Holiday -last day

We had a lovely last day in the village-lots to see and do-will add to this soon!

More Tests

I have to go back to Hereford hospital tomorrow to have a colonoscopy, Im hoping to have the results quickly and will let you all know whats happening.

Class of Feb 7th--Birch Trees

The return of a very popular class subject. Painted using acrylic paint-you will have the chance to paint this in either monochrome or sepia tones.
always very successful with wonderful results that astounds everyone who is shown the finished article!

This class gets booked up very quickly so dont delay booking!

This painting is suitable for all ages and abilities
If you are interested in joining this class please get in touch with me via the website www.paintingmywy.co.uk

or give me a ring on 01584 872013 if you have any questions about this class

Todays class

We had a lovely day today in class-we were one short at the last minute due to one of the Shrewsbury WI ladies having to cancel at the last minute.

I think Gwen was the most nervous out of todays group-she is second from the left in the photo. She had never had a brush in her hand before and was convinced she wouldnt be able to do it!

She commented in my book that she had wonderful day and she didnt think she had it in her!

As you can see she did a beautiful painting -as did the rest of the students. Carole and Jane had both been to me several times before.

Jane thought todays painting was her best so far-certainly she was more relaxed in this class!

Although Carole had been to me 14 times before she found she had learned new things in this class,I try to do something different in each class so there is always something new to learn.

I am looking forward to seeing everyone again !

Onslow Stars

Here are some of the encaustic stars from Onslow Park--we had some lovely paintings created--and yes kids I did lose my list of names!!!

Craft market

We have been on the Book And Craft fair today on the Castle Square in Ludlow-the weather was a real mixture-pouring down one minute and sun burning bright the next.

It was unusually busy for a change, despite the weather! I didn't even get chance to take any photos, as Bill pointed out as we were packing up at 5pm!

It was a constant stream of people most of the day. Jill a lady Ive been talking to on the Internet for a while came by, she wanted to try out the encaustic art and had ordered the complete set off me.
I gave her a demo of how to do it, and then she had a go, so I could be sure that she knew exactly how much pressure to apply to the iron. She did a lovely pink and purple pic in just a few seconds!
She is a really keen artist and I had to send Bill home to collect some black and white blank canvas as I had forgotten she had told me she wanted some!
Good job we are only 1 mile away!
I managed to get 2 paintings done--2 class subjects that I wanted to get done on the size canvas we use in class.
At the moment they are on much bigger canvas and it was confusing people when I said they were class subjects-the size put them off!!

Anyway I managed to finish them, in between all the chatting and demonstrating, I hope they dry before the weekend so I can take them to the Tern Valley Vintage show .

Ludlow Lifestyle Magazine

I had my complimentary copy of the Ludlow Lifestyle magazine through the post this morning.The magazine will be out during August and September and is featuring art and food.They have done a short article about me and my classes and an advertisement too.

The magazine is distributed over a very wide area-not just Ludlow , but Church Stretton , Craven Arms and all of The Marches .

Copies are sent free to all of the hotels, b+b's in the areas to place in each bedroom.They are also in dentists and doctors surgeries.

They will also be given away free at Ludlows famous Food and drink festival this September.

With around 20,000 expected to attend that alone over the 3 days it mounts up to an awful lot of potential customers for both the classes and painting sales!

Bill Garden

This is how it all looked before the transformation! What a difference!

Birch Trees In Brown

Birch Trees in Brown
This is my latest work in the Birch Tree collection.

This is one of my latest work in my almost monochrome birch tree collection.

I painted this triptych in a combination of beige, cream and dark brown, instead of black, grey and white!

It works a treat!

The photo does not show the true colour of the dark brown though-its showing up as black on the photo.

This colour combination will be popular in today's contemporary home.

Each canvas measures 20 cm wide x 50 cm long -so a large 60 cm x 50 cm in total-all the sides are painted and it has been varnished to protect it.

The price of this painting is £180 you can buy it via www.dianetheartist.com

ART WANTED

I had an email today from an American site I have some of my work on.

ArtWanted has told me that this painting is in the top ten images for today (sunday 15th June)

I have had lots of great comments about this painting from people who have seen it on there!

The Poppy

The Poppy
This is my latest Poppy Painting. As usual the photos do not do this art work justice! Red is notoriously difficult to phograph and with this one being so glossy due to the finishing varnish it has proved immpossible to get a decent picture of it!You can see the reflection of the light on this photo Im afraid.It is brilliant shades of reds and the centre is really black. This a is a very big piece of art-- each canvas measures 16 in x 20in. It needs to be hung around an inch or so apart for best effect. It has been created using many , many layers of acrylic paint.All shades of red-- Crimson, virmillion , flame red and deep hue cadium red have been used to start, ive buit up the layers and I have then mixed each colour with each other plus added some black to darken them so the reds are endless in shades.I have also used a special textured medium under the paint to create the crinkled texture that poppies have. The centres of the poppy is what grabs most people when they view it in the flesh--I have used melted wax to texturise the centre of the poppy-with larger dots in the very centre, moving on to smaller ones around the outside of those-then around the very edges I have used a new paint called Lava Rock, which consists of tiny weeny little black dots-they look just like pollen.It is then coated with coats of gloss artists varnish which brings the painting to life. Everyone wants to touch the painting because of the texture in it. This series of paintings has been very popular-each one has been completly different to the others, Im really pleased with the effect the new lava paint has had on this work-it really adds a new dimension to the work.Shame it dosent show up in these photos!! If you would like some close ups of the painting please get in touch with me and I will send you some.
Te cost of this painting is £300
This work is copyrighted with ww.protectmywork.com

BIG Canvas!

I have treated myself to some giant canvas-some are 5 ft and some 4ft.They are stored on the landing at the moment as we are short of space!
Im itching to get started on them and will be painting one of the 5 ft ones later today.Its going to be interesting working this big-the problem is where is it going to live while drying!!
The house is full of canvas-all shapes and sizes-we could do with an extension to keep them all in!
I will post the work in progress on here a-if I remember to take the photos-I tend to get carried away when I am painting and forget to take the pics.

BOOT SALE BARGAINS!

The weather was fine today so we decided to go and have a look at leominster boot sale.I picked up some bargains there! I spoted a lovely paperweight on a stall and asked the price-(Im always after pretty paperweights to use when on the open air craft fairs to hold my flyers down) the lady said its a £1.00 but you have to have all the rest of the matching stuff with it! Its all cut crystal-2 wine glasses,brandy glass,tumbler,plate and 2 bowls as well as the paperweight.Ok so its not a full set , but its all beautifuly engraved with the humming bird and flowers.It has a lovely ring on it when you tap the glass.So I had everything for just a quid!
ALso picked up some charming little crystal animals too, they came complet with a mirror base to sit on.
Also another art book-this time a watercolour one--I might get chance to read it sometime!!