Sparky

Heres Sparky pretending to be a stone cat like the one on the left!

He seems to approve of the new garden-the slabs get very warm in the sun and he spends a lot of time lying on them!!

Hasnt he got a hard life?

Im coming back as a cat next time!

Latest class places

The phone has gone mad today with people booking classes--it looks like I may have to start doing classes on a Sunday as well as a Saturday-just to fit everyone in!
The latest are
Feb 16th---Oriental Dawn--full
Feb 23rd--private encaustic party
March 1st--Snowy Reflections--Full +1
March 8th --African Dream --full +1
March 15th --Summer Day --Full
March 22nd --Winter Wonderland --4 places left--this class is Easter Weekend
March 29th--Birch Tree Walk--2 places left
April 5th --Eternal Dawn--Full
April 15th --Advanced Class-for students who have been to me at least 5 times before
April 19th--Stormy Skies--1 place left
May 3rd--Emerald Woods--2 places left
for more details and pictures of the class subjects please check out ''classes'' on
www.paintingmyway.co.uk

More Boot Sale Bargains

The stick insects have a lovely new home in this tank which cost just £2 at the boot sale on sunday. The biggest bargain though was all these paint and draw books-8 full volumes for just £2 and I had the other 2 oil painting books for £1. I love reading through art books, you can learn so much from them,its interesting to hear how other people do things.

I dont know just when I will have time to read them, they will join the ever growing pile of books in the spare room for now!

Laughing in Class!!!

We had such a laugh today in the class, if it wasnt about being scared to put paint on the canvas it was about how many times there was a request to renew the red paint on the palettes!

We soon realised just why Evonne needed so much red paint--she had more on her hands than her painting almost!

It really is immpossible to do this oil painting game without getting covered in paint-although it is usualy me who gets covered in it!

Beautiful Night

we were very lucky again with the weather while away,we only had one day of wet weather and that was just for a few hours. we were rewarded that night by this beautiful sky.

I have so much inspiration from this beautiful place, I shall never run out of painting material!!

Lilian---star pupil!

This is lilian painting her waterfall painting.

She wont mind me telling you that she is 83 years old.

We met lilian last year when we at St Audries.She said then''I feel like Ive known you for years,'' ----the feeling was very mutual!!!

Lilian painted her first painting last year and she painted 2 more this year.

The waterfall painting was much admired by everyone who viewed them--- all the paintings were put on display next to the dining room, and she actualy had someone want to buy her painting, but she didnt want to sell it!!!

Her grandaughter claimed her black and white birch tree painting last year, saying it was beautiful. Lilians son Graham who is the bar manager at St Audries wanted her to paint the poppy field painting which she promptly did and gave to him!

When she returned to Neath her grandaugher said to her that she had found her vocation in life, must say I agree.Lilian is a natural and although I said she was quite capable of painting at home she said she would wait til next year cos she enjoyed the classes so much!

I have a feeling that we will be seeing more of Lilian well before next year!!!

Her son Graham is the bar manager at SA and he had requested that she paint the poppy field painting. She did so and no one could tell hers from mine

Terry and Anne

Here are Anne and Terry with their Summer Day paintings they did at St Audries.

Anne thought she would have to attend every day in order to produce ONE painting.

When I explained to her that she could do one in less than 4 hours she didnt belive me.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating they say--Anne is coming to me at Ludlow in the near future as she lives not to far away in Brum! She was gobsmacked by the result and her husband couldnt belive his eyes when he came to collect her.

She admitted after the class that she hadnt slept all night worrying that she wouldnt be able to do it------she was very pleasantly surprised!!

Terry returned a week later and painted another beautiful picture.

a Beautiful Sunset

I have so many photos of the sunsets taken while away.

I have this one as my screen saver,its so peaceful to look at and reminds me of the great times we had there!

Terry's Painting

Terry was just one of the great people that we met while doing the painting holiday.

He is one of the caravan owners and spends a lot of time there.

This is only his 2nd painting and what a great job he made of it!.

He was a very easy student to teach and made very detailed notes throughout the class.

He wants to go and paint St Audries Church which is just down the road from the holiday club. He was very ineterested in how I painted my last commission of Corely Church.He had a look at the picture on my blog to get some idea of how it was done.

I gave him a quick lesson in a few other techniques that we hadnt used in the previous 2 classes. When we were through with the quick demo, he was able to buy one of my painting knives paint and brushes that I had taken with me for students to buy in order to carry on at home.

All my students know that they can ring me anytime if there is any thing they are not sure of when they start painting at home, but Im sure that Terry will not have much problem with it.

I am looking forward to seeing the results of his

St Audries Bay Waterfall

This is the painting of St Audries waterfall that I painted for Mary.

I have tryed to capture the mystical feeling that surrounds the beautiful place.

It is one of the most peacefull, quiet places I have ever been.

This painting was done on a new canvas and although I primed it twice it started to dry out the very next day.

We will give it a coat of varnish the next time we are down there to bring out the colours.

marys painting

This is Mary with her Birch Tree painting.

Mary is the owner of St Audries Bay Holiday Club.

Last year she painted the Summer Day painting,and was over the moon with the result.

She exelled herself this year with her latest painting!!! Her husband didnt belive she had painted it.

It is on display in the reception area by tarriff board for everyone to see!!!

Painting St Audries Waterfall

Here I am starting the painting of the falls.

I decided to paint it as a night scene to capture the mystical feel the place has.

I had a really enjoyable time painting the picture and everyone likes the finished result!

St Audries Bay Waterfall

We had a lovely walk down the beach today and went to see the beautiful waterfall that cascades down the cliff.

I took loads of pics because I wanted to paint a picture based on it.

It is one of the most tranquil spots I have ever been, there is so much to see down there,the way the rocks have formed around the base of it is just beautiful, never seen the like before,lots of inspiration for weeks to come

paddy's holiday

Paddy is enjoying his holiday.We decided to bring him with us to St Audries because he gets depressed when we leave him with the pet sitter,although he gets spoiled rotten while we are away.

He is out of his cage all evening which he cant do at at home because only Bill can get him in again!

He has a cage with a view now and loves to watch the seagulls flying around outside.

St Audries Bay

Here is the view from St Audries lately,isnt it beautiful.

relaxing times!

We are having a great time here at St Audries. We have been out and about all weekend, found 2 great boot sales, got some lovely bargains! Some painting videos for just 30p each, a brand new furbie for 50p.I also bought a beautiful pottery cat for only £10. They retail for at least £60 in Ludlow so I am really pleased with that.
I have just finished getting ready for the painting demonstration I am doing at 4:30pm.The canvas are prepared and the paint is on my palette ready to go.
The place is already filling up with organ players.It promises to be a busy week.
Stilltrying to work the new laptop,cant get the pictures loaded on here at the moment.I have computer wizz Terry coming for a class tomorrow so hopefully he will point me in the right direction.!!!!!!

Lilian---star pupil!

This is 83 year old Lilian with yesterdays Poppy Field painting.This is Lilians 3rd ever painting.She painted the birch tree painting last year,and this year she has painted the waterfall painting and the poppy field.
We had a lovely day today we went shopping with lilian to Minehead and went shopping for an outragous shirt for her son Graham to wear tomorrow night. Graham is bar manager and tomorrow night is the grand finale night when Ian the entertainments manager ,wears his most glamourous shirt,so he has some competition tomorrow!

Hello From St Audries Bay

We are having a great time at St audries .The weather is beautiful and it looks like staying that way!
I have had to buy a new laptop since we arrived as I had a problem with the old one, I have yet to work out how to load the pictures on here, so you will have to wait and see the results of the classes.
Many thanks to Darren the computer wizz who has set up my lap top so far-he is a gem!

Off We Go-- To St Audries Bay

We are still packing everything ready for the off to St Audries Bay! There is so much to remember-the list gets longer each hour!

I should have stopped at home while Bill fetched my friend from Stafford who is house/pet sitting but decided to go along for the ride last night instead!

There is no rush to get there though-as long as we arrive in time for the lovely 3 course meal this evening!

I will have internet access while I am away so I will keep you all posted with whats happening at St Audries Bay!

Stanton Lacy WI

We were at Stanton Lacy WI last night-its just a small group,as are many of the country WI's.

We had such a laugh there, Dorothy won the draw and chose Winter Wonderland as her prize. I donated Summer Day to the group to use for raising funds for their chosen charity.