Medieval Fair Ludlow and more.......

Well the weather was vile last weekend but it didn't stop the people attending the Medieval Fair in Ludlow..Wind and rain--we had it all! But we had plenty of waterproof sheets around the outside of the stall and it was quite cosy inside..

Don't think Bill wanted his photo took LOL...we were non-stop all weekend with customers--lots of folk down from The Wirrel,, lovely chatting with them-one of my favourite accents! The wind was gusting really bad on the Sunday so we packed up earlier than we would have normally-stuff was blowing around and it could have been dangerous...we had all the sheets to get dry ready for Wednesdays market...

It was quieter on the Wednesday market after the weekend, the Christmas shopping rush just didn't happen!!! However Bill did spot these beautiful lilies (My Favourite) on Farmers stall next door--I had to cut them right down as they were 4 ft tall!

I have been raising money for the past few months for the O'Connor ward at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital where my son Jim has been treated for Hodgkin's Lymphoma for nearly 12 months now..I was able to buy these 2 Dyson Fans to donate to the ward this week, after getting them at a better price for Black Friday! £50 off so £180 each--I was well chuffed. The patients will be pleased with them, as the chemo makes you very hot and sweaty sometimes, and there isn't enough fans to go round--these are ideal because there isn't any noise or a blade to hurt anyone..I will be dropping them off at the hospital next Tuesday..

Jim will be going into the QE hospital ,Birmingham next Thursday to have his stem cell treatment which hopefully will put him into remission....they have harvested his own cells to use, but they have also found a perfect match donor if they need one..The treatment will be really harsh-he will have 5 days very intensive chemo to wipe out every cell before giving him back his own stem cells which hopefully will grow into healthy cells and make him better..he will have to stay in until his white cells are high enough to help him fight any infections ...fingers crossed he will be out for Christmas but if not Christmas will go to him in hospital!

''Into The Light'' Workshop

A lovely new subject for last Saturdays workshop. Using acrylic paint is shades of purples and blues--(the purples are not showing up at all in the photos for some reason ..) we soon had a really atmospheric background.. 9 of the ladies had come as a group for an early Christmas Treat, and bought along a few bottles of wine to enjoy which helped with the nerves a little! They all had lifts home so they could enjoy it!

Chris's background is looking great here ..

enjoying lunch!

more trees going in for Jackie...

One or two ladies wanted to add some snow to the paths...

Jan's painting is really taking shape now..

I love how everyone finds their own style so quickly-- some really lovely  results!

well done ladies..

its such a shame you cant see the detail of the twinkling stars  and the snowflakes floating down...it certainly isn't one of the easiest subjects I teach, but well worth the effort!

Foxgloves And Dragonflies

Barry painted with me earlier in the year when I went to do a workshop for the ABC41 club of which he is a member..he came along with his wife Denise who was a bit nervous!

This is a lovely subject to do and the results are quick to show too..I love teaching trees--everyone soon gets their own style very quickly--and trees are a bit like signatures-all unique to each person!

5th time for Liz who travels down all the way from Derby with the other girls-she loved using the monochrome paint!

First time for Gaynor, who also travelled down from Derby-lots of nerves but soon settled into it, lovely results too..

The workshop was a birthday treat from Cynthia husband-they stayed nearby and made a weekend of it-first time using acrylic and oils for her--she has tried watercolours before though..

5th time for Jo too--the Derby ladies will be receiving their artist brooches next time they come!

Christiania really enjoyed her day-said it was her first time since she was at school!

Diane drove everyone down from Derby--so Bill made some boxes so the paintings could all be stacked safely in the boot for the journey home.

everyone found it very interesting to use the acrylic first--then oils--and then right at the end have the choice of adding some colour to the monochrome...

Sharon got on well with the acrylic paint and had some great trees happening!

Lovely bold trees from Karen !

First time for Mary-she cant wait to come again!

everyone hard at it here!

Mary with her finished painting--she left hers monochrome-apart from the foxgloves and dragonflies..

I loved Barry's and  Denise's paintings--they added a touch of lilac to just the bottom of their paintings-very effective!

Karen loves colour--and her painting took on a real magical look--Cynthia left hers monochrome which looked just as good!

Isn't it amazing just how different the paintings can turn out so easily!

Amazing results from the '''Derby Five'''

Christiania, Denise and Barry with their finished masterpieces

Winter Wonderland Workshop

Im very late getting the blog done again--where does the time go to? This subject has lots of different bits to it--some easy-some not so easy..but all the ladies tackled it really well and what great results we had from them! Looking forward to seeing them all again...

Winters Walk

Between work commitments and illness we were down to just the one student yesterday..so Chris came to the house to paint Winters Walk..Only her 2nd painting--she came along to the Serenity workshop a few weeks ago and loved it so much she booked into another 3 workshops!

We had a visitor at lunchtime--Simon-one of my students kindly picked up a set of veg cutting tools from Kidderminster for me after I saw his impressive veg on Twitter LOL...he gave us a demo and Chris was so impressed she was going to call by on her way home to pick some up for herself!

She loved painting using he acrylic and oils...and can be seen here adding some clear glitter to the snow to make it look really frosty!

Well done Chris--will look forward to seeing you in the ''Into The Light'' workshop next month!

Think we need a bit more practise with the potato cutter! But they made lovely crisps..

The carrot spiral cutter was great...can be used for all sorts,,,

The tomato cutter was very easy to use,,,and the potato spiral tool worked well...the kids will love the curly chips! I'm so lucky to meet such lovely people through the workshops,,thanks again Simon...will have fun practising with all the tools in the future!

Sunflowers Workshop

This was the first time I have run the Sunflower workshop for about 3 years..I was a bit nervous for once, hoping I would get everything in the right order! I had a run through at home to jog my memory! Linda made a cracking job of her painting..

Beverly got on great painting her sunflowers...

Jeanne was bought a gift voucher from her son...first time painting in oils for her but she loved it...and said she may add some embroidery to it at at later date...would love to see the end results of that!

Angela and Sue (below)  buy each other gift vouchers for birthdays and Christmas..

the paintings looked a little odd for a while but soon came together once the sunflowers started going in!

Dawn was working on oil painting canvas paper instead of the box canvas everyone else was using...she wants to take her paintings to her holiday home abroad, and it will be easier and cheaper to transport on the canvas paper and get framed when she gets there!

I love seeing how people use their pallet's---Sue made full use of hers ...not much space left on it!

and this was Jeanne's,,

The photo does not show the detail..but they were all brilliant-- very individual..lots of scope to do your own style with this subject-- will be painting it again next year... I have already got bookings coming in for next year...see the dates underneath this years dates on the website!www.paintingmyway.co.uk