Winter Scene Watercolour

The Christmassy classes have started! Yesterday was Claire's Winter Scene, this class is popular every year, as some happy artists like to turn their paintings into Christmas cards.

We had a beautiful misty scene to work from, where we needed to keep alot of our lights to create the sunlight shining through and mist rising from the ground. We also had the fun time of flicking masking fluid onto the paper to create our snowflakes.

After lunch, came the sheep! Considering how nervous everyone was, they all looked brilliant, they did look like sheep. Once the shadows were painted on and the masking fluid rubbed off the paintings really came alive.

Look out for Claire and her paintings this weekend at the St Gabriel's school Christmas Fair in Newbury. From 10.30am-3pm. There will be 80+ stalls in the Sports Hall and Theatre. www.stgabriels.co.uk.

Cameo Newbury's Watercolour Class

Last Friday, 8 parents from Cameo, Newbury's support group for parents and carers of children with a range of disabilities, came for a relaxing day of painting.

Claire had chosen water and skies which is always soothing to paint, it's always fun to see the sky colours merging together, you never quite know what you're going to end up with.

Some had painted before, and others were new to Watercolour, by the end of the day there were some fantastic paintings to take home.

2010 Watercolour Classes - Dates Announced!

Just announced ... the new Watercolour class dates with Claire Warner for 2010.

Wednesday 20 January - Art for Beginners

Friday 29 January - Banish the Winter Blues

Friday 5 Feburary - A French Scene

Wednesday 10 &
Thursday 11 February - Masterclass

Monday 8 March - Spring Flowers

Tuesday 16 March - Simply Venice

I hope there is something in there to suit you, if you are completely new to Watercolour or nervous about picking it up again, come on Wednesday 20 January, Claire takes you through a painting step by step, talks about different paints, brushes and paper. You will feel a real sense of achievement at the end.

The Masterclass in February is for intermediate and advanced painters; Claire likes to stretch this group, and having two days, she is able to take your skills furthers, for example in previous classes we have spent time studying and painting buildings and people in more depth.

The other classes are for any level of artist, because we keep the groups small, Claire can give everyone individual attention.

The classes run from 9.30am - approx 3pm and cost £65. This includes all your materials, so you only need bring yourself. Lunch, a glass of wine and refrehsments throughout the day are also included.

To book please call me 01635 44850 or email via the website. www.treetops-newbury.co.uk

Gift Vouchers are available and make great presents for Christmas.

Winter Exhibition at Barn Acre Gallery

I must mention a fantastic Exhibition that is being held in Wargrave from Friday 20th November until Sunday 6th December. (10am - 6pm daily with late opening til 8pm on Thursdays and Fridays).

Kirsten Jones, has a perfect gallery by the river and will be showing a selection of paintings, prints, ceramics, jewellery, stained glass and quirky objects by over 50 artists.

I discovered Kirsten's great paintings whilst in St Ives, and then realised she was practically local! I love her style, perhaps because she uses alot of pink?!

I can really recommend a trip over to Wargrave, there are cakes and coffee (and chickens wandering!) and you will find so many Christmas presents and plenty of inspiration.

For directions and more details visit her website www.barnacregallery.co.uk

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.

An Autumn Update

Beautiful colours are appearing everywhere, this is my favourite colour in the garden at the moment, bright pink inbetween the oranges, browns and greens.

Classes are booking up quickly for the remainder of the term, so I thought I would let you know how many spaces are available on each one, as of today:

Friday 16 October - Coastal Scenes = FULL

Monday 16 November - Winter Scene = 2 spaces left

Friday 20 November - Christmas Aga = 6 spaces left

Tuesday 24 November - Winter Scene = 3 spaces left

Tuesday 1 December - Christmas Flowers = 4 spaces left

Wednesday 2 December - Christmas Flowers = 2 spaces left

Hope to see you soon!

Watercolour Masterclass

Phew!! It was very stretching, this week's Masterclass. Claire was definitely pushing us to try new things and really tested our ability. There were quite a few moans and groans, stress and tension, but the beautiful sunshine and the large serving of Mary Berry's Divine White Chocolate Cheesecake definitely helped us!

The general idea of the two days, was painting dark into light, with negative painting included in that. We spent the first morning, pencilling our scene - a Market Place in France with "Mr and Mrs" eating their ice creams under a dark and shady stone archway.

The painting above shows where we were at after Day One; we had painted our first wash, windows, roof, archways etc. It all looked very soft and pale.

The painting below shows the finished painting. We spent Day 2, mixing a variety of dark browns, greens and creating blacks, to keep layering up our colour. The stone arch was actually bright orange to start with, which looked very scary! But we then put a dark glaze over the top and there was our stoney shade.

It was very hard to do the people, that is a class in itself I think!


Here is a row of the finished paintings, mounted, looking very professional. (If you click on the photographs, in theory they should appear larger in a new window on your computer).



Below is everyone hard at work! It was a great two days, we all left with a huge sense of achievement. Claire taught us so many new techniques and skills, we definitely felt we'd had a Masterclass!