There's still some places....

 if you fancy coming along to get creative.....

It was a bit sad this week...

as it was my last session of a 10 week Painting and Drawing class. We had loads of fun and maybe a few hard moments where I pushed them to be creative but the outcomes were amazing. Here are a few pictures of the things we covered. Next term I'm going to take pictures of their amazing work too, if they'll let me : )

One of my most favourite sessions was using ink. We tried a variety of media from coffee stirrers to feathers and dip pens. The marks you can achieve with Ink is very satisfying and free.

Portraits are always hard but the students did amazingly, again I wish I had taken photos of their final pieces! This is my daughter, drawing someone you love is very hard as you become extra critical, but apart from looking like she's wearing lippy and mascara I was really pleased with it. I just need to do my other daughter now!

Then we moved onto painting with acrylic in a traditional style, then onto mixed media with gel medium and finally onto oil paints.

I painted this for my friend who has just moved into a new house. Again I had great fun with a squeegee, roller and finally using a palette knife to paint with. We're going to cover palette knife painting on the next course partly because it was requested but mainly because it's so enjoyable.

We start the new 10 week course next Wednesday and I am really looking forward to it. It's great that most of the learners are carrying on especially as their work continues to grow and improve (I feel like a proud mother hen!) so I cant wait to see what they create next. It's amazing when students start the course declaring that they can't draw or paint and end up finishing with works of art that I would love to have on my wall! 

So if you're interested in coming along it's a lovely, fun and relaxed afternoon at Havering Adult College, Bower Park every Wednesday from 12-2.30pm. Click here for full details if you fancy joining onto our next course.

Watercolour class what we've been up to.....

This year I was excited to start a new 10 week watercolour class at Havering Adult College. So far we're half way through and I thought I'd share what we've been up to.

We started off with a simple landscape image.....

 Then we looked at a tonal study, this was taken from a trip to New Zealand. I love derelict buildings and this was a great example. Painted in Payne's Grey, my new favourite colour to use.

We then took a limited palette to complete a tree. The great thing with watercolour painting is the different effects you can use. I love wet on wet backgrounds where the colours blend beautifully. Then using a dry brush for images and layering different colours.

We had some fun experimenting with wax resists the salt technique. 

And more fun with masking fluid and the alcohol technique.....

After half term we're going to look at an architectural detail using a photo I took of St.Paul's. Sometimes the hardest thing with art is knowing when to stop. I started this painting with loose wet on wet colours blending into one another and I loved the effect but then I kept going, adding more and more detail.

So I went back and started again with a loose sketchy style which I love.

If you like the look of what we're up to and want to come and have a go the next course is on 19th April. Click here for more details.
If it looks a bit complicated, not to worry as I break down every image step by step and demonstrate all the techniques so anyone can attempt it from complete beginners to those wanting to brush up their skills.

Watercolour class.....

Last year I was lucky enough to teach some art classes for Havering Adult College which I am absolutely loving. I have a Tuesday morning watercolour class at the Bower Park Centre and we started off experimenting with Brusho. 

I loved playing with all the colours and here some of the results. If you've never experimented with Brusho it is great fun as you literally watch the colours explode on your paper, however because of this you can't really control them and you never know what you're going to end up with. This can either be exciting if you go with the flow or a little frustrating if you had an idea in your head of how you wanted it to go.

We also did a simple seascape image, this was taken at Holywell Bay in Cornwall where we had an amazing holiday in the summer. It definitely brings back happy memories when I see this.....

We also attempted a country landscape image....

And to finish the course, just in time for Christmas we painted a festive little robin. The other students finished theirs with backgrounds and the snowy log he was stood on which completed the picture so when I get the chance I shall take inspiration from the students and try to finish him maybe in time for next Christmas!

When teaching art it's amazing to see the creativity in the classroom and the fact that everybody's work looks completely different as they add their own styles and interpretations. I was really proud of what they achieved especially as most had not picked up a paintbrush since they were a child. I'll try to get some pictures of their amazing work to share.

Autumn sensory bowl......

I saw a sensory bowl on the Imagination Tree, which is an amazing site for children's activities, and thought it was a brilliant idea to put the endless amount of leaves, sticks and conkers that my girls collect every day.

I added food colouring to salt, perhaps not the best idea as we all ended up with orange hands : )
Then I got the girls to add all of their found items from our latest nature walk. The bit they enjoyed the most was writing and drawing on the leaves and conkers. The Montessori side of early years teaching is to do letters and numbers which we did but they loved drawing monster faces on the conkers the most. Perhaps not the most educational but definitely the funniest! I had a white sharpie in my art drawer which was perfect for the conkers. It's very addictive and fun for both little fingers and big!

Eloise with her proud work of art.....
 

They loved it and it still sits in pride of place on our table. 

Come and learn feltmaking.....

Here's the full details for my feltmaking course for Havering Adult College...

I'm really looking forward to it!

Experimenting with felt.....

Unfortunately my felt making class has been postponed until November. So bad news for the people that wanted to start now but good news for anyone still wanting to sign up and have a go. 

So the new start date is now November 5th, yes bonfire night so we may even get a sparkly show outside the window as we felt! It's a 6 week course every Thursday evening at the Bower Park centre at Havering Adult College from 7-9pm. To book call 01708 434 955 or email enquiries-adultcollege@havering.gov.uk, quoting felt making or course code BE43204. 
 I've been playing around manipulating the felt and I have to admit this is my favourite thing to do with felt. As it's an old craft that's re-emerging there are some amazing new and exciting things you can do with the felt.So here's what I've made:

Weaving with strips of pre-felt:

Creating spikes:

Using circle resists: (love this Scandinavian colours)

Making a sushi roll: (I also kept some of these for beads to use as a necklace)

Using a moon resist and strings:

Creating craters with double resists:

Creating more craters with marbles and glass beads: (boy was this one heavy to felt and took a little more elbow grease but it was worth it!)

If you like the look of these and fancy giving it a go then come along to the class and i'll show you how. If you have something specific in mind you wish to create I can also show you how to do it.