Sometimes I just don’t feel like painting! What an admission, but maybe it’s not so much that I don’t want to paint, but a desire to so something else, equally creative, is stronger than the desire to paint and must be obeyed.

Hence I have been sorting out treasured scraps of fabric and have been sewing by both machine and by hand.

Left is a small bag I made from a piece of fabric which was with a book by Cath Kitson. Her fabrics have long been admired for there fresh colours and essentially English floral designs.

I also happened to have a large selection of scraps in the same vein and combining those with other bits I was able to make a large bag for carrying knitting, crochet or any other sewing delights.

This bag measures 42 cms wide and measures 50 cms from the ring handle to base. It is lined in a pretty candy pink stripe and the bits of plain blue fabric was cut from some linen trousers which had seen better days.

Watch out for 'dappled shade', as it can be tricky to work in,

I was asked to do a ‘Guest Blog’ for the excellent site, Facilitutors. Here is the link:

http://www.blog.facilitutors.com/

Facilitutors is a site where you can find a wide variety of courses all over France. You can search by subject, destination or a named venue.

I was asked to write about what I, as a tutor, looked for in a venue for a painting holiday. Really, it’s exactly what a potential client would be looking for, so take a look at the blog and check out what I think.

Hey, it’s the 30th of January and I may well have lunch on my terrace. Having said that it certainly goes jolly cold when the sun goes down so I’ll get the maid to light the fire middle of the afternoon.

Spring doesn’t feel that far away, there are catkins out in the hedgerows, fluffy bundles of fragrant mimosa in sheltered spots and even irises are making their annual debut. It really does make you feel like throwing open windows or better still getting the paintbox out and planning paintings, exhibitions and events for the year.

With that in mind I am offering an extra painting holiday break for those who want to have a go over the Easter weekend at Bigno Garrigo, here in Quarante.

SPECIAL EASTER WEEKEND BREAK: Friday April 6 – Monday April 9.

3 nights full board with two days tuition

Painter from 249 euros per person and non painters from 165 euros.

So why not check out your availability to join me. The countryside will be awash with colourful wild flowers, vineyards coming into leaf and picturesque villages stretching and yawning to welcome you to this marvellouis part of France.

Just give me a ring 00 33 4 99 57 16 63 and we can have a chat about your Easter break that will set you up for the year.

Every year I tell myself that I must do more exhibitions and enter some competitions.

Well, here is  an entry for my first competition, ‘Wildlife Artist of the Year 2012′ via the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation. It is done in watercolour and measure about 350 x 450 cms.

Whether I feel it is of a quality to win a prize or not is not important ( I tell myself ). I feel there are many other worth while reason for entering such things.

1 It gives you a brief that you have to adhere to.

2 It gives you a deadline.

3 It helps you to expand your portfolio and encourage you to explore subjects you don’t normally do.

Why don’t you let me know what other reasons you can come up with.

So, here it is and whatever the outcome, I enjoyed doing it and it will go towards a theme that I am exploring. ‘Water’. What are you exploring at the moment?

Every morning I say to myself – ‘another day in paradise, how can I make it better?’ Why? Because I think it is a responsibility as a human being to strive to fulfill your full potential.

It’s not always easy, in fact most of the time just standing still is difficult enough, but to continue to learn, improve and grow as both a person and an artist is my ‘mission statement’ and always will be. So this year is no exception, as I plan new painting events, explore new techniques and meet lots of budding artists who have made it their 2012 resolution to take up a new interest.

I have always said to develop a talent such as painting is a great gift as, no matter how old or infirm you might become, you’ll always be able to enjoy your painting.

If you can’t manage a full week, how about a short three break stay in Provence to paint the heady and fragrant lavender fields? There are plenty of flights to Avignon and I will sort out the accommodation for you. The dates have yet to be set, but they should be in late June.

So, no matter how gloomy the economy may be where ever you are, maybe you owe it to yourself to learn something new or develop an existing talent to set you in good stead for the years ahead.

I am offering painting holidays of varying lengths and at different locations. So keep an eye on my site and see what magic may be waiting in store for you.

Well, this picture sums up the fab week that we all had near Rousillon in Luberon. There were some of the ‘usual suspects’ attending along with a few new faces who soon blended in and we were learning and laughing together.

The weather was perfect. Fresh and crisp first thing, brilliant blue sky and then the temperature started to rise and the parasols had to go up. We were able to work outside all week. Awesome!

This was the first time we had got together in the autumn so we spent some time playing about with colours, painting turning leaves and working in very wet watercolours to achieve some fabulous effects.

They were enchanted by my recent grape and vine pictures and wanted to create their own. So they mixed colours and poured them onto the paper with gay abandon and waited for the sun to work the magic on the drying washes.

I hadn’t quite finished with this theme myself,  so I worked on another painting, this time with green grapes, as part of a demonstration.  I started with two very thin washes pouring lemon yellow and cerulean blue onto the paper and let it find it’s own way around. When it was dry I searched for blooms and marks that gave me the starting point for deciding where to put my leaves and grapes. This really is a question of letting the paint and the water lead you to your composition. This is all about working with the water and letting go of control, something that a lot of people find difficult.

The group are all moving ahead at a steady pace, learning and gradually coming out of their individual comfort zones (with gentle encouragement from me) to experiment.

There is one things that holds many people back and that is the limited belief they have with regard to experimenting. When I say something like, ‘the shadows need to be darker,’ the response is often, ‘ I’m frightened of spoiling it’. So they play safe by staying in the middle ‘values’ and often end up with a pleasant painting that could have been so much more eye-catching. This is just a question of confidence which can only come with knowledge and experience. If the finished picture is not as you would have liked it to be, don’t fret. The most important thing is to enjoy the process of the ‘doing’, the rest will come later.

The ‘vendange’ is in full swing here in the Languedoc, so I was inspired to put paint to paper and here are the results….so far.

It’s a fabulous time of the year. We are still blessed with big blue skies, heart warming sunshine and the happy feeling that the vines are giving up their heavy load to be turned into wine for us to enjoy. It’s a relationship, as is often the case, between mankind and nature.

Then when they have given up their voluptuous fruit, their leaves begin to change colour as they fall to the ground to help replenish the vines as they rest during the winter.

I pass vineyards everyday, and it keeps me in touch with the seasons and I marvel at the range of colours that both the leaves and the grapes can offer. From lime green to blackberry the process is a joy to behold, so I just had to get out the paint and have a go.

I wanted to express not just the colours but also that feeling juice,  sunshine and the sense that each row of vines stretches on and on with layer upon layer of leaves and fruit.

The first painting has a very light and translucent feel to it. Whereas the second one has a feeling of a heavy harvest, a dense growth revealing the gnarled twisted hard wood that has supported the grapes year after year.

The harvest goes on and I think, so will I. The magical process of working with watercolours layer upon translucent layer never ceases to give me an enormous amount of pleasure in the process of ‘the doing’

They both measure 350 cms x 450 cms and are worked in watercolour paints and pencils.

I love painting figs!

I picked these from a friend’s tree yesterday and didn’t waste any time getting paint and paper into action.

They were the second crop of the year and consequently a bit small, bit they were still bursting with colour and as I picked them, some split open exposing those fabulous juicy interiors.

It was partly the fact that they had split that made me want to give the effect of the brown paper coming out of the the pencilled frame area. Then I used the spattering technique to imply the seeds, flavour and juice exploding onto the paper.

Another reason for the watercolour pencilled frame is that I am looking at different ways of presenting watercolour paintings without a traditional mount. The paint area is 450 x 350 cms

Here’s another painting of figs that I did some time ago. I also did one with lttle purple figs, but I don’t seem to have a photo of it. Bother!

Sunflowers are happy flowers with beautiful uplifting shades of yellow and gold. How can you feel anything but happy painting them.

Apparently it is a myth that they turn their heads to follow the sun. I’m not sure about that, but I used the story to create this triptych. Each painting measures 100 by 50 cms and has a series of glazes over the flowers to enrich the colours and add interest.

The other triptych works in a different way, shape wise, and in this case has some flowers with bowed heads implying that they are waiting to be harvested.

The canvasses were selected to fit into the space available, but in both cases each painting could stand alone if the client wanted to have a change.

‘Art to Order’ is something I do for people who have a fixed idea about the colours and design that they want, but have not been able to find something ‘off the peg’ so to speak.

Contact me about your requirements: 00 33 (0) 4 99 57 16 63 or emailme@painting-holidays-france.com

I am still working on the commission for six large canvasses on the subject of sunflowers, but you can have too much of a good thing.

So, when someone sent me the picture of a label from an Italian tin of anchovies and suggested I could create a lively painting based on it, I just had to take up the challenge!

However, not having the actual object in front of me meant I had to do a bit of research to see how the the entire tin looked in order to plan my composition.

One of the interesting things that I discovered, was that the photo of the label had been reversed somewhere along the line, as the colours on the flag at the end of the tin were the wrong way round!

So I addressed this and used the Italian flag as a back drop and deliberately distorted the perspective to give it sense of humour. Anchovies being rather small.

I loaded it all with plenty of colour and hope the little tinkers look enticingly spicy in their tin with oil dripping over the sides. Isn’t it a pity that all these sort of tins now have ring pulls and not keys. I think using a key was easier and less messy. These chaps have a habit of resisting, then suddenly ripping loose squirting any liquid all over the place.

Bring back keys on tins of food!