SUE'S NEWS (OR S'NOOZE)

Thursday 17th May: Nice little surprise for ya, a change of colour and logo. I've always been cautious about changing the template of my website as there are just so many pages that will be effected. I had this (invalid) notion that any major changes to all pages will mess up the website in some way. But today, throwing caution to the wind, I decided to push the buttons and have a play.

Whether I'll keep to this or change it even more, I don't know yet.

One other major change is my email address. At least with the hotmail I can pick up your emails on my iPhone and iPad which will lead to a speedier response.

Thursday 17th May: A little while ago I became a WBPP. That's a 'Wilson Bickford Painting Partner'. It's a wonderful deal open to qualified art instructors. Wilson has always been great in the past, giving permission for me to adapt some of his paintings to suit my own art classes. He is one of the few artists where I can honestly say I love all of his work. Basically, being a WBPP means I now have free licence to teach any of his paintings, which will add to the subject gallery.

This might raise the question - why would I want to paint and teach someone elses work? And there is a simple answer to that: Sometimes I have the equivalent of writer's block! Plus I think you will all agree, when you paint along with another artist you ALWAYS learn something different. I will never be at the stage where I know it all and I really enjoy attending classes hosted by other instructors. My view is I learn double - firstly I get to play around with new techniques and application. Secondly I get to see how other instructor's teach, how they handle certain situations.

Browsing through Wilson's (or Bill Alexander's or Joyce Ortner's etc etc etc) work is inspiring and motivating. Quite often painting a pre set project can lead to other things too........

So hopefully, before too long you'll see some more 'Wilsons' on here. With the lighter nights ahead of us, I don't mind working in the studio in the evenings. I'd love to have a go at Willie's butterfly composition here. Willie doesn't tell us WBPP's how to paint his compositions. He believes as art instructors we should be able to figure it out. Just saying :)

Last night I was in the studio till 10pm. I'd had a long day, with a portrait class in the morning. Followed by another major painting session (the dining room ceiling). A studio clean up followed, clearing out the boxes of many paintings which are now gathering in the gallery room. That led to a storage re-shuffle. Basically I was on the go from 8 till 8. It was great to finally sit down with some tunes and a glass of wine and relax. It was the perfect time to crack the seal on my new water mixable paints too.

I didn't quite finish my first water mixable oil painting, but I promise I'll post it on here when it's done. Wierd stuff, the water mixables, but a good wierd. The benefits of rinsing your brush out under a tap is brilliant. The best & quickest 'after' clean up ever !

Thursday 17th May: Of all the portraits I have ever painted, there's one in particular I really miss. It was a demo piece at a portrait seminar last year held on an American Airforce base.

As per usual, I demo enough so the students can crack on with their own paintings while I supervise and assist. This means often my own painting gets a little behind. At the end of the 3 portrait lessons, although the students' pictures are completed, mine are often needing another brief session to bring it up to speed.

Anyhoo - earlier this week we completed another portrait class, which has been running over the past 3 weeks. It was the ideal opportunity for me to paint this lady again and it's great to have her back on the classroom wall. The original was given to the subject last year, when my daughter and her boyfriend watched her perfom at London's O2. This is as far as I got during the 3 classes, I reckon I have another 30 minutes work to bring this one up to speed.

Is it now making sense as to why I have so many 'incompleted' portraits hanging in my gallery. There's a sign on the wall saying only the signed ones are the finished ones.

It's a nice little filler session, just pulling down Noel Gallagher or Micheal Jackson, for a few minutes of brush tickling as and when the mood takes me.

Thursday 17th May: Speaking of portraits (I know, I know, if I'm not banging on about portraits, I'm banging on about Ben), I'm afraid our Valerie Stewart Portrait Seminar has now been postponed to Autumn 2013. All the students booked on the course have already been informed and were refunded their depsoits immediately. We're all disappointed and it wasn't an easy decision.

On the plus side - I'm running a couple of portrait sessions myself - the one that still has availability runs from next Wednesday 23rd to Friday 25th inclusive. 10am - 1pm. Total cost of the 3 days is £135 and includes all paints, cleaning materials, refreshments, canvas and brushes. In fact, all you need bring is your photo subject. If you are interested in coming along, please contact me on sue_warne@hotmail.com or 079500 32557.

If you'd like to paint a portrait but these dates don't suit - contact me anyway so I can juggle a class around you. Once we set the dates I can advertise the class on my website and facebook and see who else would like to join us.

Thursday 17th May: Remember those Batman paintings I was telling you about in April..........? Well, they're growing.

The subject has been taught twice already and Ben's designed another version of it.

I have to say, I sat in on one of the classes catching up on some portrait work, and the way the sky goes in is really, really clever. It's not the way I would put the composition together, but it certianly is fun, very easy to do and really does create a lovely powerful dramatic sky.

I appreciate not everyone wants to paint Batman - but, once the technique has been learned, you can pretty much have anything you want on your horizon.

Thursday 17th May: Been a while, hasn't it. Where to start????

Good news, our bikes have been fully serviced and are

now in peak condition for some serious biking adventures. Ben knew of a mobile bike specialist, who came and fixed us up while we were teaching. Straight after the class we decided to bomb out for a quick 10 mile ride. The weather was perfect and the smells from the various blossoms in the hedgerow were quite heady at times.

With lovely country lanes like this on our doorstep, beautful weather, hardly a soul about, what better way to keep fit.

Monday 30th April: If you haven't had enough of the super heroes already, I'm about to throw another one at you. I've been wanting to paint an African/American character for a little while and as the portrait brushes and paints were out (and as it was pi**ing down outside) it seemed the perfe4ct ime to make a start. Ben selected the image for me. I have to say, the printed images are looking a lot sharper coming from the wireless laser printer Ben purchased. Plus we can print them driect from our phones, iPad and laptops. Anyway, I digress ..... I didn't quite manage to complete stage one of the underpainting, but here's the work in progress stage of where I'm at so far......

These character portraits will all eventually end up on the bedroom wall as a tribute to some of the films we love the best.

If you are interested in learning this magnificent oil painting portrait technique, I have some Saturday poretrait lessons coming up in June. View my class timetable for details.

Monday 30th April: Keeping in line with the comic book heroes, Ben had printed off an awesome Batman image, ready to paint. He tackled it on a really giant canvas. The shots here, taken with different cameras, don't do the painting justice as the light tends to bounce off the wet oil in the reflected light. I'll have to wait for a bright day and take a snap of ithe painting out doors. But you can get the general idea.

Within minutes of putting it on facebook, as you do, he was asked if he would teach it. Basically, if you fancy doing something like this, Ben is more than happy to teach it as a subject. Class dates for this will be on Saturday's. Just drop me a line or give me a call if you'd like to book a session. If I'm busy teaching in the studio, Ben can teach this simultaneously in another area.

We had great debate prior starting this one, Ben insisted upon a black canvas, whereas I suggested a white canvas. I took a break from my portraiture and grabbed a small canvas so I could work on the same composition. You see, I saw the photo and instantly thought I could use Joyce Ortner's style of sky as the back drop. It took me 2 sessions over to consecutive days to do that though as you have to build up the layers and let them dry in between.

Here's my version: Completed in a totally different way to Ben's. Different brushes, different technique. It's quite fun using what we've learned and adapting the techniques to any given composition.

I have to say, I prefer his ........ and it would look great in the lounge!

Monday 30th April: Seeing as the weather stopped us from going out over the weekend, we decided to spend some time in the studio. On went the work clothes, the music and the kettle.

I decided to work some more on the Iron Man portrait. He needed to be much darker all over and the shadows needed deepening - and a few other bits had to be tickled about with. Here's where my work in progress is at the moment. I reckon there's one more session on this before I can call it done.

Ben on the other hand was also working on a portrait - Freddie Mercury. (We had to have the compulsory Queen's Greatest Hits CD playing in the background!) He's trying a new portrait method of his own. I'll be intrugued to see how it comes out.

Thursday 26th April: If I don't do something soon, ie this week, I will suffer. I need to get my diary out - blank off a 3 week slot in the summer before I take anymore advance bookings. If I don't the chances of having a decent summer break will be more than slim.

Actually, I'm taking the advice of 2 particular students of mine, Katie & Des, both trained counsellors. They once told me to take my diary on a regular basis, cross out the days I want off and book my classes around those dates. I have always worked the other way around and booked time off around the classes. Not a good idea if I want a healthy amount of time off in the Summer.

So K & D - thanks for the advice. I'm on the case :)

Thursday 26th April: This week Ben and I have treasure. A couple of my long term students came for a private lesson and brought with them a huge container of painting supplies. 'Could you find a use for these?' they asked. Well, does a bear .......... etc! Basically they had kitted themselves out many moons ago so they could paint at home. Many of you will understand when I say they just didn't paint that often. It can be difficult to schedule yourself a complete day off to set up, decide what and how to paint and then clear down - without interuption from family/phone/visitors/chores. That's the beauty of a class, as many will agree. You just turn up, everything is set up - and no brushes to clean afterwards. Simples. With a few more tins of white medium, low odour thinners, refined linseed oil, beater rack, cleaning grid, brush holder - and - I kid you not - more than a hundred tubes of oil paint, you can imagine these will all get put to good use. And soon. Thanks ladies from myself and Ben, we really appreciate it and will be breaking the seal on many of your paints over the weekend.

Thursday 26th April: Speaking of bad weather - we had an amazing thunder storm on Saturday. After class I took myself off to bed to catch up on some much needed sleep, seeing as we couldn't get in the garden. Good job we wasn't in the garden, as there was an almighty vibration, crack and bang. Upon looking out the back window I just couldn't believe a very nearby tree had been struck by a lightening bolt and split the trunk right down the middle. There were wood shards strewn all over the lawn. The deer, pheasants, (and sometimes my chickens) would settle under this tree. They'll have to find another one for shelter now.

I did have to chuckle to myself though, when Ben went running up the stairs to check the damage to the bathroom. I'd told him the impact had knocked over all the shower gel bottles and cracked the bathroom mirror. (It hadn't).

Thursday 26th April: Last week I threw Ben in at the deep end. He came along with me to do a demo and guest talk for a local Women's Institute. Just minutes before we were due to leave I asked him to throw his painting kit in the boot too. The ladies of Mendlesham basically got 2 demo's for the price of one, and they weren't disappointed either. Ben set up and demoed on a black canvas and I demoed on a white one. He was nervous, had very little time to prepare himself for it, but gave the ladies a marvellous demonstration of the Northern Lights set against a mountain and lake. He was a little nervous but soon settled into the swing of things - in fact it became a bit of a race. I even had to joking tell the ladies to stop looking at his and start looking at mine. Lol. Mmmmmm, I remember my first ever demo. Stressed, anxious, wondering what I could possible talk about for an hour, let alone what to paint. It's the easiest thing in the world now and I love the audience interaction. If you'd like to book me (and Ben) for a double demo, do give me a call or drop me a line and we'll be happy to show you how easy this painting lark can be.

Friday 13th April: I promised you an Easter themed painting a little while ago. A subject selected from a photo supplied by a private student.

I will actually make this a painting subject for students, but you can have the option of a solitary tree silhouette on the horizon if you'd rather. Although the composition looks relatively simple, what we have here is a Joyce Ortner style sky. That alone took over 3 hours in a private lesson. The silhouette landscape is relatively quick and easy to do, but that sky went on in about 5 layers.

I always tell students, when you work long and hard on a particular area, it shows. Do you agree?

Friday 13th April: Did you all manage to survive the dreaded Friday the 13th without bad luck striking? If not, you've got 3 months to brace yourselves before the next occurance in July :)

My eldest daughter and I enjoyed a wonderful afternoon having a meal on the Marina front in Ipswich, in the sunshine after some retail therapy.

Didn't stay that way for long though. By the time we arrived home it pelted it down. We had to take a trip to the vet's so the kittens could have their jabs. We were alright going, but coming back it's amazing how flooded the back roads were.

She's taken her kitten, Pugin home with her for the weekend again so that means there will be no more kitten fights for the next couple of days. I'm sure normal service will resume on Sunday. Little minxes.

Tuesday 10th April: Naughty me, I've been keeping my diary up to date with class bookings but not my website pages! I'll smack my own backside.

I have 2 spaces available in my classes this week. 1 space is for the new floral painting 'lilacs' on Friday 13th April, 9.30 start and just £35 as it's a quicker and smaller painting. I also have one slot left on Saturday 14th Pop Art class due to a last minute cancellation. Just call me on 079500 32557 if you'd like to book on either of these. No need to send the usual £20 deposit as there's no time.

Further details can be found HERE

Tuesday 10th April: Avert your eyes if you are easily offended. April Fool's day didn't pass without event. And the old 'uns are the good 'uns. While Stef was away for a few days, and knowing how accident prone the kittens were in their early days, it seemed apt to tuck a little plastic poo in the folds of her bed.

I expected a steady flow of expletives involving the words 'kittens' and 'ugly'. But no, nothing! Instead, the following day I found the same plastic poo strategically placed by the bin in the bathroom. Ha ha. The following day I placed it at the bottom of Stef's wardrobe. A couple of days after that it had magically appeared just outside the litter tray ...... and so the saga of the moving plastic poo continues. I think I better up the ante, I'm planning a surprise packed lunch.

Stoopert I know, but the best laughs come from such sillyness.

Tuesday 10th April: Belated Happy Easter to you all. Hope you all managed to make the most of the time off and enjoy the best of the weather. Back to normal again today and it comes really harsh after such a lovely time off, packing in as much family and friends as possible.

With art on the agenda and a firm eye on some unfinished compositions we'd kept a day aside for personal art work. Unfortunately that painting session went right out the window when a surprise dinner invitation took precedence.

Never mind, it'll keep. With a couple of Bank Holidays on the horizon I'm sure we can enjoy a full day painting very soon.

Wednesday 28th March: Another painting that's had a makeover is 'Hidden Secret'. A waterfall painting, originally in tones of green and lime. My student wanted to have a rich sunset sky and matching tones throughout the foliage. I'm re-naming this one 'Sienna Falls' and it will be another new painting subject for students to choose from.

Stay tuned - because I have a blinding request from another private student. She emailed me a photo to see if we could paint the subject in her next lesson.

It's going to be a perfect Easter painting - very dramatic indeed !!

Wednesday 28th March: Birthday celebrations kicked off 3 days early this Sunday when we had an impromptu family meal. They all insisted I opened my presents, I really didn't want to. But, I was out numbered and had to do it! With wonderful and thoughtful gifts all round I was well and truly spoilt rotten.

But - one of the gifts is well exciting. I've been kitted out in every way with the water mixable oils. The brushes, the mediums, a vast array of DVD's and just about every colour you can think of. I haven't played with these new toys just yet but am looking forward to giving them a go. Won't it make a great change to be able to simply wash the brushes out under the tap?

So a huge thanks to Jerry Yarnell and an even huger thanks to Ben.

Wednesday 28th March: Today I've had some studio time and had a little mess about with some florals. I guess it's spring fever kicking in, combined with this wonderful sunshine.

Many of you know, I'm not a huge lover of the florals, but students do ask for them. So I'll try and pacify some of you with a little bit of flower power.

First up is a basic chrysanth and I'll make this anew painting subject.

Second on the list, inspired by the lilac tree that's beginning to come to life right outside the studio front door is this one. Again, another new painting subject just in time for the Spring.

It's been a lovely afternoon, with the studio door flung open wide and the sunshine pouring in. Of course, the obligatory cuppa and the endless supply of CD's helps.

I've popped some larger images of these on the class timetable page HERE

Wednesday 28th March: Hello again. Been a while - my absence mainly due to kittens with colds, enjoying some garden time in this beautiful weather, Birthday celebrations and generally being busy.

loveseat

Ben has lovingly restored the front bench to it's former glory. It's the first time it's had a rub down since I bought it several years ago. With several coats of teak oil it looks well pucker. It's the place we congregate after work, with a beer and a ciggie - and it doesn't take long for the neighbours to join us. in fact - we need more chairs out there!

Friday 16th March: I've a new little painting subject to add to the website, Bluebell Blanket. It's been adapted from a cropped photograph and it'll be done on a long thin canvas with a black border. I've taught this a few times already, just haven't managed to load it on the website. We'll have the first class for this in Edwardstone Village Hall on Saturday 28th April - details can be found HERE. But, if you'd like to paint it sooner than that, just give me a call or drop me a mail and I'm sure I can schedule you in my diary. It's a 3 hour lesson and will cost just £40 - and if you bring a friend there's a £5 discount each.

Monday 12th March: Ha !! Just when I wrote last week that the last thing I want to do on a day off is paint......... Guess what, we spent a full day in the studio, on our day off, doing just that. The weather was fantastic, the light was brilliant. With great tunes, plenty of tea we set to work. With the Valerie Stewart portrait seminar fast approaching, I didn't have to take too long in deciding what to paint. I spent a huge amount of time fussing with stage 2 of a portrait that's been on my wall for a little while now. The clothing nearly taking as much time as the actual facial details. Still, it will all be worth it when this powerful fella is finally hung in the bedroom.

Another stage to go before he's completed and then I can give you a full shot. I've deliberately cropped this down as I have made one eye smaller than the other. All can be fixed next time.

We ended our studio time and it was still light and bright. So ........ we jumped on our bikes and burned 10 miles of road on my usual cycle route. The first of many for me, not so sure about Ben. I'm proud to say he was behind me for pretty much the whole of the circuit although his stamina was much better than mine when it came to going uphill.

Anyways, I digress. There are still spaces available on Valerie's 4 day seminar at the end of May. If you'd like to come and join us for an exciting, informative and fun filled portrait experience, do drop me a line or give me a call. Details can be found HERE

Tuesday 6th March: And once more, my news entries are just like the buses. You sit and wait and nothing happens for ages. Then suddenly they all come together. I think I'm done for today though folks and thanks for hanging in there :)

Tuesday March 6th: Right! Arty Stuff. This weekend we had our first class in a new venue; Edwardstone Village Hall. That went really well. All students were first time oil-y's. The venue was smaller than most Village Halls, but it had an ambience that suited us just fine and a kitchen to die for. Ben had an idea to print off loads of images of Northern Lights (which was our class painting subject) and pin them around the hall so student's could take their pick as to how they wanted their lights to look. Ben also painted a totally different composition and colour scheme to the rest of the class to show how easily a painting can be varied. He popped his finished painting on facebook after the class and had a customer wanting it within minutes too ! My oainting was donated to the chairlady of the hall. They are having a fundraising event in a few weeks time and the painting will be part of the raffle. Nice not to have to take it home wet. We'll be booking Edwardstone Village Hall for another class in April, so watch this space. It's in the prettiest little location, with open fields and countryside right outside the door. The gently clip clopping of horses and the squarks of pheasents are the loudest sounds you'll hear.

Tuesday March 6th: Anyways ...... speaking of updates, you may notice a few changes to the website. It's going to get trimmed down. The first page to go is the forum. It hasn't been written in for ages so I can't see the point.

I'll not be opening monthly pages on my 'News' either - I'll just continue on here with entries. Over time I'll delete the archived news and remove old posts from the bottom of this page.

I'm also considering a totally new look to the website - different colour scheme perhaps. We'll see.

So ............. if you find things disappearing - don't worry, it's just me having a Spring Clean :)

Tuesday March 6th: Many students have been asking about the remaining 2 sphynx kittens, and I really appreciate your well wishes and thoughts. Both are feeding off mum just fine. We top them up with a bottle of kitten formula. Feeding them like this has become such a pleasure. So pleased they have moved on from syringe feeding. The black kitten, Pugo, pretty much sorted out the feeding problem by chewing the end off the soft teat so the milk could flow much quicker .... and they down their bottles in one now. The pinky grey kitten, Nelson, is partially weaned and is partial to licking kitten kibble. Sometimes he even eats it. Both kittens are so lively. They run up your legs, they climb the bedding and are becoming more than curious in their surroundings. Mum still keeps a beady eye on them and she's there like a shot when they get anywhere close the to top of the stairs. Pugin likes to sit with me on the bed while I do my hair and make up. Nelson likes to sit under the bed, hiding and swiping at my feet.

march2

They are not out of the woods just yet and have to finish their course of meds. Although they are at a very cute stage, I am becoming fully aware of the mischief they can get into before too long.

Anyways - here's a couple of pics taken last night. Weighing in at half a kilo each they are proper little bundles of cuteness and fun. Well, we think so anyway :) Suprisingly, even the people that found these hairless sphynx's a tad freaky are now warming to them.

........and don't even get me started on the lady in the vets who thought I had taken them there as they obviously had severe birth defects. I told her, in confidence, they had been born inside out. Vet Jenny & I did have a laugh at that, behind closed doors of course :)

Tuesday March 6th: Been a while, hasn't it ! Well, there's several reasons for my absence of updates. Firstly: It's down to those pesky apples ! I tend to do pretty much most of my online work from my iPhone or iPad these days. My website is awkward to update from the iPhone, due to the size and not all info is displayed when I work from the iPad.

Secondly: We've had some cat and kitten issues. Mainly Gary, the dad cat, turned a bit aggressive towards one of the kittens, attacking him quite badly. We decided to have Gary castrated mainly as we do not want another litter and also to calm down any aggressiveness he may have towards the babes for now and the future. So it's been a few days of vets visits, kitten care and catty stuff.

Thirdly: Work, on the whole, is really busy with 6 day working weeks. You can imagine, if we get a day off, it's definately not spent painting or updating website. We did manage to fit in a long weekend break away though and we didn't realise just how much we needed it till we got there and enjoyed DOING NUFFINK - (well, apart from the obligatory drinking and eating!).

But, I guess the major reason for not sitting in front of my PC writing diary entries every day is just really simple ...... I have a life, and a good one at that. I haven't watched TV for months. Our weekends (when we get one) are spent visiting family & friends or having them over to see us. My housework regime went out of the window last year - I'm thrilled about that.

Anyhoo - I'm here again now. Updates may be erratic but ..... I make no apologies for that.

Monday Feb 20th: Thanks for all your well wishes regarding our little kittens. The remaining two are lively, curious, cute fat little bundles. They are still having kitten milk formula. They show no interest whatsoever in kitten food, but hopefully they will wean off the milk before too long.

They are going on little adventures and who knows what they get up to. Last night I founf Pugo by the bedroom door with a plastic ball half his size at his feet. His chubby backside was sat down - beside him was his skinny mum, also sat down. Both cats were motionless, staring up at me. I got the distinct impression I had disturbed some feline activity. I'd like to think they carried on playing football the minute my back was turned again.

This morning, as I walked into the hallway, I looked across to the spare bedroom only to be met with 2 pairs of gazing blinking eyes - meerkat style, as both Pugo and 'the other one' bobbed their heads above their cat bed. They then both bobbed down again, hidden from view.

Funny little things ........ and the fun is only just beginning now. Soooooo looking forward to all the kitten amusement ahead of us!

Monday Feb 20th: Our class at Groton Village went just lovely. A great mix of students, a super little hall (once we found the trip switches for the heating), really cosy. These smaller halls can really be quite cosy and intimate. I'm thankful for the extra help I get in these classes - for all the wrong reasons. Both the students and myself decided to blame poor Ben for everything. That's our advantage when we ladies out number him and he takes it all in his stride (thankfully). A bit of friendly cross fire tends to make for a good humoured class.

We're looking forward to appearing again at Groton on 17th March. If you fancy joining us there for a little oil painting session, do drop me a line or give me a call. 01473 311938 / 079500 32557

Friday Feb 17th: Been a while, hasn't it? Time has been taken up with classes, kittens and celebrations. Valentine's was duly celebrated in a romatic fashion for the first time in over 10 years. Spoilt rotton, I was.

Kittens - bad news I'm afraid. We lost 3 over the last week. 2 emergency vet calls, 2 vet visits and still the reason is a mystery to us all. Very upsetting to all of us. The vet has declared the remaining 2 kittens as healthy, but the mum's milk is drying up. This means we are enjoying the rewards of hand rearing them, feeding them specialist formula milk via a syringe. Hopefully we'll have them weaned off milk pretty soon anyway so they can be a little more independant. Here's a pic of Mum, and her 2 sons, Pugo and Derek, both of which are spoken for already. They are getting lots of TLC and attention, and the best of care that myself, Ben, Soha and Stef can give. Many thanks to the handful of students who had to re-schedule their classes at such short notice so we could make vet's appointments.

Finally classes - we'll I have to report the busiest January on AyoubArt's records so far, with February looking pretty much the same way. I've added yet another venue to the Class Timetable page. We'll be teaching in Boxford on April 21st - (yes, Mangrove Oasis again!!) We have another date for Groton Village Hall too, in March. Mangrove Oasis sure is proving to be a popular choice and as it's bright green, neither I nor Ben get sick of painting or teaching it. If we did, it would be removed from the website - I have a policy never to paint or teach something which I don't enjoy.

Speaking of which - it's been all work and no play. I'm well aware you haven't seen any new designs for a little while. I hope to make a change to that though in March. I have a few projects that I need to get down onto canvas. Luckily my student's give me a direction as to what they want. One regular wants to paint Stonehenge, another student wants a gentle seascape - Joyce Ortner style, but do-able in one session (we may need to drastically down size the canvas size to do that). Ben and I have a tree project with a difference we want to design and I have a new wildlife project that needs finalising ........

So, we're still here - just busy with one thing and another.

I'm counting the days till next week - we're slipping away for a few days for a well earned rest. I hope we have the energy to enjoy our break - at the moment I feel I could sleep through the next 3 days. Luckily family will take over the kitten feeding for us, so we don't have to worry about the little beggers. Bet we miss them though. It's quite nice being greeted each morning with sleepy eyes and kitten squeaks.

Sunday Feb 5th: Well, I've taught my first lesson in snow boots today. Another wonderful weekend with my American students in a military base about a 75 min drive away. Saturday was just fine, we left nice an early, giving us plenty of time to book onto base and get set up. Today though was quite a different ball game. With about 5-6 inches of snow over night our little cul-de-sac really didn't look a healthy place to drive. Luckily Ben took the stress of that away from me, took over the driving completely and managed to get us to the check in with 5 mins to spare. It was scarey ........ The roads on base were given a code red - which means basically, don't drive on them. Several students couldn't make the class, and I have to say I'm quite pleased as the drive up to the actual venue was scarey. Took us 4 attempts to tackle a particularly sharp corner. Some students were being turned away at the base front gate, only residents were being allowed on. But ...... some students were walking distance and they braved the elements to come along.

So - a huge big thankyou to all those who tried. I'll be back for more classes very soon, I hope to catch you when the roads are a lot safer - and I can leave the snow boots at home.

A massive thankyou to Anita for organising the whole event, for her home bakes and for both her and her husband in their help to unload, set up and help re-load the car. Here's Anita's Saturday painting ............ before the damage. Her husband was showing her where he thought a deer might look nice, touching the black tree on the left and swiping his finger straight across. Anita was horrified. But, after a bit of magic, all traces of damage were removed and the painting looked totally unspoilt.

Last but not least - a huge big thankyou to Ben who managed to get us there in the first place today. If it were down to me I would never gotten out of my road. Plus, helping to teach, giving composition advice and generally keeping his eyes on the students and their needs really does help both myself and the students.

In fact so much so - our next class on base will be a little different. Students couldn't quite agree on their next painting subject. Problem easily solved. Ben will be teaching one subject and I will be teaching another simultaneously at either end of the room.

I can see this getting competitive :)

Wednesday Feb 1st: Yes, a bit of deja vu here as I repeat the post from the 31st of last month - just to bring it forward into February's News.

Its less than 4 months now before Valerie Stewart will be here in the UK to teach her 4 day portrait seminar in Capel St Mary. Bookings for this exciting class are still coming in, on the other hand, I've had a couple of cancellations too. I still have spaces on this course, if you'd like to come along and learn portraits. Over the 4 days you will be taught to paint 2 portraits of your choice; whether it's a family member or a celebrity, it's totally up to you. You can find more details of the class HERE If you'd like to enquire about this, or fancy booking in, just drop me a line or give me a call on 079500 32557 / 01473 311938.