Newsletter New Art Class on a Thursday and other news

National Portrait Gallery.....

Trying to get my moneys worth from my art fund I went along to the Michael Jackson exhibition "On the wall" with my friend. After a long summer doing kids things it was great to get out and feed the soul on art and great company. It was an emotional exhibition that leads you on a rollercoaster of feelings from sadness, heartache, curiousity to sheer joy with laugh out loud exhibits. 
Here were my highlights...

As we were at The National Portrait Gallery we popped in to see this years BP Portrait Award which never disappoints. The paintings were beautiful. The first one that greets you was amazing and looked so photographic you can't even see any brush strokes! 
Here were some of my favourites....

Fantastic Summer......

My kids love taking pictures and then going through them and looking back at what we've done. So it was lovely looking back at what we got up to at the summer, I'll spare you the hundreds of selfies they take of each other : ) I'm always taking pictures to inspire my work, here's some of my favourites from our local park, Thetford, St.Osyth and finally the Loire Valley. Can't wait to get planning and painting.....

It makes my life look idyllic which it really isnt! My daughter was so scared and fightened from the mannequins at the Sleeping Beauty Castle (Chateau d'Usse) that taking pictures of flowers in the garden was the only thing to calm her down. Note to self, do not take her to Madame Tussauds : )

Royal Academy Summer Exhibition.....

At the beginning of July I bought myself a 3month art pass and started off by visiting the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition. I've not been in years and so loved it. I felt the work was split between 2 moods, the playful and funny, just like Grayson Perry who was the main curator this year and the romantically beautiful. See if you can guess the category in the work below : )

The photos dont really do them justice, they were far more beautiful in real life.

The birch trees above and the hydrangea below were amazingly realistic watercolour paintings.

 This rock face was also watercolour and had the most amazing colours. 

Who thought a bin bag could be so attractive : ) I remember the artist Chris Stevens saying there is always beauty in the mundane, so true!

Fiona Rae's work was beautiful and brought back lots of memories from when I first saw her work at the Sensation exhibition when I was 18 along with the other Young British Artists (maybe not so young now though!).

I fell in love with the prints of Norman Ackroyd whilst I was there, they reminded me of many family holidays to the coast. 

It was a great day out and definitely inspired me to enter next year. I love the soft romantic feeling of the paintings which is what I'm going to start working on next. If you're feeling like you've always wanted to enter and are a bit nervous, go for it and fingers crossed we get through : )

My first newsletter.....

There's a slight chill in the air, the leaves are starting to fall and my daughter keeps coming home with pocketfuls of conkers.....It can only mean one thing... yep... the Autumn art classes are about to begin and I cant wait to get creative with you all again!

Here's a few pictures from my last sessions of the summer term where we get adventurous and go plein air..... it was so roasting we had to hunt for shade for fear of over heating : )

This was the from my Drawing and Painting class up near Havering-atte-Bower at the back of the Green and the horses stables. It was recommended from a learner (thank you Terry) as one of his favourite walks and I can see why, it is absolutely beautiful. If you want to get inspired by nature definitely head up there for breath taking views and you might be as lucky as us to have the horses wondering past.

Here's the watercolour class enjoying the views and shade of Hornchurch Country Park. It was so lovely down by the river where it was cooler than in the centre, glorious.....

There's something magical about drawing and painting outside, almost like a Cinderella moment as chicks swim past, dragonflies dance in front of you and the birds sing. Definitely good for the soul. If you havent tried it I would definitely recommend it.