Forgetting the most important thing.....

Is this a sign of old age? I hope not! My car was loaded for today's demo - with the exception of a couple of things which I had left in plain view on the dining room table. Despite this, I managed to tear out the door, forgetting the most vital piece of equipment. Of course, I didn't realise my predicament until I arrived at the hall and started to set up. I mean, how can you begin to do a demo when you didn't bring your paints with you? With the words 'You Plonker, Rodney' ringing in my ear I had no choice but to drive home for them. I was up and running by about 11.30am, so all was not lost. It was great to see some familiar faces, being born and bread in Stowupland. The clock most definately turned back to Primary School years and it was great catching up with some childhood schoolmates - and some old neighbours. But - one of the best results of the day was a delightful lady who had a plant stall. I've stocked up with some more vegetable plants for an absolute song. The lady in the queue in front of me spent £25 on garden plants and I'm thinking there's easily £75 - £100 worth of products there had they been on display at any garden centre.I managed to steer clear of the home made cake stall, but did give in to a slice of cake in the afternoon. The hall ran the most amazing coffee shop, also providing full lunches which was really successful. A very short stroll down the road, in the local Church, the flower festival is on display. Sadly I didn't manage to have a look at that, I must pop and see the arrangements before they are taken down.

When it's Spring again....

I mentioned Spring.........and this morning I got the distinct impression it really was just around the corner. As I drove to Heartlands the sun was bright and streaming through the window (must get my windscreen washed!). Had there been a touch more greenery on the trees it could have passed for a fresh March morning. Interestingly, in today's class were students who had been painting with me for over 2 years. There was also Marlene, a complete beginner. I asked Marlene if she was nervous bering in mind the other students' experience. She was. But, within 20 minutes after the class started she realised that a complete beginner can slot in very easily indeed. In fact, if you had pulled a complete stranger off the street and asked them to pick out who was the novice, who were the regulars and who was the teacher, they'd be hard pushed to make that decision. Don't believe me? maybe you should give it a go - it's a money back guarantee to all first time students and I've not had to give a refund to any of my students yet. I've added more Heartland's dates to the Class timetable HEREif anyone would like topaint in this idyllic rural setting.

So good - we just have to do it again

Just incase anyone else would like to have a go at the 'Venetia' painting of Venice - I've added another couple of dates on the Class Timetable. Both dates fall on a Saturday and the cost of each lesson is just £35. If you prefer to chose your own 2 dates, you can opt to paint this as a private lesson - in which case, the cost will be £45 for each lesson. This can easily be painted over 2 consecutive days, there's no need to wait a week to complete stage 2. It just so happens my student earlier this week has a daughter living in Venice, whom she visits quite regularly. She fully intends to return to paint this scene sometime soon. She was telling me about how lovely Venice is and I really am longing for a trip there - maybe a Spring mini break. So while the website has been updating, I've been having a little look to see what's on offer. I'd love to make it over there sometime this year.

Landscape, foliage and blending Oil Painting Brushes

The 1 inch and 2.5 inch Bill Alexander landscape brushes are proving a very popular tool. Most students who use them in class have purchased their own for home use. My class brushes have really been put through their paces since I introduced them into classes nearly 6 months ago. They clean up well and are as soft today as they were on day one. We've all found that we are using my soft goat hair blender brush less and the large Alexander landscape brush more as it really does a good job of removing those brush marks. It's a 'mighty' tool, as Bill would say, much too big to dip into tins of white medium. I find it easier to tip out the medium into plastic trays and pass around the class. It actually ensures you don't load too much into your brush in the first place. At just £20 (which includes postage and packing) for the two brushes, these will last you quite some time. If you look closely, you'll see Bob Ross using these exact same brushes in his first recordings of 'The Joy of Painting' programmes.