Bluebells, Bluebells, Bluebells!

Wednesday morning started very misty, the Bluebells looked so bright when I went down to the woods, surrounded by grey and mist.

Our Bluebell watercolour classes have always been very popular, and if you click on the index on the right, you will see photographs from our past Bluebell classes.

Today's class was just for Beginners, and a few people who came back to us and used it as a Refresher class.  These classes involve a much longer introduction to the paints, papers, brushes, and plenty of time to play and experiment with mixing and creating colours before starting the painting.

Here are the amazing works of art from our Beginners!

The group managed to paint beautiful trees, they are very tricky to shade, position and look real, but the woodlands here with their meandering paths were very atmospheric.

The sun come out, it was a beautiful day and the blossoming wisteria smelt divine.

Our lovely artists!

Cricket on the Green Watercolour

Today's Watercolour Class with Claire was Cricket on the Green.

 

We had an experienced group in today, so Claire had put together a painting full of things to challenge us, the first thing was getting the drawing angle and perspective correct on the cricket square.

We spent quite a long time on our drawings!

There were aspects we could add or take away, it was our own picture to create, so some added a village square in the background, more trees, fence etc  

Most people were very worried about the people.

Claire demonstrated her 'peas and carrots' theory, so we could get the ratios right, we used masking fluid to keep them white whilst we applied our washes.

We finished our cricketers with shadow, shading, hair and hats, they looked fantastic!

Not everyone managed to finish, it was a long day!  The two paintings below are almost done. 

One of our artists had bought along a photograph of a cricket green special to them, so it was lovely to see it coming to life. 

Aga - A Taste of Spain

We had Sarah Whitaker, the Aga Lady, here today, for a class entitled "A Taste of Spain".

Full of lovely flavours and ingredients, in particular saffron, chorizo, thyme, spanish olive oil .....

In the photo above Sarah is whizzing a delicious Gazpacho Andaluz.

Below is a sizzling Tortilla straight out of the Aga.

All the recipes showed how to make the most of your Aga, whether it was frying, simmering or grilling.

The most popular dish was Lentejas, a spicy Lentil Stew, this had fiery chorizo in it, some serrano ham, red wine and many other ingredients that happily simmered away infusing in the simmering oven whilst lunch was being prepared.

My favourite was Saffron Chicken, we also had Paella, a Galician style fish stew and a yummy Sofrito (tomato sauce), which went very nicely with the Tortilla.

The pudding was a big oozy Caramel Custard .......

We advertise the Aga classes as including a "tasting lunch" but as you can see, there is alot to taste!  Nobody leaves hungry!

Thanks Sarah for a great day.

Happy Easter - Latest News

Happy Easter Everyone, I hope you are all enjoying a lovely long weekend.

Classes recommence next week, starting with;

Aga - A Taste of Spain with Sarah Whitaker

There are a few places remaining, the class runs from 9.45am - 1.30pm and covers all the Aga techniques you need to know for successful Aga cooking, along with new ideas, tops tips and some delicious recipes.  After Sarah's demonstration we enjoy a great tasting lunch of all the food cooked.  There is plenty of opportunity to ask Sarah your Aga questions, buy her books and find some useful items in her travelling shop.

The class costs £65, to book please contact me asap.

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The following week we welcome Claire Warner back for our popular Watercolour classes.

There are spaces available on:

Cricket on the Green - Tuesday 29 April

9.30am - approx 3pm

£70

(this includes all of your materials, a 2 course lunch and a glass of wine)

Further on in the term, we have:

Friday 6 June - A Lazy Day on the Thames

Wednesday 2 July - Summer in the Med (feat. Boats)

Thursday 3 July - Summer Sunshine

We hope to see you soon

Emily, Sarah and Claire.

A Windy Seascape Watercolour Class

Back to the paint palettes today for another Windy Painting class, today we focussed on Seascapes.

We spent time applying masking fluid and also some fantastic texture paste for the rocks.

Like yesterday's class, we had to think about movement with each brush stroke.

Our first wash involved putting an orange and yellow sky to create some lovely "lights", then later on once it had dried, we went over the top with darker blue and purple shades, but alllowed some of our lights to peep through.  It was a really good effect.

After lunch we worked on our waves, very tricky!

The colours we used today were great, especially the blues and greens that we mixed for the seas.

Bookings are being taken for next term.

A Windy Day Watercolour Class

We had a lovely day today painting Windy pictures.

As we painted we always had to think of movement and direction. 

The colours and details are great on these paintings.

You can feel this man pushing himself into the wind and rain.

Lindsey from Newbury based "The White Horse Flower Company made these beautiful flowers for the lunch table, I just gave her the brief "Windy"!

We are looking forward to Windy Seascapes tomorrow!

Summer Term Watercolour dates announced .....

Here are our Summer Watercolour dates:

Tuesday 29 April

Cricket on the Green

Wednesday 30 April

Beginners Bluebells

Wednesday 21 May

A Celebration of Sunlight (Andalucia)

Friday 6 June

A Lazy Day on the Thames

Wednesday 2 July

Summer in the Med (Boats)

Thursday 3 July

Summer Sunshine (Landscape)

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

All of our art classes cost £70, this covers all of your materials, including high quality paper, a 2 course home-cooked lunch with a glass of wine and refreshments throughout the day.

Booking details can be found

here