Snow.. etc

We had a laugh with Angus on the market last week--he bought me a little artist teddy as a pressie when he found him in a charity shop--he wasnt to know I collect them and have 5 others like him already--one called Bob is kept  in the front of the van--we lined them all up in the window so when we arrived at the market he was greeted by this lot! Bill said to him--"That bear you bought Di--you should have got him seen to--look whats happened -they have been breeding!" Everyone was creased--

 

this lovely little wagtail was outside most of the day feeding--quick little thing-had a job to get a decent photo of him!

not sure if this is a dunnock or not

trouble with feeding the birds so well--we get other unwanted visitors as well--luckily this bugger stayed still munching while Bill took aim....... and he is a good shot!

and this lazy lump has been asleep most of the day instead of ratting!

Feeling better , Weather and Christmas Traditions!

Well Ive been for my second and last session with the osteopath-and am feeling better--not quite right yet but he told me I shouldn't need to go again.
Well the weather has made a change for the worse again--we are expecting snow and all sorts overnight tonight and tomorrow.
It felt quite warm when we set up on the market yesterday-but it got colder and colder as the day went on.
We started to pack up at 2.30pm , and we were froze solid by time we came home--thankfully we are doing the last market next Wednesday -until the end of March/beginning of April- again depending on the weather.

I had rearranged the Birches class that got snowed off earlier this month for this Saturday-some of the original students who were booked in were going to attend it--however its looking like it may be cancelled again if the forecast is right--everyone who is coming is travelling from away...we will play it by ear-that's all I can do!

I hope we don't get too much snow--I have a teenagers birthday painting party booked over in Kidderminster on Monday at 3pm--we will be taking the car with all the equipment in if there is snow around--the car is great in the snow-far better than the van!

Cant believe where the year has gone--its flown by-- we are having a change to our usual tradition this year--usually all the family descend on us early evening on Christmas Day for food and drinks and laughs--that's been the way for nearly thirty years.....but we have found it very tiring  after doing a Christmas dinner the past couple of years so we are doing it on Boxing Day lunchtime this year--we have a huge fresh (frozen!) salmon to cook, along with all the usual bits and pieces--we will be able to enjoy it much more after a good nights sleep!
Christmas Eve will be hectic as usual--we have friends round in the evening and we have mulled wine and a couple of melted Camemberts baked with garlic and herbs with fresh baked french stick to dip in and savour-and we have been know to take the legs off the turkey that we always cook on Christmas Eve and make a sandwich of it as well before now!
Anyway--Im really looking forward to it now--have all the pressies wrapped up and ready to deliver--all we need is the snow to stay away until the day--

Sciatica!

I'm off to the osteopath again tomorrow for another session of manipulation..I went on Friday and Kevin did me the world of good--I was completely pain free yesterday from the sciatica that has been bothering me for weeks.
It played up a bit today mainly due to getting in and out of the car a few times-so am hoping that Kevin can work his magic again tomorrow!
 I'm on the market again on Wednesday and again  next week (Wed) -last time before Christmas and the last time until the end of March// beginning of April--depending on the weather!
Must say I'm looking forward to the break from the market--it was -8 last week and it was a long day-brrrrrrrr
Yesterday was warmer up there , but not by much---had lots of bookings and the gift vouchers have gone so well I had to get another 50 printed in a hurry!

3 Places Left in March 5th Workshop

I have only got 3 places left in March 5th workshop "Reeds In The Breeze" after Angela booked 6 places yesterday!

Gift Vouchers

I always have the house phone calls diverted to my mobile when we are away from home.

While we were doing the class on Saturday I had 2 calls from people wanting gift vouchers for classes-- and they couldn't see how they could buy the gift vouchers direct from the website because there wasn't a 'buy it now 'button to click on there.

That has now been rectified and the button is now in place. The gift vouchers are no extra cost and come with a free card and envelope .

I also had a call from a lady who wanted to buy her hubby a surprise pressie of a painting class.
She is sending him off on March 6th from Birmingham with the postcode of the class venue put into his satnav, some sandwiches and my mobile number to be used only in emergency's!
He is in for a big big suprise when he knows what he will be doing! His wife rather fancies the poppy field painting for her hallway!

Photos

I manage to get this photo through the kitchen window yesterday--the little tom tit seems to be looking down at the woodpecker to see when he will be finished on the nuts!
I love to get photos of the sky-it never fails to amaze me just how much the sky can change in minutes.

Class Of Dec 12th "Yesterday" (updated!)

What cracking day we had today! 10 students- 3 of whom had not been before--all of whom used the biggest canvas size 36in x 14in .
"Yesterday" was a new class subject--and the students were given a choice of orange/reds browns/creams or blues and purples.
We had a mix of old and new students--Sally and her friend Jan have been 3 times before--while Samantha and Gemma were newbies--within a few minutes there was lots of laughter going on between the 4 of them--Sal and Jen and Sam and Gem had discovered that they were a drugs councillor,and ex-family worker, a social worker and a mental health worker! So they all had lots in common and I believe they will be keeping in touch with each other!
They were laughing at their names being so alike as well!
Sal has asked if I will do a class just for her people she is dealing with in the future if she can get funding--we have agreed that it will be a helpful tool in helping them have a sense of achievement that they thought not possible-watch this space!


Everyone had some wonderful ideas of the effect they wanted-and the finished results were very individual-we all had great fun -and are seeing everyone again!
Pauline and Chris have been with us loads of times now-Chris has developed his own style up to a point and always does his own thing in his paintings--today he added a golden sun using the metallic gold paint-and a volcano as well! Sal followed his idea and added a silver moon as her painting was in a dark purple --- it looked great!

Two gift vouchers were sold as well-they have been very popular this year--there will be some happy artists in the coming year! Cynthia's painting is going to be a Christmas pressie for her daughter-they came by the market one week and she told Cynthia-that's what Id like for Christmas please!--I'm sure she will be over the moon when she opens it on Christmas Day!
14 year old Jess made a great job of her picture--she is not afraid of colour or using too much paint--as older students can be! Pauline really excelled herself today--she really got to grips with mixing the colours and was quite bold with it--she has been a bit unsure of using a lot of paint in the past.
It was hard to believe that Karen had never painted before-she really took to it like a duck to water-her first coat of paint was nigh on perfect-she had lots of light in the centre of her painting which was really warm and glowing. Her second coat of paint went on like a dream as well--she had to sit to paint -due to a recent op -as did Jan-and working on a 3ft wide canvas wasnt easy for either of them due to the size of it-but they both made a great job of it!

Chickens!!!!!!

A few weeks ago we picked up my friends chucks to take them to their new home as Jan and John were moving and couldn't take them with them.
They have settled in nicely in their new home with Maryjane,Wayne, Harriot and George.
They have got lots of space to roam free range and have been rewarding them with lovely fresh eggs everyday.
The kids love them to bits- they have been known to have a ride in Georges trailer behind his tractor!

Class of dec 5th--Mystical Moon

We had 14 in class today--Jess couldnt come as she was poorly with a bad cold-however she will be with us next week.
We had 8 newbies and 6 who had been before. A lot of nerves were evident-from the first timers -though everyone settled down to the painting quite quickly and the nerves soon vanished.
10 year old Courtney came along with her nan Alison--they had seen Liz's paintings on facebook and wanted to join in the classes.
We had a mixture of blue, grey and purple versions of the Mystical Moon paintings.
Everyone was amazed to see how different they all were right from the start of the class.

I had met Gary and Elaine up at the market a few weeks ago-and also Lindsey a week later-Alison, Lindsey,Gary , Elaine,Liz, Bev and Val have all booked up for classes in the new year, so look forward to seeing them then.
There were a few conflabs going on in class as to which ones were being done by whom!
We had some stunning results from all of them-all very different(Garys had the addition of a bat and Courtneys and Val's a flock of birds!)

We used some metallic paint to do the moon which will look stunning when the light changes at night and the light catches it!
It was amusing to see most of the class on their knees painting the bottom of their painting and signing it--I tild them to say one for me while they were down there!
All in all a great class--the Christmas Truffles we took along went down very very well-though I did have to warn the students that they are very high in alcohol!
We had great fun as usual--we have 14 in again next week--the last class before Christmas--Im really looking forward to it-everyone is doing a 3 ft canvas so taking the photos will be interesting-will definitely have to do them in batches!

Christmas Cheer!

Well its the season of all sorts of good things to eat and drink so today after my student Karen had left we decided to have a go at making some truffles for Christmas.
We had a lot of Christmas cake left over from last year that we didn't know what to do with.
So I asked on the UKcampsite forum and someone suggested truffles.
We didn't do them exactly the same as was suggested--we did our own thing!
We crumbled the cake into a bowl and soaked it in some cherry brandy, brandy and port overnight.
Then today we rolled it into small balls and coated some in dark chocolate, some in chopped nuts and some in toasted coconut-which smelled lovely as it was doing in the oven!
We will take some to class on Saturday as a treat as well as the usual biscuits and mince pies.

The campsite forum is full of people with great ideas for all sorts of things-- the other week Max and Paddy gave the recipe for Baileys Irish cream drink--got round to trying it tonight--its very simple-though I altered the ingredients a bit to make it lower fat !
Take one pot of Elmlea whipping or double cream,
one can of lower fat condensed milk,
2 large eggs,
3 heaped teaspoons good quality instant coffee
4 or 5 tablespoons boiling water to dissolve coffee in,
large mug of whisky-any sort will do, mix all together and whisk gently by hand-not electric whisk, strain through fine sieve to get lumpy bits out of egg-then pour into a litre bottle
store in the fridge for up to 5 weeks--if you can leave it that long!
We tryed it and its lovely--will be good in a hot coffee too!

Todays Class--Topical Sunset

Well I had 2 last minute cancellations-one from poor Rhada who has had a really bad migraine since last night and one from a new student Val who had problems with a relative who was ill.
However the four students who did attend the Tropical Sunset class all achieved great results.
Lin was convinced she wouldn't be able to take anything any good home-when she finished her painting she announced that she would be hanging her painting in pride of place in her front room-she has visitors coming for lunch tomorrow!
Lin has also booked in for the Stormy Skies and Grasses painting classes next year.
Bev is coming for a one to one to paint a large brown birch trees on 1st Dec and also the Mystical Moon on Dec 5th.Ive nearly completed the commision of Thailand for her,just got a few bits to add when the paintings dry.

Emerald Woods

Ive just taken another booking for the Emerald Woods painting making 5 in total now.
We are doing this one on Jan 23rd 2010.
Its a lovely painting to do-we use acrylic and oil to create it and its suitable for all students from first timers upwards.
If you want to join this class please get in touch via the website
www.paintingmyway.co.uk

No Market!

My knee has been playing up again this week so I was unable to go to the market today, I couldnt get up or down the stairs-so wouldnt even attempt to get in the car to go and do the stall in the cold.
After all the tablets today its feeling a lot better now-hopefully it will be ok for this Sundays market.

Big Huggles For Dave and Lin x

One of dear friends Dave is off to hospital tomorrow for a big operation--we will be thinking of both him and Lin-- and sending lots of positive thoughts and huggles to them both.
Looking forward to that meal at the pub you told us about in a few weeks time both !!

xxx

Class of March 14th -Winter Wonderland

Winter Wonderland is painted in oil onto a black canvas.Its great to see how each student creates a completely different version of mine-even when they haven't painted before
You will learn composition,perspective,colour and how to use several different brushes and what they will do, as well as a painting knife.
I have 4 places left for this class
.
The painting is suitable for all ages and abilities from 6 years upwards
If you would like to join us for this workshop please get in touch via the website
www.paintingmyway.co.uk
or ringing me on 01584 872013

For The New Year

I have something new for returning students this year--
The new artists badge and key fob which the students will be able to choose from when they have attended 6 classes and also this trophy which has been engraved for Painting My Way, for any students who have attended at least 10 classes--of which there are a few when I checked my records!
They are all lovely quality items and made in the UK too.

Gloucester Arts Summer School

I have been asked to be a tutor at the 28th Gloucester Arts and Crafts Summer school on 20th and 21st of July 2009.
I will be able to take 8 students on each day.
On the 20th July I will be teaching the ever popular Birch Tree painting and on the 21st July we will do the Summer Day painting.

I will put more details on here as soon as possible.
Im still busy doing the new website, its all exciting stuff-not sure when it will go live just yet but shouldnt be too long!