JUNE 2011 NEWS

June 30th: Today was a first. I ran 2 classes simultaneously. 2 students booked for a private lesson, they are both intermediate students and had been painting with me for a while. Thing is, one wanted to do a Pop Art and the other wanted to do an oil painting. After a bit of discussion and arranging for the Pop Art student to arrive 30 minutes early, it worked really well, with both students finishing at the same time.

There's an awful lot of brushes to clean so I better crack on and get them done now that I've given you a few updates and finished my tea.

June 30th: My Al Murray portrait was completed early hours last Friday morning. I took the portrait to my office job with me, mainly to show my Boss my work and also to place on the hot windowsill so it could speed up the drying time. Boss was suitably impressed - lets hope Al Murray was too. It was delivered to the stage door just an hour before the show was due to start.

I enjoyed a refreshing fruit based drink for the ladies that evening, but I now have a horrible gap on my studio wall, right between Marilyn Monroe and Noel Fielding. No doubt I will think of another portrait subject to start so I can fill the gap. I miss his smiling face - plus his portrait used to provoke 'All Murray' quotes from many of my students.

June 30th: I've been looking at some of the most inspirational, colourful and beautiful photos over the weekend. Eldest daughter and her partner are home from their exotic travels in Malaysia. We decided to get together for a barbeque and catch up on news. Her flashdrive plugged straight into the TV so we could all view the exotic locations on the big screen, with a cuppa and dessert. She had invested in a very upmarket camera earlier this year and it really paid off on this holiday. The photo above shows an island which they had totally to themselves for 3 days before any other guests arrived. This led to having the staff take them into the kitchen for cooking lessons, making barbeque meals just for them. How cool is that. They left just before the Royal Family arrived, who were booked into their old room.

The colours of the sea and sky are totally unbelievable with beautiful turquoises, ultramarines, viridians, lime greens ...... enhanced by my daughter's insistance that her boyfriend wear his bright red swimming trunks making for deliberately vivid shots.

She describes it as the best holiday of her life, and after listening to her tales and looking at the snaps, I can totally see why.

I want one !!!!!! (Gonna have one too)

June 30th: Have you missed me ? Judging from the emails I've been receiving, some of you have worried if I am OK. Some have been wondering if I've gone on holiday ......... Rest assured, the lack of Sues News updates have been due to a technical glitch in the publishing of my website. All seems to be working properly now though.

June 23rd: I've gone and painted myself into a corner - perhaps. I had organised my week so that I had ample time to complete a portrait that had to be finished AND DRY by Friday. With an additional class booking this week, plus extra working hours in the office, I really am painting against the clock on this one. Luckily I had a portrait painting class last night and for once, I didn't clear the palettes and brushes after the lesson. That meant, when I woke up at 5am, I could head straight into the studio and do some portrait work - in silk pyjamas!! I've just spent 2 hours working on the subject, so I've recovered some lost time. I reckon there's easily another 3-4 hours work to be done before completion. Hopefully, if I put this portrait somewhere hot, it will dry so I can work on him some more tonight after work and that will give ample time for it to be dry and ready for delivery on Friday. Failing that, I shall have another 5am session tomorrow morning. So - completion now relies on the drying time rather than the painting time.

This chap is in Ipswich on Friday night, and this will be my gift to him so he can see that some women aren't secretaries or nurses, some of us are artists, running our own business :) But, I do enjoy a fruit based drink in the evenings, so he is right on that count.

June 21st: Where would we be without the internet and mobile phones in our lives? Could you even begin to imagine a situation like this 15 years ago? I had just finished today's class and sat in front of my computer with a cuppa tea. As I took my first sip I received this text message from my daughter who is currently travelling around Malaysia. 'Need a favour, we have no wi-fi and are stuck on an island wanting to book flights for Thursday'. Anyway, to cut a long story short, within the hour I'd managed to get them 2 seats on the flight they wanted and thanks to text messages I could obtain all their vital info. And ... as a little 'mummy' gift I paid the extra for seats with extra legroom and an express boarding.

But - when she says she's stuck on an island - let me just show you a picture of the island she's stuck on !!

I can honestly say - I well wouldn't mind being stuck on an island like that, wi-fi or not !!

June 20th: It's probably worth a reminder as I'm sure my special offer on private lessons has been archived in a previous months news. Private lessons are £65 - BUT, if you bring a friend (or 2 or 3) the price is reduced to just £45 per person. The choice of painting subject will be yours and all you need to do is let me know what you want to paint at least 3 days before the lesson. It's so I can be set up and ready to paint as soon as you arrive and the kettle has boiled for your welcome cup of coffee/tea. A private class can run from 3 - 4 hours and we can kick off at 8.30, 9, 9.30 or 10 .......

If I haven't received your choice of painting subject in time, then I can easily choose the painting myself. Some students actually prefer this. I'll ensure that my choice will be current, popular and something that will teach you a wide variety of techniques and effects.

June 19th: Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there. Hope you've had a brilliant day and your kids have treated you.

For me, the morning started with a funky & fun Pop Art lesson. The afternoon was absolutely delightful too and although it was father's day, I was actually spoilt rotten. My family had decided to have a get together and had prepared not only a banquet feast but also the hugest jug of Pimms filled with fruit. The lovely Jim made the starter of lime roasted salmon salad. Mother made the main of steamed seasonal vegetables with chicken chauseur and my wonderful sister, Bub, made her trademark white chocolate cheesecake (with a side of sherry trifle). So we had a lot of fun and much reminiscing. We took a trip over to the cemetary and refreshed the flowers, included were some of Dad's fragrant roses, which I cut from my garden this morning.

I love returning to the village I grew up in and it was fun to be reminded of the many childhood scrapes my sister and I would get into. I'd forgotton how she would hang her long blonde hair into the toilet and flush the chain 'playing hairdressers'. Interestingly, she's run her own salon now for over 20 years. She had a much more refined way of washing hair these days.

June 18th: Thanks to Facebook, one of my students today isn't going to be a stranger at all. This morning I received a friendship request from Ben, with a message telling me he's painting with me today. After accepting the request I could view his profile and saw some of his art work. We were online at the same time, so exchanged a few words too. What a brilliant way to break the ice. If you'd like to view AyoubArt on facebook, just click this link HERE and send me a frienship request. Simples.

June 16th: I was intending on having a bike ride after today's class ..... but no sooner were the brushes cleaned than the skies opened up - with thunder too. Confined to an afternoon in and spying the ever growing pile of eggs from my productive chickens, I decided to have a bake up. This weekend's painting students can enjoy some home made strawberry buns with their coffee. The house just smells so lovely when there's cakes in the oven. (Sue L, you'll be pleased to know I used your butter crisco and your dried strawberries, thanks.)

June 15th: I had a senior moment and did I feel stupid! Stef has been studying like a mad thing for months for her next set of accountancy exams. In fact, she's either at work, asleep or has books and notepads around her. I decided to take her for a special meal after her exams. I knew just the place. I googled the name of the restaurant and several of the same name came up. Among them was the one I was after. With about 3 pages open on my PC, I sent off an email to book a table and received the confirmation. We duly arrived at the restaurant only to discover we weren't booked in! 'But you even emailed me back with the confirmation', I explained. Anyway, it remained a mystery to myself and the restaurant Manager until I returned home and double checked the email. Yep, I'd booked a table for a restaurant of the same name some 120 miles away!! Thankfully, despite my cock-up we were given a table and really enjoyed a well-deserved treat. For any of you who are fairly local to Forward Green, near Stowmarket, I highly recommend the 'Posh Nosh' at the Shepherd and Dog. You can even tell them Dippy Sue sent you! ................. And if you're into equine art, you'll be impressed by their beautiful display of contemporary paintings too.

June 14th: I couldn't have picked a nicer day to have an afternoon free, could I. Out came the sun lounger, on went the sun cream. But I couldn't sit still for long, so I topped up the pond, shuffled the patio plants around and gave the patio a hose down. The cats followed me outside and both settled themselves onto the lounger before me. Out they stretched, bellys pointing towards the sun. So a nice tranquil afternoon in the sun with nothing but the sounds of the fish gulping their food and the gentle trickle of the waterfall. Bliss - and hopefully a few months ahead with more of the same. Gotta enjoy it while we can, you never know when the next rain cloud is going to open.

June 13th: Having just returned home from a demo for some very lovely ladies at a local WI, I'm wondering if my memory is beginning to fail me. I knew a couple of ladies there, Ann and Maureen, who are both members of the art group I used to belong to - as they have also been students of mine. But ..... after the demo another couple of ladies came up to me telling me how much they had enjoyed previous art classes with me. I really didn't recognise them as students at all. I'll put it down to old age. Either that or I've done so many classes now that I just can't remember everyone. For my demo piece I painted a rather colourful Northern Lights and had input from the audience as what to add to the composition. One lady fancied an owl, so I added an owl in flight, coming out of the fir trees. I'd loved to have shown you a picture but a) I never took my camera and b) I sold the painting. Oh well, next time I paint it in a class I'll add a little snowy owl so student's can choose whether or not to add one too. I spent so much time chatting to the ladies after the demo that I didn't get around to eating my cake - but they kindly wrapped it up for me so I can enjoy it with a cuppa tomorrow. Aren't they kind.

June 11th: Following on from the June 8th entry, my student and I have worked the 2nd stage of portraiture. I can't divulge my student's work as it is a surprise gift for someone. What I can tell you is that when she took her 'Stage 1' into work to show her friends, they were totally blown away by her work, instantly recognising the subject. Feedback like that is worth getting, for sure. My student spied another new portrait currently in my gallery. When I told her it's not my work but that of another student (who is also painting special gift and storing it here) she was admiring the likeness to the photo.

Anyway, what I can show you today is stage 2 of my demo piece. Makes quite a difference once we get the base colours in and the background, doesn't it?

June 10th: There's been a painting I've been wanting to do for a long, long while. Not only do I think it's such a pretty composition, I also think it will make an ideal painting subject for students to enjoy too. A couple of years ago I picked up a book called 'Wildlife Landscapes You Can Paint', by fellow US Alexander Instructor, Wilson Bickford. Wilson is a brilliant artist and tutor and has moved a long way since his Alexander days, having just developed his own range of brushes and paints, not to mention DVD's and books. Although the medium he uses in the book is acrylic, many of the compositions will adapt to oils. A little while back I contacted him and asked his permission to paint it with a view to teaching it in oils. I was thrilled when he readily accepted. So here we have 'Bickford's Lake' and the first lesson will be on Wednesday 22nd June. If you'd like to come along and have a go at this, do give me a call on 01473 311938 or drop me a line. Thanks Wilson xx

June 9th: It's going to be a time for celebration...soon. Daughter number one has just won Student of the year award for all art and design. She sent me a text from a very hot Kota Kinabalu with her travel update and this fabulous news. Well deserved, as us that know her know the amount of work she's been putting into her design projects. Well done Soha. We'll celebrate when you return.

June 8th: I didn't change my mind and stuck to my portrait subject number 1 (see entry of June 4th). This is my demo piece to illustrate to my student the various stages and technique. My student is painting a very special portrait to be used as a gift. As she travels a distance, we decided to extend the first portrait lesson by a further 2 hours. This enabled us to work on the background and the clothing as well as the underpainting.

I am giving students the option to work for longer on their portraits, if they so wish. Although pretty much all of my portrait classes are completed in 3 x 3 hour sessions, sometimes there's room for a few extra embellishments.

Anyway ........ that infamous question: 'Can ya guess who it is yet?'

June 7th: Now that I've gotton over myself and come back to earth, just to let you know I've updated my class timetable page. I've added some newer versions of a couple of paintings too. You see, each time I paint them in a class, I often make subtle changes ESPECIALLY if I teach a subject in a private lesson as we often have time to fiddle and diddle. Plus, there's a new tropical scene to paint 'Tropical Escape'. As always, larger versions of the paintings are shown in the Class Subject Gallery.

June 5th: Crinkle and Wrinkle have now been with me for 5 months. It took them a while to settle in as neither were in the best of health. But now they are totally at home, they have many very amusing little routines. Here's one: During the night, when I am asleep, Crinkle will slide into bed with me. I never feel her doing this so it's always such a cute surprise in the morning to find her asleep, like a human, on the pillow next to me. The first thing I've been seeing when I wake up in the morning is her tiny little head, facing me, on the massive pillow, her arms on top of the quilt and her body stretched out long underneath, just like a tiny human. She must sense when I wake as seconds later she too opens her eyes. She then yawns, stretches out to touch my face, and waits till I get out of bed. Short of taking a camera to bed with me to show you this, you'll just have to imagine this cuteness. It's not something I would normally encourage with a cat, but seeing as these sphynx's have no hair and are regularly bathed, I don't mind. Plus, the heat they generate is phenominal and it's like have my own personnal hot water bottle. She never attempts to get into bed for her daytime naps though. And as for Wrinkle, well he just likes to bury himself in the folds of the fluffy throw at the foot of the bed.

June 4th: I have a couple of new portrait classes starting next week and I've been thinking all week long as to who I should paint as my demonstration pieces. I have a folder of prospective subjects, all of which I hope to complete at some stage in the future - yet I didn't think any of these to be suitable to the subjects my students are painting. This morning though, during my early morning vigil, I had a lightbulb moment. Eureka !! I think I just might have solved the problem, plus the portraits will make cool gifts. You'll have to keep your eyes open next week to see who the subjects are. Unless, of course, I change my mind again.

It's been 2 years now since I started portrait painting in oils, and it's been almost a year since I've been teaching it.

Thanks to a strange twist of fate, which brought Valerie Stewart, the prolific American portrait artist and tutor into my life, I now have a gallery of portraits - and so do many of my students too.

June 3rd: I've started to fill the remaining wall in my little gallery-shop area. Finally I have no more paintings on the floor. I'm putting up extra hooks so I can also use this room to hang my wet ones. With about 3 quarters of the wall still bare I shall have to pull out a few more paintings from my outside studio. There's exactly 50 paintings hanging in there at the moment and I reckon there's room for another 12 or more. I was reluctant to hang paintings on the far wall as I felt it might close the room in - but luckily so far it hasn't.

June 2nd: I didn't manage to start a new art project yesterday - but I did carry on pottering with a portrait I started last month. I was about an hour into it when there was a knock on the door. I had a surprise visit from a student who is due to start a portrait with me next week, she and her husband thought they would drive over and drop off the photo of the subject in person rather than post it. It was a good excuse to put the kettle on and have a cup of tea in the studio.

I guess I've spent another couple of hours or more on this fella, flitting between studio, patio, house and the co-op (yes Pauline, I had to go and pick up 'my usual'). I've worked on the base colours of his face, laying in the first stage of shadows and highlights. His eyes have had their first layer of colour too.

The cats decided to join me while I was painting, they are nosey creatures and have to investigate everything. Luckily I had the babywipes to hand as, right in front of my eyes, Mrs Crinkle walked boldly on my palette leaving flesh colour footprints on the work surface.

Anyway, I digress .......... if you'd like to try your hand and learn to paint portraits, give me a call on 01473 311938 or drop me a line.

June 1st: I love my early mornings this time of year. My body clock seems to be set on waking up between 5 and 6 in the morning. Everything is still and quiet and bright. I enjoy my morning tea in front of the PC and that's pretty much the time I catch up with my emails. Along with the family and friend's events on facebook. This morning I've been setting up my classroom ready for today's oil painting lesson - in my PJ's and dressing gown no less! The washing is out, the bird feeders have been re-filled, the fish, chooks and cats have been fed & watered and next up will be the twice daily routine of watering the hanging baskets. So pretty much all my chores are completed by 7am.

In fact ..... there's no excuse today for not starting another art project straight after I've cleaned the brushes from today's art class. Let's hope I'm disciplined enough to do this and not get distracted by other things, which is what invariably happens.