Summer Day Workshop

Looking good Sylvie..

11 year old Lucy was with me for the first time-along with Aunt Silvie..

Lovely Joyce...

Lin came along with Joyce--first time painting ever--she loved it and made a grand job!

another first timer--though you would never guess..

Brian was painting with oils for the first time..

Tina has been once before and painted the Big Poppy--this was a bit different--

Carole's masterpiece.

looking good..

Carol was here with her granddaughter Alice...she managed very well...and her painting was excellent.

Dawn was down from the Wirrel for the 4th time--she bought along her friend Ashley-who was pretty convinced she wouldn't be able to do it..

finishing touches going in here..

nearly done...

Alice's painting was very subtle-her poppies really bought it to life..

lovely results from everyone again and we are looking forward to seeing everyone again soon!

lovely!

Well done!

Sales and Stuff

Ive had a lovely few days with sales of paintings..."Lest We Forget" and "The Stormiest Skies" are going to be on their way to  Debenham ,Norfolk in the morning... My front room wall is going to be awful bare until I get another one painted! Ive had the poppy one on the wall above my green sofa  in there since before Christmas...I love the combination of reds and greens together.

I love this version of Story Skies.....I sold both from Affordable British Art website,,,

The huge Poppy Delight sold from my exhibition at Church Stretton last Friday...

And  "Keep Looking Up" which is one like this one--is on its way to Reading today.. took a photo of the one that's sold, Bill wrapped it up to send --and I realised the photo hadn't turned out! So this is the nearest I have to it--this one is also sold! Again sold from Affordable British Art,, a brilliant site run by my dear friend Ros...,www.affordablebritishart.co.uk    must say the sales are very welcome after the workshops being as quiet as they have been lately...the 6 major shows we missed last year because of the awful weather is to blame for the lack of students--I pick up new students from the shows the summer before.. I expected it to be quieter this year-and I was right---though I am fully booked on some of them already too..lets hope the weather is better this year!

The Waterfall Workshop

Phil has painted before at home and wanted to pick up some hints and tips to use...

John came along with Phil--it was a first for him-and he loved it!

Jac had been once before with Sue--they did the Serenity picture last time--and found this one completely different to do--different techniques altogether!

Sue had great fun covering her palette--it never fails to amaze me how different everyone is when it comes to their palettes--some keep them very neat and some are the opposite and use every inch---

Donna was painting for the first time,,,

as was Ray-we met him at the Doddington Friendship Club last year where I did a demo--he was bought a gift voucher-and admitted he didn't expect to enjoy himself---how wrong could he be? he wrote in my comments book!

Iva and her friend Veronica heard about me from my exhibition in Bishops Castle last year--both really enjoyed themselves...

Veronica used more subtle colours in her painting--more of the greens and yellow ochres--lovely result!

well done everyone!

Holiday in Denbeigh

We had a lovely couple of days away last week...we travelled to Denbeigh in North Wales and stayed at The Hawk and Buckle...this was the view from our room..

bedroom was lovely...but the highlight was............

the double jacuzzi in the bathroom!

there is something really decedent about pink bubbly--especially when drinking it in----

the jacuzzi!!!!!!! I think I may have overdone the bubble bath though! Great fun to be had in a jacuzzi-will defiantly be looking for one in the future when we go away! Shame our bathroom isn't bigger--I would be on the lookout for one to fit in there!

This was a bit of a shock when I opened the bedside drawer to put some clothes in and found these sex toys and lubricant-all new and sealed!!! We still don't know if the previous occupants left them in there or the landlord!  Cant imagine the landlord left them somehow--you could easily offend folk--luckily we are both very broad minded!  And the previous occupants would hardly ring the landlord and say they had left them behind -so that will remain a mystery!

The Hawk and Buckle pub where we stayed..

We had a scary journey home over Horseshoe Pass-we hit some black ice and nearly went over the side of a huge drop-we hit a tump of mud and grass and it threw us back into the road but when they say your life flashes before your eyes -they are not joking! I will not be travelling over any hills in the snow in the future!

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!