Archives for November 2018

Our friend and enthusiastic Watermill painting tutor Mike Willdridge is well on the way to completing his self-imposed task of producing 100 paintings in 100 days. He’s in his late 60s now: that’s painting number 68 above.

Mike says: “For a long time I’ve enjoyed looking at abstract art and wanted to move in that direction myself, but I found it difficult to leave my representational style. Now that I have given up most of my teaching (except at the Watermill!), I’ve found a renewed energy towards abstraction.”

Of the picture above, he says: “It could be my many years of representational painting that keeps telling me to see something from the real world in these paintings. However, as part of my journey towards abstraction, I’m trying to banish these thoughts as I paint and just respond to the ‘colour’, ‘drama’, ‘light’ etc. That’s part of the reason why I’m just titling these paintings by their numbers.”

Mike’s artistic road has been an exciting one and we’ve been looking at his wonderful pictures on his Facebook page (Mike Willdridge), on Instagram (@mikewilldridge) and on his website (www.mikewilldridge-artist.com). We liked some of his pictures so much that we have bought four of them. Here’s one of those: Picture No. 5.

You can see our four ‘Road to Abstraction’ pictures if you join us for one of our creative courses next year. And if you come in early June, you will be able to meet the artist himself.

You don’t have to go abstract to enjoy Mike’s course: he paints realistic landscapes and loves sketching around the Watermill and in the glorious Tuscan scenery beyond it. He is also a wonderful teacher. Mike will be with us again next year, for a week in watercolour and drawing (also gouache and acrylics), from Saturday 29 June to Saturday 6 July 2019. We already have eight bookings for his course, so we have room for three or four more painters and their non-painting partners, if they would like to come.

Mike’sketch of market day in the town of Fivizzano, near the Watermill

Mike Willdridge works in a wide range of media and is an enthusiastic and energetic tutor, often encouraging his students to be bold and to take chances. His classes are always light-hearted and fun, with the ‘teaching’ tailored to individual needs. He will concentrate on watercolours, but is also happy to help with gouache and acrylics too.

A comment from a guest on one of Mike’s previous courses at The Watermill: “A wonderful holiday. You were such generous and friendly hosts and Mike was an excellent painting tutor.”  Another said: “The food was exceptional and the mill itself is great, in such a beautiful setting. A truly wonderful week in every respect.”

Here’s another of my favourite Mike Willdridge pictures, an exuberant watercolour of the mill stream flowing beneath one of our gardener Flavio Terenzoni’s famous wooden bridges, with their curvy handrails.

Mike Willdridge
29 June to 6 July 2019
Watercolours and drawing (also gouache and acrylics with an emphasis on sketching and drawing on location)

To learn more about Mike and his course at the mill, please click here. 

This gentle watercolour of peonies bursting from a jug is by our Australian Watermill painting tutor Jude Scott, who will be joining us for two inspiring weeks next year. Her painting has just been selected for the 3^rd Biennale of the International Watercolour Society of Vietnam next April.

Many congratulations, Jude. She tells us: “I’m so happy. It will be on my demonstration list for the Watermill when I join you next August.” The painting already has an Italian connection: it is painted, in transparent watercolour, on Fabriano paper, made just south of us in the Marche area.

Jude says that in Perth, Western Australia, where she lives the climate is not conducive to growing peonies. But when she was invited to paint for a week at a university in Beijing, she took a trip to the Forbidden City. She says: “In one of the ancient gardens there, there they were, en masse. Fabulous! I was so excited to see them for the first time and paint that was an exciting challenge.” She calls the painting ‘Romance’.

We do grow peonies at the Watermill, among the plethora of flowers and shrubs tended lovingly by our gardener Flavio Terenzoni, but they’re not entirely successful. You will, however, find many other flowers to paint, as well as the unspoiled scenery surrounding the Watermill – and castles and convents and ancient villages dozing in the sunshine…

Roses in the Watermill garden.

Jude will be joining us for two weeks next summer, teaching in watercolours (& acrylics and oils) from Saturday 17 August to Saturday, 24 August 2019 and from Saturday 24 August to Saturday 31 August 2019. Her second week is already fully booked, but we do have some places on the first week. You can find out more by clicking here.

Jude tells us that she loves watercolours particularly, for “their immediacy, unpredictability, translucency, dazzling colours and powerful tones,” but she also paints in, and is happy to teach in, acrylics and oils. She says: “I love a new challenge and paint all subjects.” 

We love the watercolour below, called Riverside. Jude says: “A trip down to the river with the grandies resulted in this painting-they were having such a marvellous time spotting the enormous jellyfish! Sketches on site were used for a painting the next day. I began drawing the figures first from photographic references, flooding the background and foreground with water, dropping in the colour and allowing to dry. Then the figures and the shadows were painted and, after drying the darks were strengthened.”

As for teaching, Jude says: “I love sharing what I have learnt over many years of painting and it is always a thrill watching ‘the artist within’ emerge from each individual student. I strongly encourage students to develop their own unique style of brush strokes and mark making: just relax, be brave, don’t forget to breathe and the rest will surely follow.”

We have six bookings for Jude’s first week (17-24 August 2019), two of whom are non-painting partners, so we have room for seven or eight more painters. Currently, as I said, Jude’s second week (24-31 August 2019) is fully booked, but there may be cancellations, so if you’re interested in that week please also let us know and we will put you on the waiting list.

 Everything is included in the cost of your holiday at the watermill: tuition, accommodation (including all linen and towels), pre-dinner aperitifs, all meals and wines (including outings to charming local restaurants) and all local transportation (including transfers to Pisa airport and an excursion by train to Lucca or the Cinque Terre). You get to Pisa, Italy, we do the rest! 

And don’t forget our enticing Early Bird discount offer: If you book before 31 December 2018 there’s a £GBP 75 per person discount on this fabulous 2019 painting holiday.

And finally, here’s a wonderful landscape by Jude called Evening-Pentecost River, in the Kimberley region of West Australia. We’re looking forward to seeing how Jude, and her students, capture the Watermill’s flowers and the wonderful scenery of Tuscany. Why don’t you join her and us?

Here’s a vibrant and colourful watercolour of the Watermill, made from the gardens of the river Rosaro which flows past us. It’s from our inspiring English painting tutor Claire Warner, who we’re happy to say, will be joining us again next year. She will be with us for her week-long course in watercolours from Saturday 14 to Saturday 21 September 2019.

We had great fun on Claire’s painting course this year. Here’s what one of our guests had to say had to say: “The accommodation was superb in such a beautiful location and nothing was too much trouble for our hosts, everyone was so welcoming and friendly. The group was mixed in terms of ages and abilities, some people came alone and some as pairs, but the mixture was great and we had a lot of fun in amongst the tuition. Claire organised for us to go out to a variety of wonderful places to sketch and paint and you were comfortable taking things at your own pace, in your own way. I really like Claire’s relaxed approach, so you don’t ever feel under pressure!” She added: “It was probably one of my favourite holidays.”

Claire Warner is a professional artist and an experienced tutor, having taught all age groups and abilities for more than 25 years.  She will demonstrate in watercolours on this holiday, but is happy to help with those choosing oils or acrylics as their medium. All levels of artists can benefit from her teaching, and she offers plenty of individual attention.

She says: “My aim is to teach and encourage each student gradually to build up knowledge and the confidence to create their own style. I’ll demonstrate step by step with explanations — and offer plenty of individual attention when and where needed. I like to tease out their full potential with patience and a sense of fun.”

Claire’s watercolour above is called Early Morning, Ullswater. She says: “The still calm waters of the early morning, create fascinating reflections. The silence is broken only perhaps by birds marking their daily territory.”

Claire Warner
14 – 21 September 2019 – still plenty of places
Watercolours, oils and acrylics

To learn more about Claire and her course at the mill, please click here. 

And don’t forget our Early Bird discount: if you book before 31 December 2018 there’s £75 off this fabulous 2019 painting holiday. Come and join us and watch the river run by…