm now fully booked on that one too.
I am fully booked on the rest of this years classes except the Sunflowers Nov 6th and the Birches on Dec 4th.
I have also had quite a few people tell me that they work on Saturdays so a Sunday workshop will be ideal for those.

I am going to see if the room at Helena Lane is available for use on a Sunday-if it is I will be offering a Sunday workshop occasionally --probably once a month--I will update here when I know the situation about the room.
Watch this space!

Todays Workshop--"Reeds In The Breeze"

I have had a great time today doing a private workshop for Sarah and her family at their home.
Sarah's hubby Wayne had booked it as a surprise birthday present for her, after she had seen me at Shobdon Food and drink a couple of years ago.

After checking with Wayne that they had plenty of room and good light when he rang to arrange it, I was happy to put it in my diary!
We arrived at 12.15pm and quickly got the easels and other equipment set up ready to start--none of them had ever tryed anything like this before--their children 16 year old Jack and 9 year old Caris were really looking forward to it.
I took along several variations of the Reeds in the Breeze for them to choose from--so they didn't have identical end results.. The paintings all made fast progress--everyone laughed at the bashing and tickling brushes--but agreed it all helped them to understand the process  easier.The skies and sea were all sooo different to start with.Wayne chose to put some purple in his sky, which completely changed it- he had a beautiful atmospheric sky by the time he had finished tickling !
 They all proved to be naturals with the knife-and the waves appeared as if by magic--then came the bush brush-again I was met with laughter when I told them the name of this one--but they all produced great bushes really quickly.Wayne and Sarah chose to do red poppies and Jack and Caris purple ones--the time had flown by and the results were all beautiful.
Sarah's friend was passing and she called her in to have a look at the results--and her face when she saw the paintings was a picture. She just couldn't believe that they had done the paintings in such a short time.
the paintings were hung straight up on the wall--the safest place for them-as you can bet something or someone will touch them if you don't-and as the paint is wet for some time it is easily marked-so the wall is always the safest option--that's why all the canvas are strung ready to hang by Bill.
Sarah has a couple of friends who are interested in doing a class--and when they see the family's results they will be very impressed I'm sure!
We were very interested to hear that Wayne competed in the World Triathlon last year in Australia--and is ranked 39th in the world--its really amazing the people we have met through the workshops--and the reason I look forward to every single one of them!

Laughs!

I want to thank  Nat for all her help again today--she really is invaluable-she helps me set out the tables, prepare the canvas, replenishes paint, cleans brushes and most important of all--makes all the teas and coffee during the classes.She now has a full set of painting clothes--as she manged to get blue paint all over her grey leggings, she got paint on her top last time bless her-but at least she  remembered to wear it today!
We seemed to be laughing all day during the "Serenity" workshop--last week we had a mucky pup--but this week we had 2 of em!
Irene managed to get blue paint all over her neck and face--then a minute later we found Jaye had some how got blue paint over her face hands and her coffee mug!

We had several mucky palettes as well-as you can see!
I think Jaye wins the prize for the most paint on a person though-as you can see from the photos--she had paint all over her face and hands -although I was nearly as bad--they were all having a laugh at my blue streak over my forehead!

Grandkids!

We have got the little granddaughters down from Sunderland again tonight while their mum and dad go to a fancy dress birthday party.
The kids are now tucked up in bed after playing with all the toys in the toy box, followed by a nice warm bath with some pure lavender oil in-plus of course loads of bubbles and several tea sets to play with!
They didnt seem at all fazed by daddy appearing in a Banana Man suit !