Popular Pop'in

During yesterday's pop art class, students painted a mixture of subjects - both celebrity and family members. It was a first time for all students and all of them were just a little doubtful as to how well they would do. That's when you just HAVE to trust your teacher....... Relax, put yourself in my hands, leave the worrying to me. It's what you are paying me for. Pop art is such a cool way to make a unique and personalised gift for someone special. Many of those who have learned it have received requests to paint more....and more.....and more. So, bearing this in mind and being well aware of the 'C' word that will be upon us in a few months, I am adding more Pop Art Classes to my class timetable. Your Pop Art session can be spent in several ways. You can start the work on a particularly complex and large portrait, or you can complete a 'normal' one. If you can't finish a Pop Art in the one session it is very, very easy to continure working at home - and several students have done this with 100% success. On the other hand, I have some students who use their class to prep several canvases with the sole purpose of working on many of them at home - enough to keep them ticking over for a few weeks. It's a great way of taking full advantage of my equipment. I only take on a few students at a time in a Pop Art class, which means it's a very intimate and friendly session - probably the next best thing to a private lesson. If you'd like to give it a go - click here to see the details of my next session. And if you can't wait - there's always private.

Pop Art - anything can be 'Popped' !

I know some of you couldn't make the Pop Art class at Heartlands for various reasons - but do not fear. We will be rescheduling another class for Pop Art there really soon. I have to think of people I want to paint as my demo subject so I can show you all how to do it - the things to avoid and the things that will make your Pop Arts look great. Yesterday I was looking at some paintings of my all time favourite artist ever - Salvador Dali.......so today I decided to paint him in a Che Guevara pose. He was quick for me to do so I also managed to finish off Eden - a golden labrador. Pop Art really applies to anything and everything. You could paint a landmark, a person, an animal .......whatever you want really. If you'd like to have a go at Pop Art sooner rather than later, you can always book in for a private lesson. I can take groups of up to 4 people in a private session - plus you receive a £5 discount each for 2 or more people.

Learn to paint in your own home

Recently I held a Pop Art Class with a difference. It was a private lesson - but it was at the customer's house instead of mine. I taught 2 students and took along all the equipment and materials necessary for both students to make their choices of canvas size and shape. If this sort of bespoke lesson would appeal to you, do feel free to drop me a line or give me a call to discuss rates - 01473 311938. One of the benefits of Pop Art portraiture is the fact that we use water based paints, making the brush cleaning process very quick and easy using only the kitchen sink. There is no need for concerns on any mess in your home.

Whilst on the subject of Pop Art - let me mention a lady who visited me for a Pop Arty lesson last month. Bev has been non-stop popping since she left me Her new creations range from family members to celebrities and she is now taking on commissions too. You can see her work on her website: http://bevpryor.blogspot.com/ Bev is currently building her collection of Pop Arts ready for an exhibition this Summer. Isn't that great ?

On yer bike.....

I'm mobile again. My bike, which was stolen from my drive last year has been sorely missed. I really used to enjoy my bike rides. I was lucky enough to receive a new bike for my birthday which is practically identical to the old one - apart from the colour. The new one is purple, the old one was green. I have a lock and chain for it and it's nice and secure. If this lovely weather continues you can be sure I'll be out there as often as I can clocking up the miles.

Tantalising Smells........

Just before today's Pop Art workshop I spied the egg bowl, looked at the kitchen clock and decided I had just enough time to throw the ingredients for a spicy fruit loaf into the breadmaker - which immediately took care of 2 eggs. Consequently, 3 hours into the class we were painting along to the heavenly smells of warm bread, fruit, cinnamon, nutmeg and mixed spices. Unable to resist, the loaf was sliced while it was still hot, served with lashings of butter and a hot cup of tea. I'm trying really hard to resist as I know I can't stop at one slice. I'll be running another Pop Art workshop on Thursday 29th April - details can be found HERE. I can't promise more spicy fruit loaf though, but there's normally a bit of home baking served up to students.

Seeing as it's St Patrick's Day, I'll leave you with a Pop Art Portrait of one of my favourite Irish Celebs.

It's all go.

Talk about cutting it fine........I had a Pop Art portrait to complete and deliver to a lady who lived fairly close to Heartlands. There was just a small section of hair to finish off and I was absolutely deteremined to try and get it done so I could get it delivered today as it would save me an extra trip. So, at an unearthly time yesterday morning I set up my bits and cracked on. It took a cup of tea to get me fully awake and I did have to rub my eyes a couple of times to focus on the fiddly bits. By 8am he was done. I scurried around for my varnish, protective covering and bubble wrap and loaded these extra bits into the car. I managed to get him varnished during the lunchbreak of today's class and he was fully dry and ready to wrap and deliver by the time class ended - (which over ran a bit as my flipping clock stopped). By 3.30pm it was safely in the hands of the new owner and by 3.35pm it was hung on the wall. Before I left I had an order for more - my client wants to fill a recessed wall. They are going to look absolutely fabulous all grouped and hung together. Fingers crossed, we'll also get a portrait done of the family dog too

Bubbling.......at last

It's been nice Pop Art painting away to some gentle background noises. Yes, we've more wine on the go. We started it over the weekend and normally we get bubbles fairly quickly from the yeast. This batch sat dormant for a couple of days but I'm happy to say it's been bubbling away like a good 'un.Our girls (the feathered ones) seem to be a lot more active too and I'm delighted to see we've gone from one egg a day (almost) to two. What's more, the extra egg we've been getting has been a blue one. Nice to know Henrietta, our cream legbar, is back in her laying mode - although we can never really be sure that she ever stopped laying. Wouldn't surprise me if I came across a big pile of eggs tucked away under the woodpile, or in the hedge. Hopefully it won't be too long before they are all back on full production.

Better late than never

At the weekend, my lady braved the elements to come along to make a Pop Art Portrait. Ronni was previously booked in before Christmas as she wanted to make a unique gift for her partner. However, flu kicked in and she couldn't go ahead with the lesson. Luckily though, her partner's birthday is next week. Ronni was a little nervous at first, with no artistic skills she was certain she wouldn't be able to make this. But, after I assured her she would be leaving with a painting to be proud of, she relaxed and quickly began to enjoy the lesson. She even commented a couple of times 'This is such good therapy'. If you'd like to try this really popular and trendy style of painting you will find all the details HERE