Squirrels Eye View Workshop

We had 3 ladies in to paint Squirrels Eye View on Saturday--good job we only had a small class--poor Bill has had the most awful tennis elbow and we would never have got set up for a big workshop! Helen was painting her 4th picture while Emma and Lorna were first timers..

Adding the finishing touches to her painting--Helen chose the autumn shades..

Lorna also choose the autumn shades, but used a little more red and yellow..she loved it--and really surprised herself with the results...

Emma used the spring time colours,it gives it a completely different feel..I love the light catching the leaves..what you cant see on the photos is the metallic paint we used to add some rays of light..its very subtle and shows up as the painting is moved..

lovely vibrant results for all of them--well done girls!

New Abstract Workshop--results!

I  decided that we would have a trial run on small canvas today before the main event! Using transparent paints in the main,.everyone had great fun deciding what they wanted on their main painting! Not every idea was taken to the bigger scale but it was very interesting to see what worked and what was changed.

Rob used swirls and lines in his first painting,,

Dawn used more opaque colours--I wasn't sure if it would work as well--but it did--very well...the title of this one was "Love is Complicated"

Jenny's first painting reminded us all of a spider web and a seashell...

Irene was doing her painting for her daughter-she had a cushion with the colours to match the room it was to be hung in and a request that it used the swirls pattern and not the lines!

Terry used the swirls to start with on the practise piece..but decided to use another idea on the main canvas!

WOW--you can see how the paintings developed here-all so different-you couldn't predict it at all!

Loved Dawns painting--bold colours-its hard to see the detail in any of the photos--she used the wiping out tool to go back to the black canvas in places..

I'm sure that Irene's daughter will love this painting..I should have taken a photo of the cushion that was used as a base for the painting...its just a perfect match!

Jenny's painting was really vibrant--the hexagon shape lends itself to the abstract subject-she had the lines weaving in and out perfectly!

Robs painting looked brilliant-he painted it to look like the solar system-which it did! Terry used some dry brush techniques that made the finished painting look like embossed velvet-the colours and texture just don't show up on here...all in all a brilliant day --everyone really enjoyed it--we all joked that we don't know what a phycharists would make of the different paintings,,but all agreed it was great fun and very interesting to do--I will be setting another date for April 2014 for this subject..we will do a small painting on a canvas 10in x 8in to start so you can get a feel for the paints,canvas and what sort of end result you want! It really was great fun and I will look forward to doing this one again !

Birches Workshop Aug 11th

The students had a wide range of colours and canvas size for yesterdays workshop..Deborah chose the beautiful autumn shades...wonderfully vibrant and warm feel to it..

10 year old Harry came along with his Nan Linda-he is staying with her during the holidays--and is back off down to his home in London shortly...he also chose the autumn shades, he soon found his confidence and his birch trees grew and grew--he was brilliant at the splattering, and did it with ease-turning his painting into quite a magical scene in no time..

Linda made a beautiful job of her painting-the  brown /cream shades give a lovely warm feel to the end result..you would never have believed it was her first time painting..

Irene was with me for the 10th time--but this time she was under a little pressure as her daughter-in -law had requested she paint a monochrome version of the Birches for her birthday!  Irene chose to add a subtle touch of silver to the trees-it looked lovely and catches the light beautifully...I'm sure it will be loved very much when its handed over!

Eileen and her hubby John were also first timers--and really went for it on a large 36in canvas...Eileen chose the autumn shades and John the monochrome/silver version..

I am looking forward to meeting Eileen and John again for the Summer Day in Oct...

Jayne, Tony and Carrie were painting with me for the 2nd time...but the first time using acrylic--

They all used the warm browns/creams for their painting..

It always amazes everyone how the background change so much during the course of the lesson...

Chris drove down from Liverpool the evening before, and loved every minute and intends coming back--first time using acrylics for her...

Anne used a 12in x 24in canvas for her painting--she was more nervous about the workshop than ever before--I think its because she did so well on her previous 2 workshops that she thought her 'luck' would run out and she wouldn't be able to do it! However she soon found out its down to her following the instructions and not 'luck' that creates the end results and she soon settled down and enjoyed using acrylics for the first time..

two very proud artists-Eileen and John...

Tony, Jayne and Carrie with their lovely paintings.

(back) Chris,Linda,Irene,, (front) Deborah,Anne and Harry

Wonderful results from everyone--well done--see you all again soon!

Merry Christmas Everyone

Well Christmas is  almost here again--where has the time gone?           The year has flown by so quickly.   So much has happened too--the main event in my life has been the arrival of our little Christmas Elf---Tommy!!!!           Cant believe he is now 7 months old already!   He will be sitting at our dining table tucking into his first Christmas dinner on the 25th--he has got his 2 front teeth for Christmas so we will save the drumstick for him LOL..                                                                    On the painting side of things--apart from the horrible wet summer that meant that many of the shows we usually do were cancelled-it has been a great year.                                                                                                                                                      The workshops have been busy with lots of new faces as well as  of my regulars! Again we have met some wonderful people and made lifelong friends with many of them. We have created beautiful paintings,given people confidence they didn't have before and unleashed so much creative talent that was hidden away...we have laughed until we cryed as well-with many memorable moments in the workshops!                                                                                                                    I would be lying if I said it had all been easy and a doddle-because it hasn't....the weather has been against us all year--most of the Wednesday and Sunday markets have been wet, and if Bill had a £ for every time he hung the plastic back sheets to dry in the garage this year he would be rich..but we have carried on-and now have just the one this Sunday to do...we are off then  until the beginning of April--we may do the Sunday market in Feb and March weather permitting but that will be it--a lovely break from it and its well deserved!                                                                               The dates for next years workshops are on the website now www.paintingmyway.co.uk                                                         Its coming up to the 9th year of my workshops in April and I'm pleased to say that the price of most of the workshops is still £35 -exactly the same as when I started 9 years ago....there are a couple of exceptions though- workshops using a chunky 12" x  24" canvas have gone up by £2 as these canvas have risen a lot in price this year,,,but that is only a couple of the workshops---Grasses and Mystical Moon.. The Yesterday workshop on the huge 40" x 12" canvas will remain the same at £45 and if you use either of those size canvas in The Birches workshops the price will be the same...  I will be updating the website over the Christmas period with the dates and places I will be during 2013 -markets and shows..well that's it for now folks---don't know if I will get back to do any updates before Christmas--we have family for the big day and Boxing Day and have our 2 lovely granddaughters coming to stay for a couple of nights Christmas week as well so we will be very busy...                                                                                                                                                        So a Huge MERRY, HEALTHY CHRISTMAS from me and Bill...see you all soon xxxxxxx

Birch Tree Workshop Sept 29th

The Birches workshop has always been one of my favourites! Ive introduced a new colour- a soft green and cream combination to go with the monochrome and sepia tones we have always done. Nobody did the monochrome version last Saturday--the first time ever!   Deborah chose the new version..

Kaitlin adding some detail..

Kaitlin made this little horse and rider at lunchtime using the silver paper from her chocolate! Very artistic Kaitlin!

Bridgett was painting for the 2nd time...we had lots of laughs with everyone through the day, something had tickled her here good and proper!

Karen and her lovely Mum  Sandra come from a long way away--Mansfield--so they came the day before and stayed at a lovely hotel overnight and made a real treat of their weekend...Karen-bless her--has the same sense of humour as me and we were both creased throughout the day.... she also happened to paint a lovely picture!

Sandra really enjoyed her day---she has the same sense of humour as her daughter--and with all the "harder harder" "faster faster" that goes on during the special effects brush work we do it was wonder that all the class were in hysterics for most of the day!

Ive been teaching art for over 8 years now and I managed to get my sister to come along and do a picture at last! I think she was one of my most nervous students ever..but what a brilliant painting she did!

As I have to leave my painting each stage to supervise the students , mine very often doesn't get finished---my Bill carried on painting for me on Saturday and got each stage finished ready for me to show the next bit...he made a beautiful job of it--thanks Bill x

Dave's painting--he made a grand job-again using the new  green and cream combo...

Lovely work!

well done!

Well done everyone---a couple of camera shy ones---Bills holding up Dave's for him and Karen is hiding behind hers as well!