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Thursday 29 November 2018

2019 Art Dates- Now taking Bookings


We are now taking bookings for our 2019 dates:


Wednesday 27 February
A Walk in the Cotswolds Watercolour

Thursday 28 February
 Magnolia Spring Blossom Watercolour

Thursday 21 March
Pen & Wash
Fur and Feathers

Tuesday 26 March
Beginners & Refreshers Watercolour

Wednesday 27 March
Singing in the Rain Watercolour
(splashing in puddles, umbrellas, wellies)

Thursday 4 April
 A Colourful Market Scene Watercolour
(fruit, flowers, vegetables, people, colour)

Friday 5 April
 Beautiful Buildings Watercolour
(looking at texture, crumbling masonry, old bricks, tonal values)

Wednesday 17 April
 An Introduction to Brusho Paints
(brilliantly intense paint powders)

SUNDAY 5 May
Boats in the Harbour Watercolour
(11:30am - 5pm)

Wednesday 5 June
Afternoon Tea in the Garden Watercolour

Thursday 6 June
Room with a View Watercolour

Wednesday 10 July
Portmeirion Watercolour
(an enchanting, colourful Italianate village on the coast of North Wales)

Thursday 11 July
A Tropical Sunset Watercolour

All of our classes cost £75 (apart from the Brusho class which costs £80)

The classes run from 9:30am - approximately 3pm

 The day includes all of your materials, refreshments throughout the day, a 2 course lunch and a glass of wine.

To book please email me:




Christmas Aga with Sarah Whitaker


Delicious and Festive

A great morning with Sarah and her Christmas recipes, ideas for the day itself and the days surrounding Christmas when you may be entertaining.

Plenty of top tips to do with ingredients, oven juggling, freezing and making ahead.


It's amazing what Sarah can achieve in 2.5 hours!

We had the turkey, roast potatoes, vegetables galore, a vegan curry, a rice dish, a vegetarian tart and 3 puddings!

The red cabbage below was delicious after it's simmer in mulled wine ....


The lighting of the Christmas Pud ...


After Sarah has finished, everyone enjoys a tasting lunch of all the food cooked along with some mulled wine.


Thanks to Sarah for another great Treetops Aga class.


Saturday 24 November 2018

Candlelit Yoga and Supper Evening


We had a a lovely Candlelit Yoga Supper Evening with Laura recently.

The room was really cosy and lit with candles whilst Laura led us through a gentle Yoga practice.

Supper was served mid-way through

Following that we snuggled under our duvets with warming eye masks for some blissful relaxation and sound meditation.

Laura is back for more evenings on:

Tuesday 29 January
Tuesday 26 February
Friday 22 March

The evenings run from 7pm to 9:30pm
£30



Thursday 15 November 2018

AromaYoga Evening with Rachel


Last night Rachel returned for another AromaYoga class, with the lights dimmed and the diffusers giving out a lovely sweet orange smell, we started off with a relaxation practice.

Rachel spoke to us about the evening's chosen oils which included bergamot, sweet orange, fir tree and lavender.

We followed a gentle hatha practice with some gentle stretches and introduced the pigeon pose, which was new to some.


After our savasana wrapped in cosy duvets with beautiful piano music playing we enjoyed some delicious nibbles.


Rachel will be back with us in early 2019




Winter Scene Watercolour



Some great snowy paintings from our Winter Scene Watercolour class this week










Tuesday 13 November 2018

The Autumn Trees at Westonbirt Arboretum


I had a lovely day yesterday strolling through Westonbirt Arboretum

Just an hour from Treetops with a £10 entry it was a perfect time to see the beautiful spread of autumn leaves.


My walk started on a high Tree Top Walkway which was a lovely way to start exploring the arboretum.  There are 600 acres altogether!

Westonbirt started in the Victorian times, with a wealthy landowner called Robert Holford who financed expeditions around the world to collect specimens from the natural world, wanting to find the exotic species, the rare and the beautiful.


By 1855 much of the arboretum had been laid out, aesthetically, not in plant groups or country groups, just in a stunning picturesque vision.


When he died, his son George continued to plant the trees and the many rhododendrons that people visit Westonbirt for every year.

In 1956 the whole 600 acres, 15,000 tree specimens, 2,500 species, 5 national tree collections and 142 champions were handed over to the Forestry Commission


Westonbirt has the National Japanese Maple collection (over 400 different types) which provided much of yesterday's colour.


Monday 12 November 2018

Watercolour Wildlife


Friday was all about Wildlife at Treetops

Our artists had a choice between Deers, Hares and Foxes.

Surrounded by gorgeous autumnal and wintery colours.


Great opportunity to get out my abundance of Hare things!



We had a lovely lunch of a light thai green curry followed by a delicious Millionaire's Shortbread Parfait.



Here is the Wildlife Gallery ...











Thursday 8 November 2018

Pen & Wash Winter Sunshine


We had a lovely Pen and Wash class today, sketching Sturminster Newton Mill, an old flour mill in Dorset.


The group started the morning with a light pencil sketch to position their Mill, weir and the walkway.

This was followed with permanent black pens to create tones.

A Watercolour wash was then added.  The paints had been mixed with alot of water to create tints of colour.

And from one Mill to another ......

Today we used paper from St Cuthberts Mill in Somerset,  Saunders Waterford 200lb 425gsm watercolour paper, which is the perfect weight and has a great surface for this technique.

St Cuthberts Mill has been making paper since the 1700's, taking advantage of the pure waters from the River Axe.  They manufacture high quality artists papers using one of the few remaining cylinder mould machines in the world.








And here are a few sketches to round off the day!





Thanks everyone for a great day.