Sat Aug 9th-Winter Wonderland

We had a really fun class yesterday.

Jack is on his 12th/13th painting (will have to check!).

Chris and Pauline are on no 6 each and received their artists badges-Chris had his speech ready and was disappointed that the press didn't turn up for photos etc!!!

Oliver aged 12 was here for the third time-joined by his grandad Don who was painting for the first time.

So real mixed lot !

Everyone was surprised by how little paint was on their palettes to start with.

I explained that there is no point in putting out lots of white paint in the beginning as it will just get contaminated by the blue, so we add that as we need it!

Right from the start everyone's painting was completely different-as is the norm.

I had explained to Don who was attending for the first time that the idea of the classes is not to produce a carbon copy of the painting we are using as an example but to show everyone how to use the tools of the trade!

Its lovely to see how everyone interprets everything I show them differently.Don couldn't believe all the different skies we had in at the start.

The same went for all the different stages.Trees, snow and water!

The class was a little different to the normal one after 11am--my friend Ros arrived with hubby Lincoln and son at the venue.

We were expecting them after a lovely holiday spent with them near Glastonbury earlier in the week.

Ros is a very talented artist, and runs the website www.affordablebritishart.co.uk

of which I am a member.

Its a brilliant site, easy to use for both buyers and artists alike.

The students really enjoyed having Ros there, she handed out some valuable tips to the students. It was interesting for me to to see how Ros does things.

Ros and family found it all very interesting to see the end results, which the students were all chuffed to bits with!

The students had two for the price of one according to Jack in the comments book!!

After we cleared away, we all went home to introduce the menagerie to them. Jake of course did his usual and didn't say a word until we all went out of the room-then he proceeded to say something very rude !!!

Bill had put a couple of chickens in the slow cooker to do while we were out,and had prepared a mountain of vegetables to roast, as well as the normal boiled veg.

I made some bread sauce, got the cranberry sauce out and we all had a lovely Christmas Dinner complete with Christmas crackers-which Ros's son managed to win most of the prizes!

Ros thought it was great as she is working Christmas Day!

They say never work with children or animals and I can see why!

Jake proceeded to make farting noises all evening-making everyone crack up with laughter!

All in all a great day, it was great to meet up again, and we are already making arrangements to go up to Scotland to see them again-cant wait!

Tropical Sunset Class Full-August 30th

This class is now fully booked.

Yesterday morning Bill looked through my appointment book and said "there is nobody booked for the 'Tropical Sunset' class on Aug 30th.
I replied "there is plenty of time yet" An hour later the phone rings and a lady who lives just around the corner from us phoned to book the class for her and a friend after seeing the article about me in the Ludlow Lifestyle magazine.
The other 4 places were filled by students of todays class "Winter Wonderland"


I will upload the pics of the class tomorrow.

date for "Serenity In Green" Oct 11th

This is a new painting for the Painting My Way Workshops.

"Serenity In Green" is a very interesting painting to do.

Although this example is painted in shades of green and I have already got 2 ladies booked for the workshop to do it in green, I have had enquiries about whether it can be painted in other shades/colours during the workshop.

Of course the answer is yes-you can do the painting in any colour of your choice.

I understand that while the classes are about learning to "Paint MY Way" if the finished painting doesn't fit in with your decor at home you wouldn't be so happy to paint it. Im happy to teach this painting in what ever colour you would like.

"Serenity In Green " is the perfect opportunity to see just how pressure on the brush and how much paint you put on can produce very different results.

This painting is suitable for all abilities-even first time artists.

I will as usual go through the painting step by step-showing you how to load the brush, how to apply it to the canvas, and because my classes are all small--7 people at most you can be sure of plenty of attention.

Please get in touch with me if you would like to join this class via my website.

http://www.paintingmyway.co.uk/

New Date For ----Summer Day -Sep 27th

Back again by popular demand "Summer Day" will be the workshop subject for Sat Sep 27th.

There are 4 places left for this popular subject.

This one will definatley be booked up quickly-its one of my most popular paintings in Painting My Way workshops--easy to see why though!

If you want to join this class-please get in touch with me via the website http://www.paintingmyway.co.uk/

Todays Craft Fair

The weather forcast was completly wrong today--instead of the wet day forcast it was warm bright and sunny--until time to start packing away! At 4pm it went black, even had a rumble of thunder-then the heavens opened.Everyone else was running around like headless chickens trying to pack their stuff away! We sat tight and waited for it to give over--goood job we did--a lovely lady came by-admired the Birch Tree Triptych and bought it!

Ive got to re-order all of the encaustic art stuff as I sold out today-have got a new customer caling by for a complete set this Sunday.

No Peace For The Wicked!

We got back at 5pm tonight from a wonderful holiday with some good friends----unpacked, did some of the washing-then realised I had the brushes to clean that me and Ros used yesterday while painting! So did that at 10pm tonight!

Then thought about getting everything ready for the craft market tomorrow--and thought otherwise of it!

We will get up early and load the car--we also have a nearly full class on Saturday and we are back on the craft market again on Sunday!

We are also looking forward to seeing Ros and family again on Saturday-they are stopping in Ludlow until Sunday, looking forward to meeting up again and having a lovely meal together.
Im sure Jake will be on his best behaviour for everyone!

Big Thanks To Jean

I want to thank my friend Jean for pet sitting all the menagerie while we were away. It was her first time and everyone loved it!
Jake is talking like her-and trying to whistle Col Bogey!
Paddy has been trying to talk to her in his own little way and Sparkycat has behaved him-self and not bitten her feet during the night!

Smokey And Gizmo

We had a sad job to do when we returned from our holiday this evening. The vets had called home to say the remains of my two old girls were ready to pick up.

There were a few tears, as I collected the beautiful solid oak casket they had been placed in.

Im very impressed with the service though, they were very caring and compassionate-my old girls had a good send off.

Fantastic Holiday

We have had a great holiday in Somerset, we joined my friend Ros , her hubby Lincoln and son at a lovely holiday cottage site.We were next door neighbours but one in a delightful little cottage.

The photos show the outside of the cottage and also the view fron the kitchen table out through the stable door.

There was a couple of walnut trees outside, also a beautiful lilac tree, with beautiful lilac flowers on.

Each cottage had its own picnic table outside , so you could sit out in the evening chatting.

We had the pleasure of Winston the owners labradoodle dog dropping in for tit-bits regularly,he demolished a nearly whole chicken quiche last night! Its a good job we didn't have any spare room in the car or I think he would have been dog-napped and ended up back here in Ludlow-he really was gorgeous.

It was so quiet and peaceful there--we had the advantage of having a cooked breakfast as we booked B+B, but as the cottage was self contained we had the option of eating out in the evening or cooking--of course we ate out--we were on holiday of course!

It was lovely to meet up with Ros and family , we had such a great time!

Of course with us both being artists we had lots to talk about and we even managed to do some painting yesterday-the only day it rained. We had great fun together.The time just flew by, and before we knew it we were on our way home.

Wye Valley magazine

When we eventually got home tonight there was a message on the answerphone.

Sharon From the Wye Valley magazine had seen the article about me in the Ludlow Lifestyle Magazine and wanted to do an article about me in her magazine!

I rang her back and she gave me all the info about it-then I had to email her my biography and some paintings with all the for sale info about them to go in to the Sept issue!
The mag covers a big range of places,an even bigger one than the Ludlow one covers, but both are out at the same time time so Im getting lots of exposure as an artist.

So I have been busy all evening doing that,Im off down from my study to join my long suffering hubby Bill.

Lots Happening!

We have had a very busy day today-we went over to Wallsworth Hall, in Gloucester to meet Simon who runs it.They have exhibitions running all year round and also hold art workshops there too-which they are looking to increase, which is the main reason we were there.

I will be putting the dates of the workshops on my website as soon as we have agreed on the dates.

We had a lovely time-there are some beautiful paintings on display there including some by world famous David Shepard.His paintings of elephants are absolutely amazing.

We were amazed at the variety of work on display-a mixture of famous and not so famous artists there.

I will let everyone know when my work has been selected for exhibition--they run in themes of different subjects.

There were some amazing sculptures all around in the grounds, some made of car parts, some from horse shoes and scrap metal. At the centre was the beautiful golden eagle.

The wellentonion tree was amazing-you could punch it and not hurt yourself--the bark is sooo soft.It really was amazing, but Simon did say he thinks whoever planted it so close to the house didn't realise just how big they grow--its got another 30 feet to go yet!

They have an Artist In Residence, most weeks and we went along to meet the most recent one!--she does the most beautiful pencil drawings-they look completely real--Bills favorite was the beetroot-it was just perfect Her name is Ann Swan and her website is http://www.annswan.co.uk/

We had quite long chat about Wallsworth Hall and how things work there.It was very interesting!

We had a lovely lunch in the coffee shop there--can recommend the hot chocolate--the best Ive had for ages!

Tern Valley Vintage Show

We had all the paperwork , camping passes etc , through this morning for the Tern Valley Vintage Show.

We are looking forward to this event-its out first time at this venue but its a very popular event with lots going on for all the family.
I will be demonstrating Painting My Way and have around 60 paintings on display as well.I will also be letting members of the public have a go at encaustic art with the electric iron and melted wax.Its always popular with all ages.

Its held on Sat 16th and Sunday 17th Aug at Sugnall Lower Parks Eccleshall.
There will be helicopter rides on both days and an auction sale on Saturday at 10 am.

There will be military and commercial vehicles, motorcycles, tractors and steam vehicles.
Also displays of Bermese Mountain dogs.

We are taking the caravan along as its a long way from home , so got to get the petsitters back in to look after all the livestock!
Cant wait to meet up with some old friends we have made at various craft venues-they are a great bunch!

Busy Painting

Ive had quite a productive day today--got one of my exhibits finished off for the Ludlow Art Society exhibition--a massive 3 ft square canvas.

Ive been working on it for a couple of weeks now-Have almost decided which others I'm entering too--only allowed to enter 5 so its quite hard to make a decision. This isnt the finished result, Ive done more to it since this photo was taken.

I have logged each stage onto the copyright site www.protectmywork.com

We wont be around for the private viewing of the Ludlow Arts Society exhibition as we will be away doing a big event at Tern Valley-things are getting busy now with lots going on at the moment!

Ive also managed to finish off a couple of other works that were hanging around--now just got to get them varnished when completely dry! A job for Bill---he makes a better job of it than me!