November News

Sue's News - For updates, special offers, class info and an insight into what's going on in my world

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Week 48: 26th November to 2nd December

Click HERE for December News
Spooky.......I have just answered the door to my neighbour's daughter, Micheala. Tomorrow's students are in for an extra treat! She has given me a bag of home-made sausage and cheese pies. They are her own recipe and her version of a sausage roll but with a cheese pastry. Micheala was a regular student of mine several years ago BEFORE I started giving painting lessons.  I guess you could say she was one of my youngest 'guinea pigs' so I could see how I felt about teaching art. This was way before I started teaching my Wet on Wet Oil Painting Classes back in 2005. I better go and load them away with the mince pies - I've already eaten 2, and with just 7 left I don't want any students to go without! They're melt in your mouth delicious.
I had set today aside for painting.....but it was not to be. First thing I decided to totally re-organise my brushes. The space in my office is gradually being taken over by large boxes containing all the new products. With 2 more large parcels arriving this morning something had to be done. Now everything is neatly priced and boxed and the surplus is stored away. Student's will be breaking the seal on many brushes in tomorrow's class, they'll have a couple of other little extra's too, including a fact sheet they can take home with them and they'll be getting lovely mince pies with their tea as we will be entering the Season to be Jolly..........
Well, well, well......what a discovery I made today! I've been chatting online with fellow ACI - Alexander Certified Instructor - Jack Kolber. Jack trained directly under Bill Alexander many years ago. You can visit Jack's informative website 'Magic Brush Art' by clicking HERE . It turns out that Jack is not just a pretty face.......he's a bit of a rocker too, and so is a good portion of his family. Together they have covered a track particularly close to my heart - Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd. With Jack on drums, his son on keyboard, one cousin on bass and another cousin on lead guitar and vocals they gave a performance that made the hair on my arms stand on end. By the wonders of the internet Jack managed to give me a link to download the tune....thanks Jack & family. You're a very talented bunch, in more ways than one.
.............................as promised - the special DVD offers now have their shopping baskets HERE - just scroll down to the bottom of the page. These offers will run until 27th December, so you all have a good month to take advantage of the savings. It's probably a good time to explain how the Darrell Crow DVD distributorship works here in the UK. A long while back Darrell installed a duplicator and DVD labeller in my office - the same equipment he uses in the US. He recommended a blank DVD supplier to me to keep in line with the products he too uses. When a new DVD is made, Darrell ships a master copy to me. From the master DVD I duplicate the DVD's which are distributed in Europe. So, we have our own little production line going on here but in a smaller way compared to the States. You are basically getting the same product as if you made your purchase from the States.  I carry Masters of all Darrell's DVD's (apart from the Tall Ships, which are winging their way to me).
I've just noticed, minutes before leaving the house, that Darrell Crow has been at it again.  He's announced yet more Christmas Special Offers. We have a Basic Floral 3 DVD set consisting of Floral Preparation/Basic Leaves/Basic Flowers and a special offer on any 7 DVD's. Now, I have some shipping and currency conversions to calculate and I don't have time to make shopping baskets for these until this evening - but they will be on here by tonight. He keeps me on my toes, doesn't he.......
Darrell's announced another Special Offer.....the Basic Techniques of oil painting 12 DVD set has just been reduced from £80 to £65. This offer will run up until December 25th. CLICK HERE to be taken to the shopping basket.
Today Steffi has a day off work. Guess where we're going to head off to? After her driving lesson we'll pop over to my little haven and compete with each other in the gym (well it won't be much of a competition actually). We'll then indulge ourselves in the pool and spa and even make time for the sauna and steam room. A great way to spend a day off after a working weekend!   If I slip up the greengrocers quickly before we go I can get enough fresh veg to throw into the slow cooker so we can return home to a cooked meal.
I had 2 lovely classes over the weekend. Saturday it was good to be back at the Lambe School in East Bergholt, such a pretty little village. The venue was a little on the chilly side at first, but we soon warmed up with frequent cups of tea. Some lovely versions of 'Make A Wish' were made. I had 2 new students at the class, a brother and sister team. Before the brother left he said the most lovely thing to me - he said I had caused a significant change in his life. He'll be getting more and more involved with oil painting in the future as he is now convinced he really can 'do it'. So good luck Brian 'No Trees' with your future painting ventures and if you need any help or advice, drop me a line or give me a bell. Yesterday's class were 2 ladies. One had been to me before, the other was a newbie. Their humour throughout the workshop was brilliant - they were a real double act.  Jose started off with an 'I can't do it' frame of mind - by the time she left, she'd spotted 2 more paintings both she and Sally would like to make.......sometime after Christmas. Thanks for the chocolate buttons ladies.

Week 47: 19th November to 25th November

I've been receiving a number of Pop-Art requests.   A Micheal Jackson has just been completed in Black and White for one customer. I've recently been asked if I can do a Vin Diesel and a Jimi Hendrix too. My most recent Pop Art work took Steffi by suprise. I have it hanging at the top of the stairs to dry and it made her jump........understandably so, as it is a picture of her !   Next month I have 2 students taking a Pop Art class with me, one will be painting a celebrity and one will be painting a loved one. Do feel free to e-mail me if you'd like a Pop Art commission, whether famous or infamous, I'd be happy to give you a quote and a shot of what you can expect the finished image to look like. Of course, the background colour can be anything you like.
How fitting.....after my Gym posting yesterday I received an amusing e-mail from a pal. It read: I feel my body is out of shape so I asked my Doctor's permission to join a fitness club and start exercising. I decided to take an aerobics class. I bent, I twisted, I gyrated, jumped up and down and perspired for over an hour.........and by the time I got my leotards on, the class was over!
When out and about yesterday afternoon I found the cutest little mini wood burner. It's not a real one, it's electric and is a fan heater - but, it would be ideal for the Apollo Studio lounge area. On a whim I decided to buy it. It's added that little something extra to the studio and just sitting in front of the warm glow and flame effect feels really warm and relaxing. This weekend's guest will benefit from this extra homely touch................now, all it needs is a mini Christmas Tree, a wooly stocking some twinkly bits and little lights, a mini tin of Quality Street........you think I'm joking, don't you!
If you want to learn to oil paint, what could be a better picture to start with? Lakeside View will be the painting subject for the class on 9th December at Capel Village Hall. I've just had the best time developing this design. You'll find a large version of this painting in the Class Subjects Gallery HERE .
Thanks for the prompt Wendy B - I've just added the Saturday dates for The Green Room Venue up till April 2008. The class for 1st December is already full and if enough people go on the reserve list, I'll book another date for Sandy Walk.
With the dark nights and the grey days, we need a little something to put some light back into our lives. Thanks to a couple of my students I've managed to find myself a little bit of the tropics just a couple of miles from my door. The nearby Belstead Brook Hotel has the most beautiful leisure facilities and I never even knew it.   I often escape to this woodland hideaway for 30 minutes of sheer bliss.......after an hour of hard work! A few weeks ago I joined their prestigeous gym, which is great for one's health. My reward for the hour long workout is to slip into their (extremely warm) pool for a few leisurley lengths followed by a relaxing bubble session in their spa. I haven't used the Steam Room or the Sauna just yet but hopefully will be able to work both those treatments in when I have a little more time on my hands. With panoramic views of the garden, relaxing loungers poolside and a little coffee shop, it feels like a little holiday each time i visit. Edit: If anyone is staying in my Apollo Studio and wishes to indulge - you can take advantage of the Hotel Leisure Facilities for just £15 - or if you accompany me, the cost is just £10.
Rose de Mystique is the new Special Offer again at just £5.95. CLICK HERE and scroll to bottom of the page to be taken to the shopping basket.
I think I've just seen the last of 'Peach Dawn' for the year (unless it's selected as a private class subject). This is such a popular painting and I've already been asked about new class dates for this in 2008. I'm sure I'll pop it in a class again late next year. Today's students were an absolutely fab bunch. Some old faces and some new faces. The venue owner, Marion, spoilt us rotten (again) with her homemade vanilla and orange sponge cake. Marion runs 'Heartlands', which is an alternative therapy centre. Something definately happens to you as you walk through the venue door. With cleansing music playing in the background, the trickling of a pretty water fountain in the corner, plenty of crystal's dotted around the room giving off their energy, smells, sounds - they all conjure up a huge feeling of well-being and positive energy. I gave a brief talk before the class started covering the recent changes within AyoubArt. The students were also able to see some of my new designs and sample some of the new brushes which will be introduced next month.
News just in: We have a new 2 Day special offer on the table......the original Basic Floral DVD set is just £59 including postage and packing. There's 12 DVD's in this set and all of them are listed in the descriptive. CLICK HERE to be taken to the relevant shopping basket.

Week 46: 12th November to 18th November

Today's ladies first came to me 18 months ago and have been painting ever since. Due to my busy schedule and their various vacations they haven't painted with me for the last couple of months, so it was nice to catch up with their news and progress. They have both seen all kinds of changes in the development of 'AyoubArt'. Today though was the first time either of them had been taught by an Alexander Certified Instructor. One lady said beforehand that my style of teaching probably would not change. However, as we progressed through the lesson, they did indeed notice the several changes that have been brought about by the new information gained via the Alexander Course. During lunch we compared the styles of Bob Ross to Bill Alexander. I brought out several books showing both artists to illustrate their differences. I guess today's painting subject 'First Snowfall' might be a prime example. The one on the right is Bob influenced......the one on the left is Bill influenced - however - both of them are à la Sue Warne.

If you've been following the recent changes on Darrell's website, you'll see he is offering One Day Special Offers......The current offer is on Lone Sentinel - a gentle seascape scene. So.....for the European customers, I can offer Lone Sentinel at just £7 including postage and packing. CLICK HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page to be taken to the shopping basket.......

I just have to share this news with you all...... A couple of my students are also taking part in the Art Show being held at the Corn Exchange, Ipswich. Today is the last day and the exhibition closes at 10.30 this evening. One of the students has sold a total of 4 paintings! How chuffed must she be feeling right now?

Today's students got a little more than they bargained for. With 2 cancellations (due to the dreaded Flu bug) and a 'no-show' - we had just 2 students in today's class. Both students were first timers and new faces to me and both students got the equivalent of private tuition for a standard class fee. The class still ran the full 5 hours and we had some superb results. Rosemary returned to Loughborough - probably about a 6 hour coach and train ride: Wendy was a little closer to home and lives in Ipswich. We managed to secure Rosemary's painting so she could transport it home safely, the frames really come in handy for this purpose as they give that essential distance between the wet paint surface and cardboard box. Rosemary is looking to return in the near future to make a weekend of it and combine a class with some private tuition. Wendy is looking for a passtime that fits in with her husband's football hobby so I'm sure I've not seen the last of either of them. Many thanks to Rosemary, who left us half a bottle of red wine in the Apollo Studio - that'll be gone before 9 this evening. And thanks to both who helped me pack away and didn't leave until the last brush was loaded. Till the next time ladies...........

Tall Ships update: Darrell hopes the first shipment will leave 19th/20th December due to unforseen editing problems. Remember, being in the UK, we'll have a bit of extra delay on those dates.

I've broken with tradition. Instead of the obligatory snowscene for winter classes I've worked on a much brighter and uplifting subject. It's the quiet little seascape I've been meaning to do for months and it's called 'Sandy Walk'. Yes, they are footprints that you can see there in the foreground........... We'll be painting this in the Green Room in Stowmarket on Saturday December 1st. If you'd like to reserve your spot please call me on 01473 311938 or e-mail me on info@ayoubart.co.uk You can see the large version of this HERE

An exhibition has come up which I didn't quite expect. I'll be showing my work over a 3 week period from December 2nd to December 23rd at the White Horse Public House here in Capel St Mary. A chance flyer was posted through my door yesterday afternoon showing the Pub's facilities, so I thought I'd drop them an e-mail to see what vacancies they have for exhibiting. I didn't realise I'd be in there so quickly! What's more, they're happy to advertise my local classes. I'll pop along next week to iron out the finer details.

Thank's to Darrell's input, the supply of new brushes have arrived. There's enough not only to replace some of the class brushes, but also plenty for class and internet sales. These new brushes will be used from December 1st, when my class prices increase. We'll have ultra fine script liner brushes, small and large fan brushes and a lovely oval brush. We have new hog bristle flat and filbert brushes too. I'll let you know on this page when the relevant shopping baskets are ready. However, there's absolutely nothing wrong with the existing brushes. They're a great product for the money and have been serving both myself and my students well over the years and I'll continue to sell them. I'm pleased to be able to offer tools to suit every pocket.

I read an interesting article in the Alexander Art Club Magazine, 'Fire In'. If you ever wanted to learn to paint this just might sway you: Quote 'You're more likely to stay healthy and live to a ripe old age if you're creative. That's the astounding claim of top experts who say that using your creative skills and imagination through art, music, poetry, or literature helps you maintain your zest for life, stay vibrantly healthy and live longer. "Learn to paint", says New York psychiatrist Dr Jack Leedy. "It will ward off illness, depression, disease and anxiety". And it will slow down the aging process, Leedy says. ' Unquote. I wonder if there's any truth in that? Since teaching oil painting full time, I have to admit, I've not once had cause to visit the Doctor's Surgery..........

Tonight is the FREE preview WITH REFRESHMENTS of the Art Exhibition in aid of EACH (Ipswich Children's Hospice). It opens at 7.30pm till 9.30pm and is taking place at the Corn Exchange, King Street, right in Ipswich's shopping centre. The exhibition will continue to run from Wednesday 14th November to Saturday 17th November from 10.30am till 10.30pm. Last year this event raised around £2500. This is a lively, friendly event with many local artists taking part. This year a couple of my students are taking part also. I'll be stewarding on Wednesday and Thursday, so maybe I'll see you there. Do pop along if you're in the area and support this event. Not only is there artwork for sale, there's also lots of cards in aid of the charity too.

Earlier this year a lady from Lebanon contacted me regarding the painting holiday. We've been in contact ever since. Fate has caused our paths to finally cross. She has family here in the UK and is using the last week of her annual holiday to visit them. She just flew into the UK on Saturday and made a snap decision to come along to the class on Sunday. Germaine arrived with her sister in law and I enjoyed greeting them both in Arabic style. I really had fun practising my Arabic. At one time I spoke it fluently, but that was a good 20 years ago and unfortunately a lot of it has been forgotton. At the end of the class Germaine called her relation over to have a look at her finished painting. 'Bi Jennan' was the response - words I have not heard for a good few years. It translates to 'Beautiful'. I have a warm invite to visit Germaine in Lebanon and I will seriously consider it. It's a long time since I've had Kishik and proper coffee - both of which are quite 'Bi Jennan'

During yesterday's class, all 3 colour variations (blue, lavender and mono-chrome) of 'Make A Wish' were made. In my mind's eye I knew this would work well in mono-chrome, but I have not actually tried it for myself. The ladies who opted for the black and white version actually achieved a lovely wintery effect on their background trees. We had messy fun putting in the stars....it really was a case of ready/aim/fire! All paintings worked so well in the wide black frames with silver inlay - we'll have to get cracking on some more of those for the next 2 classes.

Thanks to information from Davy's wife, I found just the right type of fine glitter to embelish the 'Make A Wish' painting. An hour before the class I added a light trail of glue to the shooting star and the comet tail of my demonstration painting. A fine dusting of irridescent glitter was gently sprinkled on and blown off quickly. The effect is really subtle and it just catches your eye at different angles. Quite effective.

Week 45: 5th November to 11th November

Seeing Jody's guestbook comment has inspired me to finish off some Pop Art projects I have on the go at the moment. I have several canvases dotted around in varying colours and sizes with half finished faces on them and I really should complete them before starting new work......... I put the final brush strokes on this 'BAD' character. Instead of the normal 'black & white' I have gone for a silver and gloss black finish this time. I am quite pleased with this one - but - when I showed it to Oli he didn't have a clue who it was, so perhaps it's not one of my better images. Any idea, folks, who this icon this? (Edit: I'm pleased to report that Steffi's just seen the painting and recognised the character straight away!)

Ahh......I can see a nice little message in my GuestBook from the new owner of 'Scarface'. Thanks Jody. I look forward to any other requests you may have. Last week I was watching 'The Godfather I and II'. I have to say I was especially drawn to Al Pacino and now feel I know every centimetre of his face. I'll actually be teaching a Pop Art class in December, as a private tuition, for some of my intermediate students. I'm quite looking forward to that - they'll be lots of long silences during that class for sure as the concentration will be quite intense at times.

Yesterday was a little mini 'Christmas Day' for me. We already had a small family Christmas Dinner planned for the evening. One of Alan's children has just returned from their overseas adventure.......and it was a good way to celebrate. (Plus, I don't need much of an excuse in the colder months to get into the Christmas spirit.) But........the morning actually started off with some suprise gifts through the post. Davy, who has been in contact with me since the start of my very first website and is also one of my regular News readers, sent me a package of Alexander stuff. A beautiful landscape painting book with probably the largest and most detailed photos I have ever seen in any painting book was the prize peice. Thanks a mill Davy, very much appreciated - love the new design envelope too!!

Ziggy should be the most artistic kitten ever. Luckily for him, no one seems to mind him being around. He sits and watches my step by step demonstration, quite intently. He watches the students also as they paint, head to one side. He really enjoys the fuss and attention from new people. But within 20 minutes the excitement gets too much and he promptly falls asleep on a chair right next to a student. With little squeaks and snores emitting every now and again, he really is no trouble. I'm sure this will not last long as when he gets used to the big wide world outside he'll probably be off like a shot straight after his breakfast. Even when I slip into my studio for a painting session, he's at my heels eager to see what's what. After climbing around the easels he soon tires and settles for a nap somewhere under my chair, as you can see here. Yesterday evening, whilst Alan was chatting to me in my office, Ziggy crawled onto his slipper and fell asleep - not wanting to wake him, Alan had to ease his foot out of his slipper - is that soft or what?

Today's oil painting workshop was taught on probably the widest canvas yet, measuring about 12 inches high and 3 foot across. I was asked to teach a large version of Bamburgh Castle but in richer and deeper reds. A base acrylic coat of ruby red gave us just the 'oomph' we needed for this project. The sky was laid on in many layers of colour, ranging from bright reds, oranges, crimson and umber. Several shades of yellow were added for the sunset cloud effect. Here you can see the student's end result......there's quite a spectacular glow coming from behind the castle and radiating across the sky..

The 'Castle On A Lake' is still a mystery painting to all of you who did not attend the Darrell Crow class last Sunday! Mystery over - here's Chrissie, one of the student's who took part in the art class. You can see her pretty castle painting - I think her smile says it all...... Chrissie's visit to Capel was timely as she had a fistful of birthday money which was all spent (bar a few pence) on painting equipment from the product table.

One of my customers from France made a DVD purchase several weeks ago. He paid more than the actual item, with a note saying to use the excess funds towards biscuits for the Darrell Crow classes. We always have biscuits to hand anyway and as the hall is right next door to a bakery I decided to treat us to a plate of goodies instead. 2 platters of jam donuts, iced donuts, sprinkly donuts, cherry slices and bakewell slices were served up to everyone on the second day of the Tall Ships workshop. They went down a treat with a hot cup of tea and I would like to pass on our hearty thanks from everyone to Mr & Mrs Kempton in Plémy. Mr K is quite a dab hand with oils himself. He sent me a snap of a painting he made recently. I've put it on the Your Gallery page so you can have a look.

Week 44: to 4th November

My ladies today were (sort of) up for the 'Lion' challenge and the assigned snowscene was cast to one side. One of them was relishing the wildlife project and one of them was most definately not....... As always, I ask them to trust me 100% and have confidence. To cut a long story short, we finished a good half earlier than normal, the class was run at a leisurely pace, the stages were broken down into small bite sized chunks and it went really well. Considering it's the first time I've taught a wildlife and only the 3rd time I had painted it myself I'm as thrilled as they are with their results. They have asked for more suprises the next time they come round! Lynn's is on the left and Barb's is on the right........what do you think? (They've also requested I use them as Guinea Pigs anytime I want to try out something new......that's nice, isn't it.) Darrell will be teaching this lion to his students in Ireland tomorrow - I wonder how they'll get on.

The Tall Ships special offer price of £115 appears to have been extended beyond November 1st. I'm not sure how long the offer will run for but I'll keep an eye on it daily and change the price as soon as the increase is in effect stateside. The floral special offer of £5.75, Rose De Mystique, is also over-running it's deadline date.........if you're thinking of buying either of these 2 items I'd be quick before the prices are changed. You can find the shopping baskets for these items HERE

Sometimes, especially when I'm on my own, I don't always get the time (or the chance) to take photos of the student's work to show you all. Luckily, yesterday's students e-mailed me their images of their 'Make A Wish' painting. You can see the difference in having a purple lake and a blue lake.......you can just about make out a little galleon sailing towards the horizon and the star formation of Orion's Belt on Des's blue one. Katie has achieved a very 'astral' sky and quite a 3 dimentional foreground tree. I'm looking into the possibilities of adding a little Tinkerbell with a glitter fairy dust trail to this painting, which will make it an ideal present for kiddies. This can also be made in monochrome - so we'll add black/white to our list of optional colours. In fact I'll take all my colours along to the classes so if any other themes come up I'll be ready.

Whilst waiting for today's students to arrive I prepared a few large canvases for the new wildlife subject 'LEO'. I need to be able to paint this at high speed before this can go into a class so I'm making sure I have everything ready for my practice sessions. I intend to have my first practice after today's class, whilst the paints and brushes are out. Today's students, being cat lovers, were eager to see 'LEO' in the flesh. They loved it. When I told them I would teach this privately they promptly booked a date. After their landscape class I took a few moments away from the easel with a coffee and a biscuit. Tired, I returned to the work station and set to the task, this time with no Darrell Crow at my side.......... 90 minutes later we had Leo á la Sue - I'm calling this one Leon. Quite different, I think you'll agree. I have enough canvas prepared for tomorrow's private lesson - I'm wondering if my ladies can be persuaded to change their snowscene for this new Lion. I'll pop him in my Gallery so you can compare the two.

Jennette has a book called '101 Things To Do Before You Get Old And Boring'. One of the things in the book suggests making an oil painting good enough to hang in one's home. Jennette thought she might be able to make a masterpiece one day, after a few lessons. She didn't realise she'd be able to make one in just 5 hours! Jennette's painting can be seen on the left and her dad, Robert, made the painting shown on the right. I think I'll see both these students again soon. Jennette is interested in painting 'LEO', the lion painting and Robert is interested in a Tall Ship. Robert brought along some home made rock cakes which went down really well with our afternoon cup of tea. He left some extra cakes for us so Alan will have a nice suprise with his coffee when he returns home from work.

Some of you may have noticed just a few subtle changes to my website. You'll now see the letters ACI appear here and there. ACI means I am an Alexander Certified Instructor. The certification is named after Bill Alexander, the very man who promoted the wet on wet technique. Amongst Bill's student's was none other than Mr Bob Ross! Although I have been teaching wet on wet for several years, I felt new students would feel more confident if they knew they were in the hands of a Certified Instructor. I have learnt several new things whilst taking this certifying course and as a result I have introduced a variety of new brushes and new little tricks into the class. Some new and exciting subjects are on the horizon. Some intermediate subjects, (for students with some experience) will also be available, along with attendance certifications which will raise students to the intermediate level. As a result of these changes, and to bring myself inline with industry standards, my prices will rise. From the 1st December a class will cost £45 per person and a private class will cost £65 per person. A 15% discount will be offered per person if you bring a friend to either classes or private tuitions. Existing class and gift voucher holders will not be effected by this price change.

If I were to tell you that Darrell was not only a dab hand with the fan brush - he's also pretty clever when it comes to a spatula too - would you believe me? On Darrell's last day here he decided to treat us not only to one of his special breakfasts but also a home made dinner. We enjoyed toasted bagels with capers, bermuda onions, cream cheese topped with smoked salmon and followed by melon and yoghurt. This was such a lovely indulgence that I've decided to do the same again for us on Christmas Day. For dinner Darrell was left to his own devices. It wasn't long before all manner of wonderful smells filled the house. We enjoyed some tender chicken breasts in white wine gravy with a seasoned mushroom, pepper and onion medley and boiled bacon, green beans, potato and onion. Yum. By the end of the meal and after several bottles of wine we glowed with contentment. It's been a fantastic week all round and already I'm counting the days until he and his Tall Ships return (which will be sometime in April 2008). Apologies for the poor quality photo but I think you can get the idea.......................