Student input

When today's ladies (Sally & Josie) arrived, they commented on how lovely the countryside looked, all frosted up. I showed them the painting I made yesterday, also insipred by this current cold weather. They both gave me a bit of inspirational art advice actually. They reckoned the addition of some glitter would make the painting look frosty - and I have to agree with them. We've added glitter to our paintings before, about a year ago, giving some stars a little extra embellishment. I'm pleased they remembered this as I had completely forgotton. I shall have to finish this painting off, let it dry out and get the fine glitter dust out. Josie went on to say what a pretty Christmas card it would make too. Imagine a similar scene on a really small canvas, spots of glitter catching the light...........

What a grey day

Are you all experiencing this horrible fog we are having at the moment? It's dense and it's freezing cold and I can't see to the bottom of my garden. Despite having a warm car sat at the top of the path, I decided to carry on with my daily 4 mile walk to the village post office. I put on an extra couple of jumpers and two pairs of gloves as well. The post office is only a mile down the road and once the internet orders were posted I walked on for another mile, studying the frosty cobwebs and the frost patterns on the foliage along my way. This time I took my camera with me. You can see here, (top photo), how this heavy fog has made everything appear a dull grey and blue/white. I guess the scenes from my walk strongly influenced today's painting exercise, as you can see from the bottom photo. My painting isn't finished yet as I had to stop work to make some fresh home made soup for tomorrow's art group. I'll go back to it on Sunday and see what develops. One thing I will say, it's great painting in my new (very warm and cosy) workspace. I can just leave everything as it is and pick up/drop off whenever I choose. I also get to keep an eye on the washing, as the tumble dryer is in the same room - it doubles up as a nice big worktop area for my bits too.

Talks, Guest Speaker, Live Demonstrations and Art Groups

I'm having an office day today. It started with a trip to the stationers to buy new files, binders, a couple of diaries (you don't even want to know how many diaries I have on the go!) and other bits and bobs. It feels great to get on top of the paperwork, having it all processed and filed away. I've been scheduling my demonstrations too. I give talks and live demonstrations to all manner of groups and societies, not necessary art orientated. If you'd like a quote on a 90 minute demonstration for your group or society, my prices start at just £45 for a 10 mile radius. I also give painting workshops to Art Groups. this evening I've booked in my first one for the year. As the group are covering the cost of the venue and the refreshments and can guarantee a minimum number of students, we can negotiate a mutual discount. I can teach up to 15 people, ensuring all students receive adequate individual attention. Feel free to contact me on 01473 311938 or info@ayoubart.co.uk if you think this might be something of interest to you/your group.

Underwater Inspiration

Here's Jazarah. He's the bright orange starfish I bought for my daughter's marine aquarium. I was asked to name him, his name means 'carrot' in Arabic. He actually looks like 6 little carrots. Here you can see him moving up the front of her tank (I say him, but it could be a she for all we know). The top of him is a vivid orange, almost luminous, hence the name. We also picked up a sea anenome in a brilliant bright white with pink tips on the tentacles, a burgundy feather duster tubeworm and a hermit crab with bright blue legs. These keep her fish and dancing shrimps company. An expensive hobby, but..........whenever I go to visit her we both sit in front of the tank for ages watching all the creatures. One of the first items she brought for her tank was several kilos of live rock. In a few months, this rock has produced all manner of organisms. The harder you study it the more you see. I have an old hand held magnifying glass in my office and I'll be giving that to her next time I visit. It'll help us get a much closer look at what's occurring.

Looking at Soha's aquarium has got me all inspired. Quite a few months ago I worked on an oil painting of a couple of 'Nemo' fish, just for fun really. I think I might like to re-design the painting and change the composition a little. It's amazing how we can look back on our work and think of what we would like to change - especially when we have learned new techniques since the original painting.

Self Contained accommodation for long distance students

The Apollo Studio Accommodation is having a new heating unit fitted today, ready for our first guests of the year. The preliminary work was completed several months ago when the outdoor unit was fitted to a wall. While the studio is empty it's an ideal time to get cracking with the job. The new heating is a remote controlled air conditioning unit and it's very energy efficient. We had similar units fitted into our kitchen, dining room and lounge back in August, well before the cold weather hit us and they've been a godsend. We've noticed the difference on our heating bills too. For each kilowatt of electricity used you get back 3 kilowatts of heat, so that can't be bad. This means I can remove the floor standing electric woodburner-type heater, giving a little more floor space. Once installed we gave it a little test run; it turned from chilly ice-box to cosy toastie in under 5 minutes. Of course, the other bonus is the units double up as coolers. If ever it gets too hot for you (I wish!!!), a flick of the switch will have it blowing cool air into the room. I have used the cooler in the kitchen - you can imagine when I'm having a baking session how hot it can get - ideal for keeping chef (and pastry) at a moderate temperature.

Pop Art Portrait - Kings Of Leon

I forgot to take a photo of one of the Pop Art paintings I made for my eldest daughter's Christmas present. I managed to rectify this today by popping over to her house and seeing the painting hung in situ. With a spotlight by the side of it, hung on a plain wall, it really looks fab. Apparently everyone who has seen it has passed a favourable comment on it and one friend wants to book a Pop Art class with me so she can paint it for herself. For those of you who are wondering who this fab four are - it's the King's Of Leon. A few months ago my daughter was singing the band's praises to me. I told her I didn't know what all the fuss was about as I could take them or leave them (preferably leave them). Her reply was 'Mum, not liking the Kings of Leon is the ONLY un-cool thing about you. Well, things have changed since then and their latest CD is permanently in my car, with another copy of the same CD in the dining room (thanks to a generous Santa). They are now my baking background music and it's one of my most played CD's. Hopefully, that now makes me a cool mum........ I've put a larger version of this painting in my gallery HERE so you can view a more detailed image. It is gallery wrapped (which means it's painted right around the canvas edges) and measures 20 x 8 inches. This 4 person Pop Art portrait is for sale for £85 (includes postage and packing to UK mainland), should anyone want one.......or, for a £65 private class fee you could paint your own - or any other celebrity you care to name.

New Year - New Products

Lets kick of the New Year with some new products. I'm introducing a couple of soft haired brushes. The first is the round brush (pictured at the bottom). It's a bit more substantial than the liner brush and I've been using it in classes for a little while now. Ideal in landscape painting for those bulkier limbs and branches on your trees, great tool also for foreground fences. As it's soft, it can be used in both floral and wildlife projects too. It's fast becoming quite a little work horse of mine and now joins my other landscape brushes in my own pot of tools. The second item is the half inch flat angled brush (pictured at the top). This is just the most perfect brush for making leaves, it holds the paint well, you'll get the tightest of chiselled edges. This too is brilliant for wildlife projects too. Both brushes are synthetic bristles, both brushes are £4.50 each (including postage and packing) and both brushes have been tried and tested by myself. You can find the shopping baskets for these items on this link: http://www.ayoubart.co.uk/21.html