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Sue's News - For updates, special offers, class info and an insight into what's going on in my world For your ease of navigation, all underlined text is a clickable link to the relevant page SEPTEMBER NEWS
Week 39: 24th September to 30th September There's a clever clogs in the family! Alan announced this morning he would make up a batch of frames and then escape to my studio to paint a picture. True to his word, we now have a large stock of ornate frames. After a coffee break he disappeared into my studio....he came out only twice, once asking where the sap green was and once asking for the liquid clear. I had three and a half hours of Pop Art painting in the dining room before I saw him again. His words were; 'I've finished but I don't like it, I've made quite a mess'. I explained that I knew how he felt, but at least he gave it ago and it made a nice change for him to paint for an afternoon...........all these comments were made BEFORE I saw his work. I slipped into the studio to make sure the brushes and paints were put away correctly and after I picked my jaw from the floor I dashed into the house to grab the camera. But..............you'll have to wait till tomorrow's posting to see Alan's efforts.  Today's private lesson was quite a giggle. I was telling my ladies about some therapeutic creams I had purchased from the Green Room, a homeopathy centre. The creams contain floral essences with various properties. One variety is referred to as 'Genie in a bottle' and is alleged to stop you getting cross or frustrated, it is calming, it relaxes, gives a feeling of well-being....... I offered it to one of my ladies, who promptly rubbed it over her heart. 20 minutes later she was smiling away saying 'I just LOVE my painting...' Now whether the cream had anything to do with this, who knows. But it did cross my mind to take it along to classes............. Later this afternoon I decided to have a break from the oils and work on another pop-art portrait, something quite different. Here's one of my idols, can you guess who he is?
 I don't think there's a day goes by without receiving lovely e-mails from customers, just letting me know how they're doing. Sometimes the messages are sent via my Guest Book, in private mode, all of which I keep. I receive all sorts of things through the post, from cards, Class Banners, photos, chocolates........ Sometimes students bring things along to classes too and both myself and Darrell have received some beautiful personalised cut crystal momentoes and books. Today though, a knock on the door first thing always signifies the postman has a package that will not fit through the letter box. Alan picked up the package and shouted through 'who do you know in Jersey?' He came into my office with a large box and inside was the most beautiful bouquet of flowers, in rich and vibrant Autumn colours. They were a gift from a very special couple who have been with me since the early days of my first website. We've never met, but we feel like old friends thanks to the e-mail exchanges between us. So, Ted & Rosie, thank you so much for your lovely surprise - it's put me in the most fantastic mood and I am so touched by your gesture. The display takes pride of place in my dining room. Kiss Kiss, Hug Hug. : )
 How's this for a catch? They say that a dropped slice of bread will always land butter side down....... During class yesterday one lady dropped her loaded fan brush and by sheer luck it landed quite safely.
I just LOVE my sat nav. I spent Monday pretty much running around all day. Even though I knew where I was going, I still set the sat nav for the varying destinations, just for the fun of it. It actually felt like I had a competant and polite companion in my car. (Don't worry, I'll know I've really lost the plot when I start having a conversation with it!). During yesterdays class some of the students were discussing the varying voices you can download to these devices. One student has a friend who's sat nav speaks to them in the voice of John Cleese - it even shouts at you, Basil Fawlty style, when you go wrong. What sort of 'personality' would you select for your sat nav? Can you imagine Her Majesty, in her clipped tones, telling one to continue driving round the roundabout and take the third exit? Week 38: 17th September to 23rd September   Next stop was Bury St Edmunds. I needed to refresh myself of the amount of room in the Cloisters Gallery. As we arrived, there was a huge vintage car gathering directly opposite the Cathedral. A quick pop into the gallery was all I needed and after that we spent some time looking at the fantastic condition of the old motors. An old Pontiac Firebird started up and the sound of the V8 engine brought home memories of the V8 Camaro we used to have in the Middle East. You could feel it through your bones. It was such a nice day we decided to stop for a bite to eat before returning home. I decided to confuse the sat nav and left the chosen route in favour of the backroads. After a couple of 'Do a U-turn' commands the navigation soon fell in and re-calculated the route. So, as you can see, I'm impressed and thrilled with my new toy and am happy to drive anywhere now.
 Today was a run-around day for us. Neil had managed to secure me a fantastic second hand easel, just like the one he used in the class last weekend. Sturdy is an understatement - the main wingnut alone is the size of your fist. Here's a snap and you can see it's taller than a door and it is currently holding a canvas 20 inches high. Well worth the 3 hour round trip. Well, I say 3 hours..........that's what it should have taken. Alan took the lesser known 'direct-thru-Norwich-Town-Centre' route.........several times......... It all worked out well though as just this morning we were discussing sat nav's. I'm a nervous driver when I'm not sure of where I'm going and today's journey swung things very much in favour of a sat nav. We left Neil's, with directions to the nearest Halfords (thanks Sarah) and moments later were plugged in and on our way again. We were fighting to see the screen and amazed at how many details showed. All we need to do now is change the voice command to that of Sean Connery (MISH MUNAY PENAY).
 Peggy, from the art group helped me during today's art class, and a brilliant cuppa she makes too. We set up in record time. You can just see Peggy at the rear of the class catching some waterfall tips. When I dropped Peggy at home, she invited me in for another cuppa, which we took in her very colourful garden, an ideal place to wind down after class. Peggy paints at home and showed me her studio and several of her paintings. Her husband, John, had made her a very inventive brush holder and I was delighted when he asked me if I would like one also. This will be a great addition in my own studio, I'll post a snap of it once it's finished - bet you'll all be wanting to make one.
 First of all - a great big thanks to all this week's private students who have allowed me to photograph them at various stages throughout the oil painting lessons. Today's 2 ladies tackled 'Peach Dawn' and made very different versions indeed - in fact you wouldn't know they had taken the same class. It's nice to watch a student decide to take on a different slant and develop their painting in their own unique style using the wet on wet technique. Today I introduced a shimmey effect right down the centre of the painting, you can see the pretty effect here on Lynn's painting. Before today's student's left, they booked an all time record of 14 more classes between them! Both ladies are able to paint on their own at home but I think they prefer coming along to me so they are not disturbed by home and family events. Both ladies also tell me they paint a lot better when they have a 'Sue' behind them. I guess I am a safety net, even though I make a point of not touching any student's canvas. it wouldn't be all their own work otherwise, would it?
The purple landscape, shown below, is so pretty that I've decided to include it in my 'Class Subjects' page. You'll be able to click on the image for a more detailed look. I was wondering what to name it. Lilac Loch came to mind. As soon as Alan saw it he exclaimed Purple Haze, (yes, he's a Hendrix fan). It seems to sum up the painting quite well as there is a definate and deliberate haze right down the middle. After today's class I packaged my orders and realised I had just 5 minutes to make it to the post office before the last collection. Dilemma! Do I continue on my bike and more than likely miss the collection or do I dash up in my car to make it on time? Here's where the 'typical woman', syndrome kicks in........... I snatched my car keys, walked halfway up my path, done a quick body swerve and headed towards my bike instead. Fate must have been on my side as the postman was running late - so all was well. On the return ride home I decided that I would have to cycle to the 2nd drain on the hill before dismounting. With no coat and drizzle starting to fall I passed the 'SLOW' sign, I passed the first drain, I achingly passed the second drain, I then passed my next milestone, the telegraph pole and finally made it to the entrance of the cul-de-sac before dismounting. I'm well pleased and perhaps, dare I say it, it should rain more often.  Today's student, Katie, opted for 'Spring Reflection II'. She wants to prepare for her forthcoming trip to Scotland, as mentioned a few postings below. She wanted a mountain and clouds but with more purple, (which is her favourite colour). I actually wondered if the subject really ticked all the boxes and after a discussion we decided to go all out purple and also introduce a few other aspects into the painting. Now I'm not a great lover of purple but I really thoroughly enjoyed putting together today's painting. You can see Katie's finished result here and I think she has enough technique mastered to cover her Scottish landscapes. A delivery of DVD's arrived while she was here and she's brought a couple that will further develop her mountains and lochs. Well done Katie, you've nearly converted me to purple.
 Today's student made a lovely seascape and brought along 5 other paintings for framing in preparation for the October exhibition. She's also taken my advice and sent for an application form to take part in another exhibition coming along in November which means we'll be exhibiting side by side for 2 consecutive months. Lynn is a natural with the knife and really enjoys making rocks, so we made sure to have a large one in the foreground. Lynn, incidentally, is the lady who suggested I have a 'singles' classes for folk who share an interest in painting and might like to make new friendships................so...........with a quick flick through our diaries and a phone call or two, we've arranged it. We'll be having this on Saturday November 24th at 12 noon at the Lambe School in East Bergholt. We might even go for a meal at the King's Head afterwards. More details of that to follow, so watch this space.
 WooHoo! The just released David Gilmour DVD arrived this morning. We watched this concert at the Albert Hall last year, it was the very first time I'd seen Mr G perform in the flesh and we wasn't disappointed. The difficult thing will be sitting on this little gem until Saturday night, which will be our first chance to watch this properly. Alan received a stack of DVD's this morning too.....his Daily Mail set of War DVD's arrived and it looks like there's about 2 dozen of them.....oh no, I disappear into my office as soon as there's anything war related on TV.
 How's this to put a smile on your face? I've just received news of a winner! Last year, a young student by the name of Edward painted a rather lovely sunset in one of my classes. His proud grandmother has recently entered this painting into a local arts and crafts competition. Guess what - he came first!! Well done to Edward, he must be quite pleased with himself - and well done Brenda for taking the initiative.
Not wanting to bore you with the blow by blow account of every pound shed, I did just want to mention that today both me and my bike made it past the 'SLOW' sign to the next drain! I hope when you receive your orders through the post you realise in your own way you're part of my exercise regime. Looking at the scales this morning, last week was well worth it and it's just great to find a way of killing 3 birds with one stone (pardon the pun). I'm clearing my daily despatches, I'm saving on fuel plus I'm getting fit too.  The Art for Fun Art Group resumed today for the Autumn Term. We discussed the forthcoming exhibition. Many members brought along their work wondering if it was good enough. Well, all I can say is if I can handle some of the finer details as well as these members, I'd be a happy bunny. Of course, the question cropped up about price, which puts me on the spot. Jokingly we toyed with the idea of deciding a price and either adding a 1 to the front of the number or a zero at the end! This is a 'different' exhibition. It's for the experience, not the sales (although a sale or two would be uplifting). Not one of us cares if we return with all our paintings, we're just happy to exhibit together and we're relishing the experience. There's quite an air of excitement in the group as many members have not exhibited before. If anyone has watched the movie 'Calendar Girls' it illustrates perfectly the thrill and fears of cranking things up a level (only we'll be keeping our clothes on).
Week 37: 10th September to 16th September Righty ho - the shopping baskets are now set up for the 2 new DVD's : The Watercolour pencils DVD shows 3 complete projects 'A Tulip Bouquet', 'Ann Hathaway's Cottage' and 'Snow Leopard'. The Flower Technique DVD, by Lyndia Wain shows how to paint many styles of flowers in Acrylics/Watercolour/Chromo Cour. Once again, these DVD's are £5.50 each which includes postage to any European address. One of my customers has sent me an image of a seascape which he made by following th step by step instructions from the Creative Painting Seascape & Landscape DVD (Sunset Seascape/Country Walks). I've just popped an image of it on the 'Your Gallery' page. Be sure to check out Norman's rocks!  Today, guest tutor Neil took the students through their paces with his atmospheric seascape. It was nice for me to take on the role of assistant, dishing out the paint and stuff. Neil has a lovely way with him and really does endeavour to make each painting unique to the student rather than copies of the 'master' painting. His explanations and step by step demonstrations are simple, concise and very professional. I set up a table at the side of the hall and managed to get completely up to date with all my despatches, laminating and product labelling. Alan set up a table at the back of the hall and he managed to put all his frames together, so we're well stocked up for the next few weeks. All of today's student's re-booked for the 'Peach Dawn' class and 2 students booked for the Darrell Crow landscape class 'Castle on a Lake'. Several of the new style brushes were sold from the product table and all in all it was a great class on many levels. I had to take a snap of Emma (a natural at rocks). I think this is one of the most unusual painting positions I have see so far. The photo is a little blurred, but it's the only one I managed to snap. Enough for you to get the general idea though.
 Today's students must own the most used set of Gift Vouchers between them. They submit them at the end of the class as payment then buy them right back again for the next class. We've put the new smaller sized fan brush through it paces today and next week I will be able to show Katie the benefits of the angular foliage brush. They are preparing themselves for a well deserved holiday to Scotland soon where they will take their oil painting equipment along and capture the lovely images that surround their little paradise. Over the weeks they've been e-mailing me some wonderful shots of their retreat. How's this for one of their Scottish Sunrises.....
 I keep my bike outside the front of the Apollo Studio incase guests fancy a bike ride around the village. Well, this afternoon I fancied a bike ride, plus I could do with the exercise. It's a fairly new bike, but it only has 3 gears and a shopping basket on the front (don't laugh). Trust me, I've tried the streamlined racers with 50 gears and I really don't like them. I loaded up my basket with today's despatches and cycled along to the post office. It's only about a mile and a half there and back. It was lovely in the sun, passing the church racing down the hill. It wasn't so funny on the return trip though.....the photo doesn't do this hill justice. Anyone who's visited here will know just how steep this hill really is. The sign on the road says SLOW - it should read 'NOWS THE TIME TO GET OFF'. Hopefully by the end of the month I'll be able to make it up the hill under my own steam. I aim to lose 2 stone before Christmas and I'm sure the villagers will see a lot more of me on my bike. Incidentally , the Post Office lady is an enthusiastic cyclist, it's nothing to her to have a 20 mile jaunt. She's given me a lovely 7 mile cycle route, right from my front door, so I hope to try that out on another sunny day.
It appears there is a fault with one of the 'Creative Painting' DVD's. We expect the occasional fault now and again, but there's been a small number of people who have reported a DVD 'freeze' 2 thirds of the way through the Landscape/Seascape DVD. Thanks to the ever efficient John, additional replacements are on their way to me. For those of you who have experienced this fault, rest assured, the replacements will be posted to you as soon as I receive them. For those of you who haven't yet tested your copies, could you run a quick check and see if they are OK please? If there's any problem, please drop me a line on info@ayoubart.co.uk Apologies for this inconvenience. 2 New brushes have just been added to the 'Brushes and Tools' page. I have been using these myself for my own exhibition work for some considerable time. I've also put these brushes through their paces with student's attending private classes. In my opinion, they tick all the boxes are are available straight away at just £4 each (includes postage and packing to any European address). We have a very small size fan brush and a half inch angular foliage brush - both ideal for adding extra details. I've just had an internet emotional experience. Halfway through today's private lesson I received a text from the globe-trotting step daughter, Carla and her boyfriend Scotty. They were in a bar in Alice Springs - nothing unusual about that. EXCEPT..........the bar in question has a webcam on the dance floor, the bar, the restaurant...... not only that, by the powers of online payment, you're able to buy drinks, send a message even play music requests! So as I sit here updating my website I have 2 screens on my monitor also showing the bar & the dance floor and I am watching Carla collect her drink vouchers and listening to the DJ making the announcements. Let's hope they both enjoy the Pink Floyd request. It feels very strange sitting here buying drinks for family on the other side of the world - even stranger watching them having a good time. Check out Bojangles Saloon - you'll get an idea of my little emotional moment. (sniff) I'm close to sold out of the latest 'Creative Painting' oil painting DVD's and the feedback I am receiving on these items so far has been great. I've placed another stock order this morning along with an order for another 2 DVD's to add to the collection. I'll be adding 'Flower techniques suitable for Chromacolour, Acrylics, Watercolour and Oils' and 'Painting with Watercolour Pencils'. I have some watercolour pencils myself and they are a great little compact item to pack away in a suitcase with a sketchbook to take away on holidays. Again, these DVD's will be £5.50 each including postage and packing to any European address. I'll open the shopping baskets for these soon on the DVD PAGE  Today's private student was set to paint a 'Constable' style picture. When she arrived she spotted Bamburgh Castle drying on the side and said she wished she could paint something like it. 'Wanna give it a go?', I asked, 'we can change the subject if you prefer'. To cut a long story short, we swapped the painting subject and although my lady didn't think for one minute she could produce such a recognised landscape, she was over the moon with her end result. The only thing she wanted to change was the colour scheme from Yellow/Orange/Red to Brown/Cream. It works well doesn't it.........? This is her painting by the way and at no time did I touch her canvas, no tracing was involved nor was there any pre-sketching - this was totally free hand. This painting is proving to be so popular that I am going to offer it as an intermediate private class immediately and I will look to book an additional class for this hopefully sometime in November. You're just going to have to trust me that not only can I teach you to oil paint - I can teach you to oil paint Bamburgh Castle to Exhibition Standard! Hows that!!
NB: Intermediate level requires a student to have attended 4 AyoubArt painting classes. Bamburgh Castle is available as a private lesson to intermediate level students at a cost of £55 private and £40 standard class. The extra £5 in incurred as the canvas used is high quality deep edge box canvas as opposed to the standard 16 x 20 inch normally used. Alternatively, you can deduct £5 from this rate if you bring your own canvas. All other materials and refreshments are supplied. Images of this painting subject, which enlarge when you click on them, can be found HERE Next Monday AyoubArt and friends will have a meeting to discuss the forthcoming October exhibition. This will take place at the Cricket pavillion in nearby Copdock at 10am. If you can make it, please come along. If you can't make it but will be taking part in the exhibition, please let me know the dates and times you will be available to supervise this event. I'm particularly looking for stewards on the 7th October as I have a class that day. No need to bring your work along to the meeting at this stage. Darrell's waterfall competition closes on the 30th of this month, so you have almost 3 more weeks to submit your entries. Each person can submit 2 entries free of charge, after that each entry is $5. There's over $2000 dollars in prizes. There are 2 categories: Artists and Students. CLICK HERE for more details on how to enter - there's still plenty of time. Let's make sure we have a good representation from the UK. Quick class update: We've still got availability on Neil's Seascape Workshop this sunday at Capel Village Hall. I have one space left on the Waterfall Workshop on 22nd and there's one space left on the seascape project at Heartlands on 25th. The Tall Ship seminar is filling really quickly so if you're thinking about attending do be prompt with reserving your space. You can find details of all these workshops HERE Week 36: 3rd September to 9th September  Today's class at Capel was cancelled earlier in the week as I had a couple of unavoidable cancellations. All was not lost.......instead, I shifted things up a level. Lynn has now been painting with me for 9 months and she's been wanting to paint something like Bamburgh Castle for a while now. It's not a subject I would put into a beginners painting class (just yet), but we did have the ideal opportunity to paint this today in a private class. It's opened up the doors for intermediate classes for people with some experience and with a futher 3 private lessons booked, Lynn will have yet more paintings to display in next month's exhibition. 'Didn't she do well................? I think you'll agree this is simply stunning. For the record - I didn't touch this canvas at any stage.
..........8 hours later - can you tell which one was painted with the cheaper student quality oil paints? I'll put larger versions on the class subjects page for your scrutiny.
 I had an English Countryside project to work on too, something with rolling fields. I managed to have time after Bamburgh Revisited to have a fiddle around with a design based very loosely on a Bob Ross painting. The amount of colours in this one is huge, although you wouldn't notice at a first glance. There's every colour of yellow, red, brown and green in the very background tree line. I'll pop this painting in my Class Subject's page so you can have a better look. It's available if anyone wants to paint it in a private class.
 I headed for my studio with a cup of herbal tea very first thing this morning, with Ziggly following. I was on a mission. Yesterday I found an old calender with a marvellous shot of Bamburgh Castle in silhouette. It was the same photo I used as inspiration for my original painting, which sold in 2005. I was in a red mood from yesterday and had the ideal canvas to hand for the project. I thoroughly enjoyed putting this painting together using different techniques and brushes. I'm calling this one 'Bamburgh Revisited' and I think it'll be ideal for the 'AyoubArt & Friends' exhibition in Cloisters Gallery, Bury St Edmunds, on week commencing 4th October. You can see a larger version of this in Sue's Gallery .
 Whilst the bright oil paints were out I decided to play with a little abstract painting. It gave me a chance to trial some different brushes and I also mixed my own medium. I'm calling this one 'Happiness'. The image started off with nothing more than a big smile in red. Colours were added and blended in many layers. The photo does not do the painting justice as there is much movement and direction in the layers of oils. It's been finished off with the Chinese symbol for 'Happiness'.
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Copyright © 2003-2008 Susan Warne. Arts Council / Wet on Wet Classes /Apollo Studio Accomodation / Darrell Crow Studios
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Today I shall be conducting an experiment. 2 easels will be set side by side - I'll paint the exact same subject on both canvases. On one canvas I will use Winsor & Newton 'Newton' brand oil paint and on another I will use Winsor & Newton 'Artists Oil Colour'. The difference in price of these paints ranges from double to a huge quadruple, depending on the colours you buy. A small fortune was spent for this experiment so, in theory, the difference should be significant. Watch this space when I post the results. Yesterday I made a monochrome seascape using the expensive paints. I'm really pleased with the results but as I didn't paint a control version it's hard to see how this might differ from Winton.
With one flower bed cleared and replanted, thanks to Oli, and the second one to be cleared this afternoon, we're planning to retire to the bottom of the garden for pizza by the bonfire this evening. We'll burn the huge amount of debris (along with 5 bin liners full of oil painting rubbish). A couple of hours in front of the fire with a bottle of wine and some nice music really clears your head of the stresses and pressures of business. (They're nice stresses and pressures though!) The garden lighting will need to be re shuffled now and it'll give Oli a good chance to see which plants he'd like to bring into the limelight. I can't wait till Spring, I'm told they'll be an explosion of colour!!!!
I'd like to make a special announcement on behalf of myself, Alan, Stef, Oli, Doreen, Cynthia and Darrell..............a very very very very happy birthday to dear friend and painting buddy Tom, who is 21 again today. Hope you have a great day Tom and see you very soon.
Stef's boyfriend, Oli, is a landscape gardener. I organised a website for him several months ago and so far he's not added much content. So - we've reached a rather splendid agreement. I will be working on his website for him and in return he will tidy up and add to my 2 large beds at the bottom of the garden. These beds haven't been touched for over a year and have become overgrown with weeds, I'm ashamed to say. Oli has a free licence to do whatever he wants to them and he has a budget of £100 to spend on plants. The plants will be delivered tomorrow and I'm quite excited that this part of the garden will become pretty once more.
Although they had selected to paint a waterfall, today's private students changed their minds when they saw the latest English Countryside painting. Who would have thought that I'd be teaching this subject less than 24 hours after creating it! An incredible amount of paint is used in this painting, although it doesn't look it. The grassland areas are really textural and will be greatly enhanced when dry. We used a new brush today, a rather special foliage brush, with great success. Ideal for the background trees. Today's ladies done really well and although they didn't think their paintings were up to much early on, once the first stage of the path and then the fence were added, it really made the paintings come to life.......as you can see here. Once framed in lovely mahogany and gold trim, both paintings were just superb.
