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Archives for July 2017

Sue’s sketches capture another magical painting week

25 Jul By
Painting by Sue Ford, a tutor at The Watermill at Posara painting holidays/vacations, Tuscany, Italy.

Monterosso in the Cinque Terre, from Sue Ford’s sketchbook

Our delightful painting tutor Sue Ford has just sent me some wonderful pages from her sketchbooks which capture the atmosphere of some of the glorious locations we visit on our Watermill painting weeks. Thank you Sue.

Sue will not be back with us until 2019, but we have many other inspiring painting tutors who will help you create your own memories of this unspoilt corner of beautiful Tuscany  — and we have a very special offer for you if you book before the beginning of this September.

Painting by Sue Ford, a tutor at The Watermill at Posara painting holidays/vacations, Tuscany, Italy.

Verrucola castle, from Sue Ford’s sketchbook

We won’t actually be publishing details of our 2018 courses on our website until 1 September this year –it is too confusing. But for those who want to book before that, our offer is: you can have a place on any of our 2018 painting courses at 2017 prices. Please email me at bill@medialliance.net if you would like to reserve your place.

Here’s the list of the 2018 painting courses so far:

28 Apr-5 May 2018 Painting course Paul Talbot-Greaves

12-19 May 2018 Painting course (possible) Trevor Lingard

19-26 May 2018 Painting course Maggie Renner Hellmann

26 May-2 Jun 2018 Painting course Sandra Strohschein 1

2-9 Jun 2018 Painting course Sandra Strohschein 2

9-16 Jun 2018 Painting course Sarah Yeoman 1

16-23 Jun 2018 Painting course Sarah Yeoman 2

7-14 Jul 2018 Painting course Terry Jarvis

1-8 Sep 2018 Painting course Rebecca Mendonça

8-15 Sep 2018 Painting course Mike Willdridge

15-22 Sep 2018 Painting course Claire Warner

6-13 Oct 2018 Painting course Vicki Norman

Painting by Sue Ford, a tutor at The Watermill at Posara painting holidays/vacations, Tuscany, Italy.

Doorway sketch, from Sue Ford’s sketchbook

Most artists, yoga teachers and authors have their own websites, so you can see what they do by Googling them!

And if you want to see what we are doing in 2017, please go to www.watermill.net.

You can see details of our bedrooms and their 2017 prices at http://watermill.net/painting-holidays/painting-holidays-costs17.php. The costs for knitting, writing and yoga weeks are the same. These prices will apply to any 2018 course if you book before 1 September 2017.

Be an extra-early Early Bird and spend a year dreaming of your Watermill holiday!

Painting by Maggie Renner Hellmann, a tutor at The Watermill at Posara painting holidays/vacations, Tuscany, Italy.

A quick acrylic sketch by Watermill tutor Maggie Renner Hellmann

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Get in early to bag the best places in 2018!

21 Jul By

Mill courtyard

As I mentioned yesterday, we’ve only  three places left on  all our Watermill 2017 creative courses, and now we are taking bookings for our 2018 season! We already have 60 or so people booked in for NEXT year — and we’ve a remarkable offer for those who want to be sure of a place on their favourite course and book a year or so ahead.

We won’t actually be publishing details of our 2018 courses on our website until 1 September this year –it is too confusing. But for those who want to book before that, our offer is: you can have a place on any of our 2018 creative courses at 2017 prices. Please email me at bill@medialliance.net if you would like to reserve your place.

Here’s the list of courses so far:

28 Apr-5 May 2018 Painting course Paul Talbot-Greaves

5-12 May 2018 Knitting course Sarah Hatton 1

12-19 May 2018 Knitting course Sarah Hatton 2

19-26 May 2018 Painting course Maggie Renner Hellmann

26 May-2 Jun 2018 Painting course Sandra Strohschein 1

2-9 Jun 2018 Painting course Sandra Strohschein 2

9-16 Jun 2018 Painting course Sarah Yeoman 1

16-23 Jun 2018 Painting course Sarah Yeoman 2

23-30 Jun 2018 Yoga course Dina Sheldon

30 Jun-7 Jul 2018 Italian language course

7-14 Jul 2018 Painting course Terry Jarvis

14-21 Jul 2018 Knitting course Marie Wallin

18-25 Aug 2018 Sculpture course Jason Arkles

25 Aug-1 Sep 2018 Yoga course Claire Murphy

1-8 Sep 2018 Painting course Rebecca Mendonça

8-15 Sep 2018 Painting course Mike Willdridge

15-22 Sep 2018 Painting course Claire Warner

22-29 Sep 2018 Writing course Jo Parfitt

29 Sep-6 Oct 2018 Knitting course Lisa Richardson

6-13 Oct 2018 Painting course David Taylor

Most artists, yoga teachers and authors have their own websites, so you can see what they do by Googling them!

And if you want to see what we are doing in 2017, please go to www.watermill.net.

You can see details of our bedrooms and their 2017 prices at http://watermill.net/painting-holidays/painting-holidays-costs17.php. The costs for knitting, writing and yoga weeks are the same. These prices will apply to any 2018 course if you book before 1 September 2017.

Be an extra-early Early Bird and spend a year dreaming of your Watermill holiday!

The Watermill at Posara for painting, sculpting, knitting, creative writing, Italian language and yoga, holidays/vacations, Tuscany, Italy.

Aphrodite kidnapped. A bust of the goddess, normally in the Watermill sitting room, placed artistically in the walled garden.

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Only three places left for the whole of our 2017 courses. Why not make one of them yours?

19 Jul By

Painting by Doranne Alden, a tutor at The Watermill at Posara painting holidays/vacations, Tuscany, Italy.We’ll soon be completing the first half of our 2017 season and looking forward to the second half starting at the end of August. We have had a bumper year of bookings and most of our courses are fully booked (there’s a waiting list in case of unforeseen cancellations), but we still have three places left, two on Claire Murphy‘s relaxing and invigorating yoga course and one on Tim Wilmot‘s inspiring watercolour course. Why not make on of those places yours? We’d love to welcome you here.

And if you are keen on a course already booked, let us know and we’ll put you on the waiting list.

Here are the remaining courses:

mark plus pic

Mark Warner Fully booked, waiting list open
22 July to 29 July 2017
Acrylics/Watercolours incorporating conte/pastel
To learn more about Mark, his course at the mill and to see more of his pictures, please click here.

 

varvara plus pixVarvara Neiman Fully booked, waiting list open
26 August to 2 September 2017
Water-based oils, acrylics and watercolour
To learn more about Varvara, her course at the mill and to see more of her pictures, please click here.

 

mike plus picMike Willdridge Fully booked, waiting list open
2 September to 9 September 2017
Watercolours and drawing (also gouache and acrylics with an emphasis on sketching and drawing on location)
To learn more about Mike, his course at the mill and to see more of his pictures, please click here.

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Claire plus pic9 -16 September Nourish — mind, body and soul 

with Claire Murphy Two places left

To learn more about Claire and her retreat at The Watermill, please click here

 

 

Nel plus picNel Whatmore & Rebecca de Mendonça
Fully booked, waiting list open
23 September to 30 September 2017
Pastels
To learn more about Nel & Rebecca, their course and to see more of their pictures, please click here.

 

charles plus picCharles Sluga Fully booked, waiting list open
30 September to 7 October 2017
Watercolours (and acrylics and oils)
To learn more about Charles, his course at the mill and to see more of his pictures, please click here.

 

Tim plus picTim Wilmot One place left
7 October to 14 October 2017
Watercolours
To learn more about Tim, his course at the mill and to see more of his pictures, please click here.

 

Don’t miss out: grab yourself a place!Watermill lost in the wonderful scenery

 

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Another memory of a wonderful painting week with Maggie

9 Jul By

Painting by Maggie Renner Hellmann, a tutor at The Watermill at Posara painting holidays/vacations, Tuscany, Italy.This is a lovely quick acrylic demonstration painting by our wonderful tutor Maggie Renner Hellmann  a week or so ago during her ‘Courageous Color Workshop’ here a week or so ago. This is of the view from the ancient village of Monte dei Bianchi, where we go to paint on Fridays.

We had a great week with Maggie. Here are some comments from our guests: “Thank you for giving me one of the best vacations I had. I really look forward to coming back.” 

 “Thank you for everything…an art workshop in a place like the Watermill can’t get better than that.   Only the best!” 

“I had a wonderful week at the Watermill. I just had a fabulous time and met some wonderful people.”

The Watermill at Posara for painting, sculpting, knitting, creative writing, Italian language and yoga, holidays/vacations, Tuscany, Italy.

Maggie’s group settle in to paint the mountains

Come and find out why our guests rave about our creative courses like Maggie’s. She’ll be back next year and we’d love you to join is for Maggie’s inspiring course here from Saturday 19 May to Saturday 26 May 2018. We are already and we are already taking bookings.

The Watermill at Posara for painting, sculpting, knitting, creative writing, Italian language and yoga, holidays/vacations, Tuscany, Italy.

Aphrodite kidnapped. A bust of the goddess, normally in the Watermill sitting room, placed artistically in the walled garden.

We won’t actually be publishing details of our 2018 courses on our website until September this year –it is too confusing. But for those who want to book before that, our offer is: if you book before 1 September 2017 you can have a place on Maggie’s sensational 2018 painting course at 2017 prices.

Please email me at bill@medialliance.net if you would like to reserve your place.

And if you want to see what we are doing in 2017, please click here.

You can see details of our bedrooms and their 2017 prices by clicking here.

Be an extra-early busy bee and spend a year dreaming of your Watermill holiday!

The Watermill at Posara for painting, sculpting, knitting, creative writing, Italian language and yoga, holidays/vacations, Tuscany, Italy.

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Another sun-filled, fun-filled painting week at The Watermill

8 Jul By

The Watermill at Posara for painting, sculpting, knitting, creative writing, Italian language and yoga, holidays/vacations, Tuscany, Italy.We had another great group of people with us last week to enjoy a week’s painting with our Australian cobber Terry Jarvis. Here’s one of our guests, Geraldine Larkins, getting ready for a spin on our gardener Flavio Terenzoni’s vintage Vespa motor scooter. Behind is Terry himself, holding up a sketch of the scooter, which he made as a present for Flavio. Here’s the picture:

Flavio scooter painting Jul 17

Terry will be back with us next year, for another inspiring, sun-filled, fun-filled week, from Saturday 7 July to Saturday 14 July 2018. We’d love you to join us to sample for yourself the delights of life and location in unspoilt rural Tuscany.

We’ve had a lot of interest in our course NEXT year, even though we’ve started on our 2017 season, so to meet that demand, we’ve a remarkable offer for those who want to book a year or so ahead.

We won’t actually be publishing details of our 2018 courses on our website until 1 September this year –it is too confusing. But for those who want to book before that, our offer is: you can have a place on any of our 2018 creative courses at 2017 prices. Please email me at bill@medialliance.net if you would like to reserve your place.

The Watermill at Posara for painting, knitting, yoga, cookery holidays/vacations, Tuscany, Italy.

Here’s the list of courses so far:

28 Apr-5 May 2018 Painting course Paul Talbot-Greaves

5-12 May 2018 Knitting course Sarah Hatton 1

12-19 May 2018 Knitting course Sarah Hatton 2

19-26 May 2018 Painting course Maggie Renner Hellmann 26 May-2 Jun

Looking forward to meeting you in the Watermill courtyard

Looking forward to meeting you in the Watermill courtyard

Painting course 2018 Sandra Strohschein 1

2-9 Jun 2018 Painting course Sandra Strohschein 2

9-16 Jun 2018 Painting course Sarah Yeoman 1

16-23 Jun 2018 Painting course Sarah Yeoman 2

Mill courtyard23-30 Jun 2018 Yoga course Dina Sheldon

30 Jun-7 Jul 2018 Painting course Lea Nixon

7-14 Jul 2018 Painting course Terry Jarvis

14-21 Jul 2018 Knitting course Marie Wallin

18-25 Aug 2018 Sculpture course Jason Arkles

25 Aug-1 Sep 2018 Yoga course Claire Murphy

Yoga portrait shape 31-8 Sep 2018 Painting course Rebecca Mendonça

8-15 Sep 2018 Painting course Mike Willdridge

15-22 Sep 2018 Painting course Claire Warner

22-29 Sep 2018 Writing course Jo Parfitt

29 Sep-6 Oct 2018 Knitting course Lisa Richardson

6-13 Oct 2018 Painting course David Taylor

More creative writing under the vines May 11 square

Most artists, yoga teachers and authors have their own websites, so you can see what they do by Googling them!

And if you want to see what we are doing in 2017, please go to www.watermill.net.

You can see details of our bedrooms and their 2017 prices at http://watermill.net/painting-holidays/painting-holidays-costs17.php. The costs for knitting, writing and yoga weeks are the same.

Be an extra-early Early Bird and spend a year dreaming of your Watermill holiday!

Painting by Doranne Alden, a tutor at The Watermill at Posara painting holidays/vacations, Tuscany, Italy.

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The Watermill July newsletter is just out…

6 Jul By

The Watermill at Posara for painting, sculpting, knitting, creative writing, Italian language and yoga, holidays/vacations, Tuscany, Italy.…with news of the few remaining places on our 2017 creative courses, great news for early Early Birds to bag a place here in 2018, and much else besides. Read all about it by clicking here – and come and join us, this year or next.

The Watermill at Posara for painting, sculpting, knitting, creative writing, Italian language and yoga, holidays/vacations, Tuscany, Italy.

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The bees, the butterflies, the wine demijohns – everyday pictures at the Watermill

4 Jul By

The Watermill at Posara for painting, knitting, yoga, holidays/vacations, Tuscany, Italy.My daughter Lara Breckon has recently acquired a posh new camera and is using it to capture life at the Watermill. Here are a few images of some of the wildlife that abounds in this unspoilt corner of rural Tuscany – a reminder of one of humankind’s most important endeavours, wine-making!

We grow the artichokes (above) not for eating, but rather to enjoy their magnificent mauve/purple flowers. The bees love them, too. And here’s another regular visitor to the Watermill walled garden, the graceful swallowtail butterfly.

The Watermill at Posara for painting, knitting, yoga, holidays/vacations, Tuscany, Italy.

The magnificent ‘creatures’ below are damigiane, demijohns, nestling under the orange floral trumpets of our bignonia. These elegant vessels were used in wine-making and storage, but have now fallen into disuse and many people in the area are throwing them out in favour or stainless-steel vats. O tempora! Or mores! Our gardener Flavio Terenzoni collects them from the wayside and we arrange them in the courtyard as fiendish drawing subjects for our artist guests.

The Watermill at Posara for painting, knitting, yoga, holidays/vacations, Tuscany, Italy.

Come and see all this and more on one of our world-famous creative courses.

We’ve had a lot of interest in our course NEXT year, even though we’ve started on our 2017 season, so to meet that demand, we’ve a remarkable offer for those who want to book a year or so ahead.

We won’t actually be publishing details of our 2018 courses on our website until 1 September this year –it is too confusing. But for those who want to book before that, our offer is: you can have a place on any of our 2018 creative courses at 2017 prices. Please email me at bill@medialliance.net if you would like to reserve your place.

Here’s the list of courses so far:

28 Apr-5 May 2018 Painting course Paul Talbot-Greaves

5-12 May 2018 Knitting course Sarah Hatton 1

12-19 May 2018 Knitting course Sarah Hatton 2

19-26 May 2018 Painting course Maggie Renner Hellmann 26 May-2 Jun

Looking forward to meeting you in the Watermill courtyard

Looking forward to meeting you in the Watermill courtyard

Painting course 2018 Sandra Strohschein 1

2-9 Jun 2018 Painting course Sandra Strohschein 2

9-16 Jun 2018 Painting course Sarah Yeoman 1

16-23 Jun 2018 Painting course Sarah Yeoman 2

Mill courtyard23-30 Jun 2018 Yoga course Dina Sheldon

7-14 Jul 2018 Painting course Terry Jarvis

14-21 Jul 2018 Knitting course Marie Wallin

18-25 Aug 2018 Sculpture course Jason Arkles

25 Aug-1 Sep 2018 Yoga course Claire Murphy

1-8 Sep 2018 Painting course Rebecca Mendonça

8-15 Sep 2018 Painting course Mike Willdridge

15-22 Sep 2018 Painting course Claire Warner

22-29 Sep 2018 Writing course Jo Parfitt

29 Sep-6 Oct 2018 Knitting course Lisa Richardson

6-13 Oct 2018 Painting course David Taylor

Most artists, yoga teachers and authors have their own websites, so you can see what they do by Googling them!

And if you want to see what we are doing in 2017, please go to www.watermill.net.

You can see details of our bedrooms and their 2017 prices at http://watermill.net/painting-holidays/painting-holidays-costs17.php. The costs for knitting, writing and yoga weeks are the same.

Be an extra-early Early Bird and spend a year dreaming of your Watermill holiday!

The Watermill at Posara for painting, knitting, yoga, holidays/vacations, Tuscany, Italy.

 

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More burgeoning birdlife – a greenfinch nest among the vines

3 Jul By

The Watermill at Posara for painting, knitting, yoga, holidays/vacations, Tuscany, Italy.Hot on the hill of his discovery of a blackbird’s next between the roses in the walled garden, our gardener Flavio Terenzoni reports on his latest find: “un nido di verdone sul pergolo di vite in giardino”, a greenfinch’s nest on the vine pergola in the garden. Mind you, you need Flavio’s eagle eyes to spot it among the vine leaves.

The Watermill at Posara for painting, knitting, yoga, holidays/vacations, Tuscany, Italy.

Here’s a reprise of his photograph of the blackbird chicks.

The Watermill at Posara for painting, knitting, yoga, holidays/vacations, Tuscany, Italy.

Which reminds us: Join the Early Early Birds and reserve your place on one of our 2018

The Watermill at Posara for painting, knitting, yoga, holidays/vacations, Tuscany, Italy.We’ve had a lot of interest in our course NEXT year, even though we’ve started on our 2017 season, so to meet that demand, we’ve a remarkable offer for those who want to book a year or so ahead.

We won’t actually be publishing details of our 2018 courses on our website until 1 September this year –it is too confusing. But for those who want to book before that, our offer is: you can have a place on any of our 2018 creative courses at 2017 prices. Please email me at bill@medialliance.net if you would like to reserve your place.

The Watermill at Posara for painting, knitting, yoga, cookery holidays/vacations, Tuscany, Italy.

Here’s the list of courses so far:

28 Apr-5 May 2018 Painting course Paul Talbot-Greaves

5-12 May 2018 Knitting course Sarah Hatton 1

12-19 May 2018 Knitting course Sarah Hatton 2

19-26 May 2018 Painting course Maggie Renner Hellmann 26 May-2 Jun

Looking forward to meeting you in the Watermill courtyard

Looking forward to meeting you in the Watermill courtyard

Painting course 2018 Sandra Strohschein 1

2-9 Jun 2018 Painting course Sandra Strohschein 2

9-16 Jun 2018 Painting course Sarah Yeoman 1

16-23 Jun 2018 Painting course Sarah Yeoman 2

Mill courtyard23-30 Jun 2018 Yoga course Dina Sheldon

7-14 Jul 2018 Painting course Terry Jarvis

14-21 Jul 2018 Knitting course Marie Wallin

18-25 Aug 2018 Sculpture course Jason Arkles

25 Aug-1 Sep 2018 Yoga course Claire Murphy

Yoga portrait shape 31-8 Sep 2018 Painting course Rebecca Mendonça

8-15 Sep 2018 Painting course Mike Willdridge

15-22 Sep 2018 Painting course Claire Warner

22-29 Sep 2018 Writing course Jo Parfitt

29 Sep-6 Oct 2018 Knitting course Lisa Richardson

6-13 Oct 2018 Painting course David Taylor

More creative writing under the vines May 11 square

Most artists, yoga teachers and authors have their own websites, so you can see what they do by Googling them!

And if you want to see what we are doing in 2017, please go to www.watermill.net.

You can see details of our bedrooms and their 2017 prices at http://watermill.net/painting-holidays/painting-holidays-costs17.php. The costs for knitting, writing and yoga weeks are the same.

Be an extra-early Early Bird and spend a year dreaming of your Watermill holiday!

The Watermill at Posara for painting, knitting, yoga, holidays/vacations, Tuscany, Italy.

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Watermill 2017 creative courses: only a few places left!

1 Jul By

A wonderful picture by Watermill guest Ron Ploeg

Come and enjoy Watermill nectar! A wonderful picture by one of our guests, Ron Ploeg

Here’s the latest availability on this season’s creative courses. We have had a bumper year of bookings and some of our courses are fully booked (there’s a waiting list in case of unforeseen cancellations), but we still have some lovely rooms on other courses. We’d be delighted to welcome you here.

First, painting courses.

sue plus picSue Ford Two or three places left
15 July to 22 July 2017
Watercolours, pastels, collage and mixed media plus acrylic
To learn more about Sue, her course at the mill and to see more of her pictures, please click here.

 

mark plus picMark Warner Two or three places left
22 July to 29 July 2017
Acrylics/Watercolours incorporating conte/pastel
To learn more about Mark, his course at the mill and to see more of his pictures, please click here.

 

varvara plus pixVarvara Neiman Fully booked, waiting list open
26 August to 2 September 2017
Water-based oils, acrylics and watercolour
To learn more about Varvara, her course at the mill and to see more of her pictures, please click here.

 

mike plus picMike Willdridge Fully booked, waiting list open
2 September to 9 September 2017
Watercolours and drawing (also gouache and acrylics with an emphasis on sketching and drawing on location)
To learn more about Mike, his course at the mill and to see more of his pictures, please click here.

 

Nel plus picNel Whatmore & Rebecca de Mendonça
Fully booked, waiting list open
23 September to 30 September 2017
Pastels
To learn more about Nel & Rebecca, their course and to see more of their pictures, please click here.

 

charles plus picCharles Sluga Fully booked, waiting list open
30 September to 7 October 2017
Watercolours (and acrylics and oils)
To learn more about Charles, his course at the mill and to see more of his pictures, please click here.

 

Tim plus picTim Wilmot Two or three places left
7 October to 14 October 2017
Watercolours
To learn more about Tim, his course at the mill and to see more of his pictures, please click here.

 

 

And for our yoga and meditation retreat:

Claire plus pic9 -16 September Nourish — mind, body and soul 

with Claire Murphy One or two places left

To learn more about Claire and her retreat at The Watermill, please click here

 

Don’t miss out: grab yourself a place!

A picture of the millstream taken by Lois last week.

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