A Room with a View Watercolour

Our 'Room with a View' Watercolour class had some lovely images from St Ives in Cornwall.

We were looking at images taken from a higher view, a different perspective to paint from and a useful technique to learn if you are on holiday with your sketchbook.

The images here are when dawn is breaking in St Ives over the town and church

There are some beautiful skies here produced by some very clever washes and a lovely perspective of looking down on the town and tops of trees

These two are of the harbour, looking down into the bay, at this perspective you catch the sea behind the pier and the houses which is a lovely addition to the painting.

Classes Galore!

We've been so busy with classes recently, mix that in with a new phone (learning how to transfer photos over to the computer!) and a family wedding, I'm afraid I've got slightly behind on blogging our classes.  

So to follow will be a summary of our recent classes which consisted of Watercolour, Papercutting and Free From Cookery

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Claire and I had ran a Sunday Watercolour class for the first time and our theme was St Ives Harbour, the pictures were amazing, it was a long day, Claire included so many techniques!

Lucy returned to run a Personalised Papercutting Class, this was great as everyone had sent Lucy the names and celebrations they wanted on their cards and Lucy prepared the templates before the class.

We had a delicious lunch of Spring Risotto with wild garlic, and slow roasted tomatoes with toasted seeds.

Painting Holiday in St Ives with Claire Warner

There are spaces available this July to join Claire in stunning St Ives.

Claire will be running a week's painting holiday in this gorgeous Cornish harbour town.

For further details please contact her via her website:

Creative Painting Holidays

She's chosen a hotel in a great location with views and has some wonderful things planned for the week.  In your free time there are some amazing galleries to visit and of course the Tate on Porthmeor Beach.

Acrylics - Seascape

Another wonderfully mellow day with sunshine at Treetops.

Today, Claire showed us Acrylics with texture.

We painted a seascape taken from Porthmeor Beach in St Ives, with the waves crashing against the rocks.

Having painted the sky, sea and sand with only flat brushes, we then used texture modelling paste to create the rocks and swirling frothy waves that crash onto the beach.  This can be done with either a palette knife or fingers. 

The paste takes a while to dry, so we left it to work it's magic whilst we had lunch.

To achieve a lovely smooth finish, especially on our skies we used another product called liquifying medium, this gives a really good fluidity to the paint.

We used some great colours, and did alot of mixing, if you look carefully amongst the rocks, you will see aubergines, reds, yellows, greens.  They may have been rocks, but there were parts in the sunshine, parts covered in seaweed, mussels and limpets, we really needed to give them some texture.

Towards the end we went back into the sea to create some waves and colour, which really brought the paintings to life.

Then for my favourite part, flicking with toothbrushes!

Perfect for creating spray at the crashing wave moment!

This gorgeous blue painting was done by one our ladies of the beautiful sea in Madeira.

I need a trip to the seaside now .....

Latest News from Treetops

We are back from St Ives, it was as beautiful as ever, the sun shone on the first two days, but that was it, grey, drizzle, wet, misty, downpours for evermore after that!

Stormy Seas, one of our Autumn Watercolour Classes, is proving very popular, with only 2 places left, so if you want to check your diary it is on Wednesday 6 October, fom 9.30am - 3pm.

There are spaces left on our new Watercolour Class on Wednesday 22 September, which is titled "A Newbury Scene", this will be a great class, Claire has painted some stunning Newbury scenes, the canal, locks, old buildings etc.

Arty Beginners, be brave and join a small group on Tuesday 21st September, when Claire will teach you everything to get you started; she will cover, paints, brushes, paper, brush strokes and you will be amazed at the finished painting you will take home with you ... all your own work!

The Cupcake Classes are filling up, there are spaces in October on Friday the 1st and Thursday the 14th, both classes are from 10am - 12 noon and cost £45.

I'm doing some special Christmas Cupcake Classes, with spaces available on Monday 8 November, Monday 22 and Tuesday 23 November. There are 3 spaces left on the SATURDAY class on 4 December (2pm - 4pm).

Festive Flowers has 3 spaces remaining on Wednesday 8 December, so hurry, even if you can't bear to think about Christmas, the spaces will have gone when you do!!

Our Christmas Aga class with Sarah Whitaker is currently half full, this is held on Friday 26 November from 9.45m - 1.30pm.

I think that's enough updating for now. If you need any further information give me a call or check the website www.treetops-newbury.co.uk

A Summer Scene - St Ives

A Happy Bunch of Artists!

Today we painted my favourite place - St Ives!

It was a hot hot day, we would have preferred to be there I think.

There was alot of paint mixing today, some glazing, perspective and the lighthouse ..... too big too small, too wonky - it's funny how the little things can sometimes take ages to get right.

The paintings looked lovely in our gallery at the end, showing beautiful colours as the tide sweeps into the harbour.

That was our last Watercolour class for the term. We start again in September.

Wed 21 Sept - Beginners Watercolour
Thurs 22 Sept - A Newbury Scene
Wednesday 6 Oct - Stormy Seas
Thursday 21 Oct - Autumn Colours
Tuesday 16 November - A Winter Scene
Wednesday 17 November - A Winter Scene

Please contact me to book a space.

Coastal Scenes - Watercolour

A brilliantly successful day! We had a full class of 8 yesterday, from beginners to experienced, and this included 5 different paintings being attempted, so Claire was kept on her toes!

We painted crashing rocks in St Ives, Coastal Path in Dorset, Perranporth Bay, a Hampshire beach and a harbour in Southern Ireland, quite a mix!

We mixed some lovely blues for the skies and seas, used plenty of masking fluid for our splashes and reflections and whether or not it was the topic itself it did create such a relaxing day.

Being a seaside day, we had to have fish for lunch and a scattering of seashells on the table!

Claire and I will shortly be deciding on our Spring 2010 dates, useful for both planning and thinking of Christmas Gift Vouchers. If you have any topics you would like to see covered, do email and let me know.