An unexpected Brusho workshop wih the lovely Joanne!!!

The second "proper" workshop (the first two were at my own group and where I cut my "teeth" so to speak!!!) I ever did was at Westhougton Art Group or WAG as it is affectionately known and since then I have been fortunate enough to have been asked back on many occasions and I am also invited to attend their sessions when they invite guest tutors... I know, am a very lucky girl!!!

Anyway this morning it was Joanne's (this is the link to her facebook page) turn to entertain the troops and I thought I would pop along, I haven't been to a Joanne workshop for a while so nice to get a "fix"....have been too busy with my own but a little rest-bite at the moment so heaven sent opportunity.

Now don't ask me why but I only took watercolour stuff and guess what she was doing... yes Brusho!!! So I begged, stole and borrowed (mostly from Joanne... thanks Jo!!) and got some equipment together so that I could join in.

With Brusho everyone produces different work which is one reason I love it and I know Joanne feels the same, as she likes to give the tools and skills to people so that they can continue to work independently. For this workshop, we had a very simple black and white predrawn reference image so not much drawing or detail, the idea being we would work to produce our own flower garden in front of cottage nestled amongst the trees.....I used some colours I hadn't tried before as Joanne has a bigger range of colours than me... interesting about the cobalt blue I chose for the sky as it was very turquoise and not at all what I was expecting. We used the medium in a variety of ways as Joanne wanted to show the group how versatile it is and how using it in different ways produces different effects.

Once again as I watched Joanne work I am reminded of how she is a master (or mistress???) of the finishing touch and how I am grateful for what she has taught me... lets face it there is no way I would be running Brusho workshops if it weren't for Joanne and the knowledge she has so generously shared both with me and her many other students. 

As an aside I would never use the same images or subjects in my own sessions, that would be totally unethical (and also very lazy!!), what I do use are the tips,techniques and skills to incorporate into my own subjects and then deliver in my own way....my own work I find is less subtle than Joanne's,  as many of you know, me and subtle don't get on and I think that has something to do with the fact that particulary with watercolour, my technique relies more and more on picking paint up directly from the palette, mixing on my brush and creating the wash on my paper rather than in the palette.... I never know how rich the colour is going to be but all adds to the excitement!!

Anyway here is my painting, have to say I was quite pleased as I liked the colours.....made a mistake in adding the trees to the left... thought I had sprinkled  a yellow and as I sprayed it, realised it was red!!! But I actually liked it as it dried and felt it helped pull the painting together.

3rd Birthday!?!?!

Well just after actually.....it was my blog's 3rd birthday on the 30th March but I have had a lot going on not to mention my son and his partner emigrating to Switzerland so no time for blogging am afraid!!

As many of you will know I have had a lot of workshops since the New Year so all is going really well with more bookings coming in each week... I was looking over the last 3 years since I retired and things have got busier and busier so I am definitely not complaining!!

I do have some really exciting news to share hopefully in the next few days, so watch this space!!!!

In the meantime just thought I would reminisce a little as as well as sharing a couple of new paintings and would post some significant pieces (in my mind at least!!) of the past!!

My last post was about daffodils and here is a new WIP

I am liking how this is progressing but still need to work on it a bit more

Then a painting I have done before of a house in Kirkby Lonsdale by the river but this time with a completely different palette

and finally we received a beautiful bunch of flowers and this was a little interpretation of them

I don't get a lot of chance to work on my own pieces when I have a lot of workshops as I spend time preparing for them and working on pieces I can deliver to 15 or 20 people.... preparing for workshops, I am constantly thinking about the best ways to share the techniques and skills and how to get the information across in the easiest way and I also need to be able to do the paintings fairly quickly as most sessions are only 2 hours.

So what about the last 3 years... I have done quite a few exhibitions including a solo one in Garstang, a craft fair, Watercolour workshops, Brusho workshops (including a fab day jointly running a session with Joanne Boon Thomas) demos, opened and judged exhibitions, I've done commissions including one for a church entrance foyer....... I have also become a PA with the SAA and had a feature published in their November "Paint" magazine.

So what for the future? Well, I have to say it is the teaching I really love. I have been invited to a lot of new places this year so I am hoping to build on that for both this year and next and travel further afield especially further South, Wales and Scotland!!!  Any groups and societies out there who would like a demo or workshop... wherever you are do get in touch and I will see what I can do!!! I am about to run an all day session in Wrexham so I am hoping that will open some new doors too.

I continue to work on my style and technique learning all the time and am lucky enough to be attending a 2 day workshop with Fabio Cembranelli on the Summer... I know..... amazing!!!

Now for a few blasts from the past

I was really delighted with this, not only because I really liked how it turned out but because it also raised £100 for the Poppy appeal... I will certainly be doing something similar in the future....

This was my first attempt at all wet in wet... ie wet the front, back and front again so the paper is literally sopping wet, quite different from how I usually paint and certainly a challenge but so rewarding when it works and creates the most beautiful effects.

I did this at the joint Brusho workshop Joanne and I held near St Helen's and rather liked how it turned out... demo pieces aren't always the best but this one worked well and I liked it better than the practices I had done previously... just shows practice makes perfect!!

Finally 2 paintings of Archie, our little Grandpup who is now a little Swiss dog!! He's having fun exploring his new surroundings walking his little paws off...he's such a clever friendly boy, he will be charming all the Swiss residents and whipping those Swiss pups into shape!!!

So my art journey is taking lots of twists and turns and I no longer worry, think or concern myself with the destination... I soon came to realise it is the journey which is important and as long as I am loving every step I don't need to worry about where I'm going!!

On a final note... thank you to everyone who takes the time to read my blog, the numbers are constantly climbing though for the best part unless people leave a comment  I have no idea who you are but thank you anyway and I hope you enjoy and continue to follow me on my path.

A Lonely Yellow Daffodil

I have learned from a number of artists (Jean Haines being one) to paint in the seasons and this post embraces just that ....

Our garden is very much a Spring garden with lots of daffodils, tulips, forsythia bushes, azaleas etc and though we have done the trick of visiting the garden centre each month and buying perennials in flower it still remains at it's prettiest in the Spring. However, we never seem to have as many daffs as the previous year and keep having to plant more.....our neighbour says it is because hubby is such a "tidy gardener" he displaces the bulbs as the Summer and Autumn progress, but can hardly give him a slap for that!!

Anyway all this is a roundabout way of telling you  how I came to paint my one daffodil... the winds arrived the other day and flattened one lonely daff which we brought in and popped into water.... it was making the garden untidy so had to be removed!!

Here are some of the sketches, again I am working here to give myself a sort of "template" for painting them, so I used the method of painting (which I have learned from Jean and Joanne Boon Thomas) where I paint some of the flower then lose it (not all) but enough to give a loose feel then working back in to add some of the edges I have lost.  I think I have given myself enough to work on to produce a full piece.... I have painted two face on and one to the side but you really don't need a full bunch of daffs (or any flowers for that matter) to give yourself a composition for a full painting... just use the flower you have and paint it from different angles. I would add some buds as well if I was doing a full painting so would maybe use 3 flowers, a bud, half open and fully open to create a full bunch of daffs. As to composition, might be an idea to draw a quick sketch, could be an "s" shape, a "v" shape, "l" shape, whatever you feel works and I will be having a go in the next few days

I decided the colours were bit boring in the first two so added some purple and turquoise in the last one which I really like and that's the palette I will work with when I do a full piece.