Beginners Watercolour Sunflowers

Yesterday we held a Beginners and Refreshers Watercolour Class and also celebrated a special birthday.

It really was a very sunny fun day full of Sunflowers.

Claire talked through papers, brushes, paints etc before the artists settled down to practice with colours and mixing, before starting their painting.

The artists were also introduced to masking fluid and texture paste, the paste is excellent for creating the petals.

There were also tiny beads to stick into the paste for the centre of the Sunflowers.

After the first wash of background colours, it was time for lunch, to give the paintings time to dry.

Lunch was Nigel Slaters Chicken and Deliciously Ella's Salad, full of fresh and seasonal flavours.

Here are the finished works of art, they will look lovely on everyone's walls this Summer!

Monet's Garden in Oils

Today we had an Oils class, these classes have become increasingly popular.

Our theme was Monet's Garden, full of beautiful colours and reflections.

After coffee, Claire spoke about painting in Oils and then demonstrated some techniques to help with the days painting.

Below are some of our students hard at work 

They used brushes and palette knives to apply the paint to the canvas.

For some this was their first time ever painting in oils.

Below is a display of the finished paintings:

Lunch today was Chicken Caprese, full of flavour with pesto, mozzarella, basil and tomato.  Served with fresh bread and a spinach and rocket salad.

Below was our vegetarian option, a spinach and tortellini cheese bake.

And pudding was a creamy (soaked overnight) Tiramisu!

And they all managed to return to the painting table after that and carry on!

A really successful day. 

Rhododendrons Watercolour Class

Claire was back last week for the start of this term's Art classes.

Our first class was Rhododendrons. 

Claire started with a beautiful wash of background colours, before working on the flowers.

Meanwhile I was busy making lunch, this week we had a delicious Greek Traybake followed by Roasted Stone Fruits with vanilla ice cream. 

Here are the beautiful finished works of art: