Emerald Woods Workshop March 19th

Celia soon got into the swing of things

Tracey came along with Celia -both first timers---this stage of the painting is great fun---I can see everyone thinking "This is never going to look right"

We met Janice and Jacqui a couple of year ago on the campsite where we did the "Boob-tiful" painting to raise money for breast cancer

John came along after seeing his friend Sue's paintings---he was gobsmacked at how easy it was--he made a great job of his trees-sometimes they can be hard to do at first but John really seemed a natural at it!

Lindsey has been loads of times before--she celebrated her 50th birthday the week before me so wanted to end off her week doing something she loves!

Maysoon has been along to lots of classes-she has taken along her paintings to the other art classes she attends in Shrewsbury to show her fellow students-and it sounds like I shall be getting some more new students!

Maureen has lost her old nickname --"Messy Maureen"--she keeps nice and clean in class!  She is a real darling--always arrives early and helps with setting up or puts the kettle on to make drinks for everyone--hard to believe she has only been painting since September. She goes home and creates some beautiful pictures which she brings to class for us to see and critique.

you could cut the silence with a knife at times---so much concentrating going on in the class!

Maureen is very good--as soon as she has finished each step she sits down and leaves the painting alone---she never fiddles with it--one of the hardest things to do Ive found. Students very often jump up from the table when having lunch to do a bit more!

Janice got some lovely trees into her painting--lots of character.

Jacqui was feeling cold first thing and kept her coat on! She soon warmed up though!

the hairdryers are sooooo handy in class to dry each stage-Jacqui is busy with one in each hand here!

We had a nice mixture of colours in the final stage--Lindseys touch of purple worked well--Janice decided to use the same on hers--and it looked lovely.

Very Atmospheric girls!

Beautiful paintings --well done!

Getting Ready!

Life has been hectic this week with preperations for my 50th birthday /10th wedding  anniversary party tomorrow evening.....Im off in a minute to finish icing my cake--and then off down to the Rugby club to arrange the tables and set out where the hog roast etc is going to be!

We are expecting around 120 guests -friends and family---some of whom will be up on the stage later in the evening on the karaoke--must say Im looking forward to that part of the evening the most! One thing for sure--I wont be one of them up there singing!
Anyway tomorrow will be busy--Ive got a workshop first of all tomorrow-but Ive kept it to just 7 students so we should be finished on time so I can come home and start getting ready.
I dont know when I will get the photos of the workshop  and  party on here as we are off first thing Sunday (hangover permitting!) to Bourton On The Water for a couple of nights with our dear friends Marion and Phil.
I cant wait!

March 12th "Mystical Moon" Workshop

We had an all ladies workshop today...what a laugh we had! A mix of newbies and ladies who had been before.They had a choice of blue, grey or purples for the main colour of their painting.Within no time we had a wide variety of different backgrounds going on---Maysoon's (below) painting looked as if she had put a sky and water in on purpose--and Liz--shown above who was painting for the first time had a calm tranquil sky going on!

Val was painting with me for the 3rd time--she has been before with Angela and her daughter Lorna, today Liz came as well--quite convinced she wouldn't be able to do it! Val chose the grey shades--and what a super job she made of it...

Kay was with us for the first time---we used a metallic silver paint to put the moon in--and afterwards a lovely glittery gold medium. The holographic paint I use sometimes seemed to have lost its twinkles!  So I have to order some more--but to be honest I think the gold twinkles worked even better!  Hardest part of the whole class was creating a round moon! We had a long period of complete silence as the ladies started painting the circles of the moon with the silver paint.....

Maureen is one of my regulars--hard to believe she only started to paint in September last year--today she bought along a painting she has done at home--and what a lovely job she had made of it--

It was lovely to see Barbra again--its been a while...she excelled herself today--her branches were very fine -she has a good touch on the liner brush!

hard to get that moon round!

Christina adding the final details---we used a variety of metallic colours to add the foliage detail--wonderful results all round--

wonderful results ladies---all have the individual touch and all very mystical--I'm  looking forward to seeing you all again!

Congratulations Mrs Sharrad--100 years old

Bill meets William---a lovely little Chinese Crested dog--Bill was a bit unsure about stroking William-but once he got to know him he loved him--he is as warm as toast bless him!

Me and Win x

Big congratulations to our dear friend Win Sharrad who had her 100th birthday last Friday--Until 4 months ago Win was baking,knitting and  sewing in her own home and was one of the busiest people I know.She was on the committee board of the place she lives and was a keen gardener as well.      She was  always making aprons,draught excluders etc to sell in the local charity shops and seems to have the patience of a saint to do what she does!.I rarely came home after visiting her without a jar of jam or a pie of some sort for Bill!   Unfortunately she had a fall and broke her hip 4 months ago and couldn't have an operation to fix it-so its been a long process to get her back on her feet bless her.   But she is now back in her own  home in the care of her daughter Liz and son in law Dave.   We have been unable to see much of her because of the swine flu and various bugs etc that have plagued me since Christmas-but we have been down today to see her and she is looking well considering bless!  I'm sure she will be back in the swing of things soon--she has had a busy few days--her telegram from the queen arrived safely and she had loads of other cards and flowers.It will take her a few days to get over the excitement I think.

Wow--What A Weekend!

After a busy class of 15 students on Saturday we rushed home to clean the brushes--over 100 of them! Then we packed a few few over night things ready to get over to Birmingham with my daughter Becki and her partner Wayne--it was their 6th anniversary together and also Wayne's birthday this Wednesday so I had arranged for us all to go  for a 5 course meal meal  on Sunday in a posh hotel in Solihull-- we stayed the night at another lovely hotel--and had a most wonderful Indian meal on Saturday night--then on Sunday we went to a new crazy golf complex and had a great time together!

Becki and Wayne--

The dining room at the hotel was lovely--very atmospheric--and the food was some of the best we have ever had...

We had so many laughs playing crazy gold on the Sunday morning---what a great place it was---

the golf course was very well thought out--not too hard and not too easy..

there are 2 different courses to try..

Wayne proved to be the winner--but I think he has played before!

ready for action!

the last hole!

 

After playing golf we went off to do some retail therapy--couldn't believe just how cheap the shops were round there--me and Becky picked up some real bargains--including a lovely wrap for my birthday party--Ive been looking for one the right colour for ages! We went on from there to The Village Hotel , Solihull for the finale of the weekend-the 5 course meal! None of us managed the 5---choice of smoked salmon, salami, prawn cocktail, salads or leek and potato soup with crusty rolls etc to start---help yourself to what you would like!The smoked salmon was beautiful-and some of the salamis I had never tyred before--all delicious! Then there was a pasta course--all cooked in front of you by the hotels chef---we all passed on that one! Then onto the carvery--the roast beef was to die for--it melted in your mouth--and the veg were beautiful. And I just loved the homemade horse radish sauce that was both creamy and made your eyes water at the same time --yummmy! There was a huge array of cold desserts-from cheesecake, profiteroles and chocolate mousse , if you didn't fancy that  there was a fresh waffle bar with waffles cooked in front of you-served with fresh fruit and cream -Bill and Wayne passed on the next course--the cheese board--but me and Becky gave it a go---the ripe brie was melting all over the plate, the stilton was just perfect and the cheddar was some of the best Ive had--it was a real jib to squeeze it all in but we gave it our best try! The whole weekend was at a bargain price thanks to Groupon-- Hotel was just £37.50 for 2 people B+B including a bottle of wine, vouchers for 20% off meals, 30% off next time there, vouchers for half price cocktails---cant go wrong can you? It was far better than we expected for the price--we thought we might get sub standard rooms--but no--they were just great! Spotless clean and a lovely bed! The crazy golf was just £8 for the 4 of us again thanks to Groupon--and the meal--well that was the bargain of the year--again thanks to Groupon--5 courses for 2 people including glasses of wine  was just £15 . We got home just after 5.30pm just in time to unpack and get ready for the finale of the weekend--off down the town to see Alan Carr at the Assembly Rooms---he was brilliant-laughed out heads off at him--he is doing some small shows called "Work In Progress" where he is trying out new material for his big tours--it rounded off our weekend perfectly---thank goodness I have a quiet week to get over it all!

k

March 5th 2011 "Reeds In The Breeze"

We were back at St Peters on Saturday for the Reeds In The Breeze class.We had a mix of old and new students--we didnt start the class on time as the trains were held up due to one being broke down on the line between here and Hereford--but we were entertained by some of the students Joe- who played the piano and Julia and Sarah dancing on the stage! Then Joe joined in and they were all creased with laughter! We kicked off at 10.45 in the end--and caught up really well---Kevin had bought along a huge decorating brush  as a laugh-and it seemed that we were laughing all day long ....everyone got the hang of the bashing and tickling brushes very quickly--and the skies were done in no time.Very quickly the paintings developed--we had a mix of dramatic, calm and even fantasy themes going on.

concentrating hard....

we stopped for lunch at 12pm -having got on really well ..all we had to do after lunch was the grasses and flowers.Its good for the students to go away from the canvas for a while--they come back and see what they have done with fresh eyes!

Sue and her mum Jilly were booked in May last year but due to illness had to cancel---so it was lovely to see them both--lovely results from both of them!

Lynn traveled by train from Stoke on Trent by train--she was a bit nervous but created a beautiful painting --

its so interesting to see how different the paintings come out..

we laughed at Joe, Julia and Sarah--they painted their faces with moustaches and even glasses with the oil paints  after I took this photo of them--thank goodness for baby wipes!

always interesting to see just how different the paintings turn out--each one has a bit of the artist in them--and I love to watch each person develop their own ideas throughout the class

its difficult to get everyone in the photo in these big classes!

haven't they all done well?

well done everyone--beautiful results!

I have to mention Joe's painting--nobody has ever done tall daisies before in class---but it worked very well! Its so calm and tranquil---