Exciting Announcement !

Today I took a trip to my framers to collect some paintings. My portrait of daughter number 2 is now all ready to hang in the lounge. It looks a little lonely in the alcove but I hope it will be joined by another couple of portraits fairly soon.

The originals were given as Christmas gifts and I miss them, so prints will have to do. I hope to fill this alcove with a selection of portraits over the year. They do look great hung in a group.

Plus...........while we are on the subject of portraits, here's some exciting news for you all. Valerie Stewart and I have just finalised the dates of her next UK Portrait Seminar. We'll be enjoying her company in May 2012 for another 4 days of Portrait Painting in oils. You can find details of the event HERE.

Not all of the T's have been crossed just yet but I will update the page (and Sue's News) with more details as and when they come through.

But, for now, you have the dates AND plenty of notice.

Excited ?? I am :)

If you would like to spend a few minutes enjoying some brilliant portraits you can CLICK HERE to be taken direct to Valerie's website.

A busy weekend

This weekend a distant customer took great advantage of a lift, with friends, to Ipswich. Christin has been wanting to learn portraiture for some time. This timely lift coincided perfectly with my diary and the opportunity was just too good too miss. Christin booked 2 portrait lessons, back to back, for 2 days. Because the portrait lessons are only 3 hours long, it's easy to do this from 10am to 1pm - 30 mins for lunch, then carry on from 1.30pm to 4.30pm.

Christin was lucky enough at Christmas to receive the Valerie Stewart DVD set, brushes and paints so there will be no stopping her when she gets home. Although we were unable to totally complete both portraits (as you really need 3 sessions per painting), Christin made really good headway on both pictures. She'll be back another time to complete them and is already planning to next paint our Queen and Bob Ross.

Christin is a Bob Ross instructor, so you can imagine we had lots to chat about being in the same 'industry'.

I asked Christin if the portrait lessons were how she thought they would be. 'No', she replied, 'they're even better than I imagined'. Isn't that lovely to hear?

If portraiture might be something that would interest you, do give me a call on 01473 311938 or drop me a line.

Didn't she do well ?

Today we painted a seascape, Joyce Ortner style. Using a small selection of soft brushes, we mixed our paint, loosened them with linseed oil and worked really hard at all the blending and softening to get realistic effects. It's much more fiddly than your average landscape, but worth learning Joyce's style as the results really are super.

My student, Sue, brought along to class a painting she made at home. Not only that, she is allowing me to show you all. Sue took 2 portrait seminars with me.......but this one she painted all by herself at home. I think it's absolutely brilliant. As I said to Sue........if this is painting number 3, think what painting number 10 will be like! She's already planning portrait number 4. I knew she would be hooked.

If you'd like to try portraiture do give me a call on 01473 311938 or drop me a line. At only £45 per lesson (all inclusive of equipment and materials) it's a special skill to learn that's worth every penny. Plus, my classes are aimed at beginners. Thanks to Valerie Stewart and her marvellous portrait technique, there's a growing demand for this.

'Can I ask a favour?', said my student.

I spoke often last year about painting on the small side. Today I painted one of the smallest oils I've done so far. One of today's students asked me if I would paint our painting subject for her on a very small scale. She provided me with a tiny little canvas and explained it was to be a part of a project she was working on.

And you know me, I do like a challenge, so I happily gave it a go. The only difficulty I had was the canvas was extremely absorbant, drying the oil out in seconds, making the blending awkward. But I have a few tricks that sorted that out quite easily. What do you think of the micro version of 'Peach Dawn'? Quite cute, isn't it.

Portraits are really proving fun

I know a lot of my customers and students have given portraits (both oils and Pop Art) as Christmas gifts this year.

The feedback from the delighted recipients has been brilliant.

'I can't believe you painted that'

'You did this yourself???' '

It's beautiful, thank you so much'

'Can you do some more'

If you'd like to have a go at portraiture, do have a look at my timetable to see if there are any dates that suit.

If not, just ask.......

Just this minute a distant customer has been in touch about portrait lessons. Her friend is coming to Ipswich for a weekend. Too good an opportunity to miss, she's managed to get herself a lift and we'll be working on 2 portrait projects over the course of 2 days.

Meanwhile.......here's one that went to Mr Andre just before Christmas.

Local Exhibition

There's a local exhibition coming up in a few weeks time. If you are in the area you might like to pop in and have a look. The Friends of St Mary's Church, Capel St Mary are holding their Art Exhibition and Sale from 22nd to 24th October inside the church. With over 40 artists taking part there should be more than 250 paintings to look at and buy. On Friday 22nd at 7.30pm there will be a preview evening. Tickets are £6, the cost to include light refreshments and a glass of wine. Saturday times are 10am - 5pm : Sunday times are 1pm - 5pm. Admittance is free and non-alchoholic refreshments will be available. For further information ring Joan Broyden on 01473 310596.