Poppy Field Workshop

Gladys was brought along by her 2 daughters Dyan and Lynda. Gladys is 90 years old and my oldest student so far bless her-she has never painted before ! Dyan has been once before and painted The Waterfall, Lynda has never painted before. Gladys admitted she didn't think she would be able to produce a  decent painting-just'' a mess'' so she was really pleasantly surprised she could actually paint!  Lynda also seemed pretty confident and also created a lovely painting..I think Poppy Fields is a great one to start with as its a simple subject--but there is lots to learn in there as well..

I think its easier if students can stand to do their painting as it allows them to keep stepping back and taking a look at how their painting is coming on---folk who sit down sometimes tend to 'fiddle' more with their painting as they are constantly close to it.....Gladys did both--sat some of the time and then stood--and she was very good and didn't fiddle much with it!

Lynda adding her grasses--I give everyone a variety of colours on their palettes..so they can  choose to go with green shades or more yellow ochre ..always interesting to see how many different shades we get in a workshop!

Trina was asked to paint the picture for her sister...

Jenny was also painting her picture for someone else! Her friend had seen Jenny's original Poppy Field and loved it so much she paid for her to come and paint one for her! No pressure then!

Dyan is adding her poppies here...its lovely to see everyone getting creative and deciding where to put the poppies!

Jenny adding her finishing touches!

Gladys adding her poppies--she also added in some daisies and cornflowers after as well!

Dyan and Lynda's pictures...

Well done ladies....

Emerald Woods Workshop Feb 2d

Emerald Woods is an interesting one to do--you learn to use acrylic and oils.. here you can see John starting the background..

Sara came to class with her mum, they came to paint Serenity and enjoyed it so much they came back!

Dave was painting with me for the first time..he had never used a sponge to paint with before! None of the others had either come to think of it!

We had some lovely interesting trees, its amazing how quickly people find their confidence and the trees improve with each one they paint!

Margaret stepping back to see what to do next--its looking great!

Sara's trees are taking shape...

The oil wash takes everyone by surprise and this is where you can have a lot of fun with colour...

Dave's adding blues and greens to his painting..

you can make the paintings as subtle or bright as you like...

The blue has always been one of my favourite colours---

lovely results everyone!

Stormy Poppies Workshop Jan 30th

After having to chop and change the workshops of late because of the weather, Gloria and Margaret were happy to come to the house to paint their chosen subject... here you can see Margaret adding depth to her stormy sky.

Gloria also found it easy to add loads of depth using just black and white oils..

The painting comes together really quickly.. both ladies got the hang of the knife very quickly, and the waves were done in just a few minutes..

Just about to start the poppies...

the grasses are going in--

Lovely results ladies!

Jan 26th Workshop " Birches"

We only had 4 in for the Birches yesterday, 5 of the people booked in for last weeks cancelled workshop couldn't make it this week....Christina did mange to get here though! She chose the large size  40in x 12in canvas.....it takes a lot of trees to cover that one!

Lesley made it from Hereford...she also opted for the large canvas...and chose the soft sage green and cream combination..

We met Sandra at the Tenbury Apple Fest last year--one of the few shows that went ahead in the awful weather we had...Ive noticed that the number of bookings is down on previous years because we didn't do as many shows as normal....anyway although Sandra was quite nervous to start with she soon settled down to it and the nerves soon went! She chose to use the silver paint for the birch trees...it catches the light beautifully..

We know Daniels Mum as she works on the same  market as us..Daniel chose the 12in x 24in canvas and the shades of browns that would match his bedroom. He followed my instructions very well and he really enjoyed himself..

adding the detail..

Lesley soon had the hang of doing the trees...

Daniel adding his large birch trees..

nearly finished Christina!

Sandra found her confidence very early on , deciding that she wanted to add a large black tree in the foreground...and she made a brilliant job of it!

Bill had to carry on with each stage of my painting while I supervised the students--he is a dad hand at Birches now!

The end results....

Loved Christina's picture....

Daniel 's masterpiece..

Sandra's beautiful painting..

I love the green and creams of Lesley's painting....she made a cracking job of it!

It was lovely to have just a few brushes to clean when we got home--made a refreshing change to be honest! As soon as that was done we sat down to relax with a Tia Maria and Baileys over ice--the perfect end to the perfect day!

Jessica's 9th Birthday Party

Jessica wanted a painting party for her 9th birthday. She had been with her family a few years ago to one of my workshops and painted Summer Day... today we decided that The Birches would be a good one to do...its acrylic so it was dry for all the girls to take home..

Jessica was lucky that she had  enough room at home to hold her party...we had everyone set up around 2 big tables...

The paintings soon took shape...

dryng off their paintings...

adding detail to the trees,,,

Jessica's Dad had a go as well...

they loved every stage of the painting....

well done everyone--lovely results!

If you would like to hold your own painting party--the cost is just £15 per person if you opt for the smaller 8in x 10in canvas..or you could book for a normal size canvas workshop..please contact me via the website www.paintingmyway.co.uk

We stopped  on the way home for a carvery at The Punch Bowl , and the snow kept coming down while we were in there....we had a bit of a scary journey home as the roads were solid ice beneath the snow....we were very glad to see Greenacres I can tell you!