Joyce Ortner Seascape Lesson for under a tenner - and more!!!

There's a really great Artist's Magazine that I subscribe too. I'd like to draw your attention to it also. It's not the type of monthly glossy mag that will drop through your door. It's a virtual magazine. Now there's pluses and minuses with this type of thing. i.e. You can't settle down on the sofa with a cup of tea and browse through it. BUT you CAN settle in front of your PC screen and watch a tuitional film showing how to paint a seascape!! The name of the Magazine is 'The Interactive Artist' At the moment it costs just $14.99 for a year's subscription (providing you use the promotional code TWITTER09 when you fill in the online application form). This works out at under £10 for the year. There's loads of information and lots of brilliant painting guides from artists like Susan Scheewe, the lovely Joyce Ortner, the very charismatic Wyland to name but a few. For a tenner I don't think you'll go far wrong. Here's Joyces 'Moon Watch' painting project which features on the 'Video Lessons' menu - along with 9 others. If Joyce's seascape gets you excited - don't miss out on her trip to the UK next September where she will be giving a 3 day seascape seminar right here in Capel St Mary. Details can be found HERE and there's still availability.

FREE DVD OFFER !!!!

Just to get the month started and to whet your appetite, why not take advantage of the FREE DVD OFFER? Details can be found HERE. Thanks to Valerie Stewart and our 5am virtual chat whilst both of us were in our pyjamas! Simply place your order and you pay only shipping and handling. GET YOURS TODAY!!!

More Valerie Stewart tuitional DVD's now available direct from the UK

A greater selection of DVD's has been added to the website. You can now purchase all of the Valerie Stewart Pet Portrait DVD's direct from the UK with immediate availability. You can choose your own packages as these exciting and comprehensive pet portraits are available as a 10 DVD starter set OR they can be purchased individually. There are a total of 15 DVDs to choose from. The 10 DVD set alone covers 12 different portraits. You can find the shopping baskets, more information and the relevant images HERE

Website statistics

Some more of the stranger word searches that have landed unsuspecting visitors to my website are: Raku Pottery / Jim Jam Game / Postal Strike Delays / Caravan Kit / Bunches of Mushrooms. No doubt somewhere on my website, even on pages that have been removed from public view, there will be a combination of these words and phrases. Another interesting aspect to my statistics are the locations of visitors. Just yesterday hits were received from Switzerland, Canada, Indonesia, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Japan, Italy, Russia, Poland, South Africa, Uruguay, Sweden and China, to name but a few. Unfortunately when I see the names of some of these countries I know I will also have spam mail offering me anything from cheap frames, reproduction prints, the daily lottery wins and the regular requests to kindly accept millions of dollars into my bank account.

More dates

Just a quicky to let you know the class schedule has been updated with more dates and painting subjects. Private Classes are available inbetween these dates subject to availability. Please call me on 01473 311938 or drop me a line on info@ayoubart.co.uk if you'd like to book tuition or have any enquiries.

Private class chit chatter

With a private class, it's quite a different experience to a group class painting. For a start, it's up close and personal. The students and I get a good chance to chat as we paint. Today's lady, Anne and I certainly had a lot to talk about. Apart from our mutual interest in art, Anne spent several years in the Middle East and is more than familiar with the Emirates. So we covered ex-pat life in sunny Sharjah, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. My first proper job at the age of 16 was in the Sharjah Carlton Hotel. There were only 2 hotels in Sharjah at that time. My office was opposite the reception, see here, on the top left, just behind that row of plants. Anne is also the mother-in-law of a student of mine who emigrated to Canada several months ago. It was great to go through the photos of Anne's recent visit there to see how the family are getting on and what their new surroundings look like. If you fancy indulging yourself in a private class, at the moment it's only an extra £20 above normal class price and includes a lunch. If you bring a friend you can take advantage of a £5 discount each. I can take up to 4 students in a private group booking too, if you prefer to have an exclusive painting party with friends. Plus YOU get to choose the painting subject from the ever growing gallery. Call me on 01473 311938 for more details/availability.

Valet and Easel

Last week the weather wasn't reliable enough to go for my bike ride. So, I replaced the pedal power with wax-on, wax-off power and gave my car a full valet instead. To be honest a bike ride would have been much quicker but I do feel I've burned off more calories with all the bending and stretching and scrubbing - plus the car looks a lot better for it. My custom-built easel has finally been removed from the boot too - which means I can put the back seats up. This too got a scrub down and I've almost removed most of the oil paint from it (the easel, not the boot). I'll be favouring the stand up easel over the table-top easel for the next few days in my private classes. I should really use this beautiful easel more often when I am at home.

Word Searches

People find my website by a variety of ways. When I view my statistics I'm often smiling at the wierd combination of word searches that seem to pull up my website. Yesterday I had a hit from someone searching 'where to get a tattoo of husband's name'. Another hit came from 'arabic lettering'. A third hit came from 'dip in horizon'. Just a handful of examples for you, and I'll make a point in future to mention further bizarre search words.