Abstracting the landscape This term we looked at famous abstract artists and their landscape paintings. We discussed how to abstract the landscape by taking away some of what we see and simplifying what we see. It is much harder to do this than it looks because to paint an abstract one has to make decisions as to what to take out and to keep that which is important in terms of pattern and colour. It is much easier to paint figuratively as we soon found out. We started with an exercise. We divided a large page into six squares and looking at a photo of a landscape we found the big shapes which we drew with a black marker pen. Next we used one of these drawings and using a big brush and a very restricted palette of just two colours, yellow and blue plus paynes grey and white we painted another page of six small abstracts. Big bold brush marks was our aim!By the end of the term we were all exhausted by the effort of all those decisions but we felt the term had been worthwhile and we should be able to take away the idea that we do not have to copy exactly what we see when painting using a photo or when painting from life.

A day by the river This summer has been gloriously hot and dry so has been perfect for outdoor painting. My two groups have had a break from formal classes over the summer so instead we have been meeting up most weeks to paint somewhere nice. One outing was to Nunney Castle on a very hot day where we found shady places along the moat path. We generally bring packed lunches and enjoy the opportunity to catch up on news and compare notes on our painting struggles. I always find picnics delicious though mine are basic - a marmite sandwich and a marmalade sandwich for pudding -  perfect, however you may not agree! I also go outdoor painting most weeks with a group from the Frome Art Society. We go both to private gardens and to gardens open to the public all around the Frome area, in Wiltshire and in Somerset. Painting outdoors with easel, paints and all the assorted kit is always challenging. Often there is a wind which blows stuff around and dries out paint very quickly and the light changes, of course, as the sun (if there is a sun) moves across the sky. This also changes and moves shadows.  An outdoor painting should take only around an hour and a half to complete before the light and shadows have changed too much. Nunney Castle Moat One day we met at Rode Manor where there was a pretty little leat flowing into a large pond.  The work below was painted from the middle of a narrow bridge over this leat with wide gaps between the planks. No sooner had I got all set up, than the legs of my easel  fell through a crack and the whole lot, palette, brushes and easel, fell over the edge and…

This summer term the group focused on painting Contre Jour. This (as you will probably know), means Against the Light in French. We looked at famous artists' work such as Sorolla, Pierre Bonnard, and Walter Sickert who painted dramatic light-infused masterpieces using Contre Jour. Also we studied works by the contemporary artists David Hockney and David Curtis. Looking into the light softens the edges of objects between the viewer and the Sun, and casts rich, dark, interesting shadows towards the viewer.  Working Contre Jour makes a notable difference to shapes and colours, softening edges and lightening as it catches the tops of rounded shapes. It was very good practice for colour mixing which everyone finds tricky and which is a most important skill to try to understand and improve. We tried to get as much colour into our shadows as into the lit areas, finding some lovely, rich, dark purples, blues and greys. We found Contre Jour to be a rewarding topic and the technique is one we will return to in the future, I am sure. My painting here shows one of my grandsons excitedly heading towards the rock pools with his shrimping net one evening on the Dorset coast.

Come and meet our amazing artists — Bridget Beattie, Hayley Cove, Pamela Lea and Hilary McFarland! Welcome to Venue 14 of the 2025 Wylye Valley Art Trail. It's a great chance to chat with the artists! Discover the stories behind their creations, and possibly snap up a piece of original art that inspires you. We can't wait for you to join us!

This January and February the Paint4Fun group worked on portraits. We started the term with sketching a loose portrait in charcoal while we learned the basic proportions of the face. It is surprising to note that eyes are positioned halfway down the face. A common beginner mistake is to draw eyes too high up, also tempting we found, to make eyes too big. We painted a portrait using just one colour plus white. This is called a Grisaille painting. Next we looked at how to get skin tones using a restricted colour palette. It is easier to use just a few carefully selected colours because there are simple mixing choices. The paints we used were red, yellow ochre, black and white. This is known as the Zorn palette as it was made famous by Anders Zorn (Swedish Artist 1860 - 1920) whose beautiful portraits were painted with these colours. In this palette of colours there is no blue, but we found that a surprisingly blue effect can be achieved with grey when juxtapositioned with warm tones such as red or orange. Also a very nice (if muted) green comes from mixing yellow ochre with black. All in all it was an interesting and enjoyable topic and gave us a chance for a few welcome hours each week to forget the wintery weather outside.

An educational celebration of the Wylye River is taking place in the Kingfisher Gallery on the beautiful Langford Lake Nature Reserve during August 2024. The festival kicks off with an opening night on Thursday 8th with demonstrations and talks. Information and tickets for this evening event from https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/bathspalive/the-wylye-river-ancient-landscapes/e-rlrorv  The exhibition is open and free to visitors Wednesday to Sunday until 25th August. Do come and enjoy exploring the nature reserve and then browse a fascinating display of the history of the river, from an ecological, cultural and historical perspective. Included is an exhibition of original artworks in all media; relating to the river.  Oh and there is a cafe onsite!

The Paint4Fun Group winter term of 2024 started in early January with an enthusiastic focus on the Impressionists. We looked at a famous artist each week. We started with Constable and Turner who were an inspiration to Impressionists and who are seen as pioneers of Modern Art. Interestingly we discovered that both artists died some 20 years before Impressionism emerged. Constable and Turner used broad brush strokes and rough (almost violent) movement of paint. They added energy and emotion using vibrant colour.  They were the first artists to paint 'en plein air,' taking their paints, easels and equipment outside. Before this only drawing and watercolour were used out of doors.  Here are some of my paintings below which were copied from Impressionists' famous works using their brushwork techniques and using a similar palette wherever possible. 'Suffolk Church', after John Constable 'Snow Storm Steamboat,' after JMW Turner The group then studied Pissarro, then Renoir and finally Van Gogh. We discovered that working outdoors (without the benefit of a camera!) there was not much time to capture fleeting moments of reality before it passed before the Impressionists' eyes. They focused on the effects of natural light upon the landscape and sought to make an impression of the scene in front of them rather than seeking realism. Impressionists usually painted using limited palette of vibrant, bright clear colours and they avoided browns, black and muted muddy colours. The group enjoyed copying some of each artists' best known paintings using techniques such as choppy short brush strokes and vibrant colours. 'Haycart' after Camille Pissarro 'Boating on the Seine' after Pierre August Renoir 'Wheat field with Crows' after Vincent Van Gogh All in all this was a most interesting and enjoyable term. As much as anything we enjoyed researching the artists' works and lives and learning about…

Paint4Fun Group this Autumn term focused on painting still lifes with a limited palette. We started the term with a simple subject, an egg and eggcup. Next session was onions on a wooden board and finally a still life with a white jug. White we discovered is actually many subtle tones from quite surprisingly dark to the brightest highlights. We struggled with the electric lights in the village hall to get light coming from one direction and this made shadows difficult to gage. Some students found it useful to take a photo first with the electric lights off, with light coming from one direction only. They used this image as a reference to help decide lights and darks before painting the objects on the table. All good practice!

This summer has gone very fast. The garden has got away from me again, every year it happens.. We have three new rescue hens who have been laying well, lovely dark brown eggs.  I wanted to continue my reduced palette work with just red, yellow, black plus white. This still life of two eggs and an eggcup was made using just these colours. I think it makes for a rich but muted tone where colours are harmonic.