Archives for September 2019

Our exciting painting tutor Vicki Norman, who will be with us for a week’s course in oils and watercolours en plein air, can sum up her painting philosophy in a few words: “I just love to paint. And I love to travel. And to teach other people to paint.” She adds: “That’s it really.”

After graduating in Fine Art, Vicki studied with master painters from Italy and the USA, all the time searching for traditional skills and methods which can be applied to paintings of a modern world. She says: “My fondness for travelling and painting has naturally led me into the world of plein air painting. Working quickly on location to capture the essence of a time and place encourages a looser, more impressionist style of painting.

“This puts an emphasis on atmosphere rather than detail, and colour is the vehicle through which I seek to capture light and place. Colour is everything, the harmony of colours together on the canvas and the thick, creamy blobs of paint on the surface inspire me every time. I really do just love paint and I love making paintings.”

Vicki’s oil painting above is an olive tree in the gardens of the Convento di Carmine, an ancient monastery which is one of our venues during our painting weeks. Here’s another stunning plein air painting by Vicki: a study of the Apuan Alps near the Watermill.

Vicki says: “The bright yellow of the ginestra at the front contrasted beautifully with the lilac of the marble- capped mountains behind. I knew if I could capture the colours of the moment, I could use them for subsequent studio paintings at home.”

You, too, will be painting those sensational mountains on Vicki’s course. She will be with us for a week teaching in oils and watercolours* from Saturday 20 June to Saturday, 27 June 2020. You can find out more by clicking here. *The course is primarily in oils and watercolours, but Vicki is happy to teach in other mediums, too.

Here’s a comment from one of our guests on Vicki’s week at the Watermill last year: “Thank you for giving us such a lovely time at the Watermill: it was way beyond my expectations and Vicki’s tuition took me out of my comfort zone, which is what I needed. I’m looking forward to putting my new plein air skills to practice.”

Everything is included in the cost of your holiday at the watermill: tuition, accommodation, pre-dinner aperitifs, all meals and wines (including outings to charming local restaurants) and all local transportation. You get to Pisa, Italy, we do the rest!

We already have four people booked into Vicki’s 2020 course, so now really is the time to reserve your place, especially as we have an Early Bird Discount Offer if you book now: there is a £75 (English pounds) per person discount on Vicki’s painting holiday at the Watermill if you book before 31 December 2019.

You can find out more about all our inspiring creative courses at https://watermill.net/. (Or just type ‘watermill.net’ into your search engine)

We are delighted to welcome back Mark Warner to the international team of inspiring and sympathetic watermill painting tutors. Mark was with us a few years ago and made some wonderful paintings capturing the atmosphere of the Watermill and its surroundings of the unspoiled countryside of Tuscany. His picture above is of the River Rosaro, which runs beside the mill.

His course next year is called Colourful Acrylics/Drawing/Pen & Wash and those are the mediums in which you will be working. Mark’s course will run from Saturday 11 July to Saturday 18 July 2020. You can find out all about Mark and his course at the Watermill by clicking here.

Here is another colourful picture by Mark, of the Watermill buildings seen from the walled garden.

Mark Warner, from Shropshire in England, loves working outside – and he leads by example, creating a relaxed and encouraging environment for his students. He developed his passion for landscapes growing up in the West Wales and then moving onto the rolling hills of Shropshire enabled him to experiment further with colour, light and line. Mark says: “I adore using colour while interpreting the light, weather and a love for the materials. I work directly in the field (literally on many occasions!) and from sketches created outside as well as notes/photographs taken on location.”

Sketching is at the heart of Mark’s work: “This is important in the development of a piece and on many occasions, forming an integral part of the painting itself.” Here is a page of his sketchbook, made in Lucca, the wonderful Italian walled city which is one of our venues for our Wednesday excursions.

If you fancy capturing the stunning Tuscan countryside with your pen and brush, now is the time to book, particularly with our Early Bird Discount Offer: If you book before 31 December 2019 there’s a £75 (English pounds) per person discount on this fabulous 2020 painting holiday.

Everything is included in the cost of your holiday at the watermill: tuition, accommodation, pre-dinner aperitifs, all meals and wines (including outings to charming local restaurants) and all local transportation.

You get to Pisa, Italy, we do the rest!

You can find out more about all our inspiring creative courses by clicking here.

Mary Padgett, from Syracuse, New York, USA, is not only passionate about pastels, but remarkable for her use of colour and for her enthusiasm for painting on location. She says: “There is no better way to visit Italy than as a plein air artist! We’ll focus on observation with all our senses; looking, listening, and smelling the unique character of the Tuscan landscape to create drawings and paintings from the experience.  Our time in Italy will be richer than that of most tourists who simply pass through.”

Mary’s plein air pastel above, A Tuscan Hillside, celebrates the rhythmic pattern of dark vertical cypress juxtaposed against soft, organic blue-green olive trees, and the geometric shapes of terracotta roofs. Below is another subtle pastel, San Martino a Mensola, inspired by “bright spring light bouncing through the sky and the exquisite asymmetrical balance of the two cypress with the larger church building.”

Mary’s students love her teaching. As one of them says: “Your gentle nudges have given us all better way of seeing.”  Another says: “You went out of your way to help beginners as well as more advanced artists.” Mary says: “My role is to create a supportive working environment, encouraging creative exploration, and furthering each participant’s evolution as an artist.”

Mary’s week-long course in pastels* will run from Saturday 26 September to Saturday, 3 October 2020. *While pastels are her passion (and she will work in soft pastels during her week-long course at the Watermill), Mary is also happy to teach in other portable media, too, such as oils and acrylics, in which she is also a skilled practitioner.

You can learn more about Mary and her course at the Watermill by clicking here.

Although this course is more than a year away, we are already taking bookings for 2020 and our creative courses for next year are filling fast. So if you want to be sure of your place, now is the time to book, especially as we have an Early Bird discount of £75 per person (English pounds, about $90) on all our 2020 creative courses if you reserve your place before the end of this year.

Come and join Mary in the glorious Tuscan countryside. We would love to welcome you here. Here is another glorious pastel, of an Italian terrace, to whet your appetite.

Chris Hughes began his artistic career painting the most prestigious vases and plaques for the famous Royal Worcester Porcelain Company in England. His work, specialising in highland cattle, game birds and Worcester fruit, and signed C. Hughes, can be seen all over the world, and is often featured in antique and collectors’ programmes on television.

Chris went freelance in 1980 and since then has painted ceramics, watercolours and oils, selling different works worldwide, from birds of prey to the Middle East, cattle to the USA, exotic birds to China, still life to Australia, seascapes to Italy – and English cricket paintings to South Africa!

His watercolour above is called Sunflowers and Shadows and was painted on the Greek island of Alonissos. Below is another lovely watercolour, of a Tuscan hillside village.

Chris will be joining us for a week teaching watercolours en plein air from Saturday 27 June to Saturday 6 July 2020 and he is keen to show you the watercolour and drawing techniques that he has developed over all his years as a professional artist: “By simplifying the stages of producing a painting, I’ll encourage you to develop your own style and create your very best work.” 

As one of his students says: “Chris teaches his technique with patience, humour and generosity: he gave me the confidence to develop a style of painting I can enjoy and develop.” 

Both beginners and experienced painters will benefit from Chris’s course, through watching demonstrations and by painting together. He says: “I believe in a laid-back, non-pressurised approach — and being in the beautiful Tuscan countryside will make the creative experience even better.” You can find out more about Chris and his course at the Watermill by clicking here.

Below is Chris’s picture of the Val d’Orcia in Tuscany. We can’t wait to see his paintings from the beautiful unspoiled countryside of Lunigiana, which surrounds the Watermill.

Everything is included in the cost of your holiday at the Watermill: tuition, accommodation, all meals and wines (including outings to charming local restaurants) and local transportation. You get to Pisa; we do the rest!

You can find out more about all our inspiring creative courses by clicking here.

Now is the time to book your holiday next year with Chris, especially as you can take advantage of our Early Bird discount offer: £75 (English pounds) per person off Chris’s week, if you book before 31 December 2019. But don’t leave it too long: all our creative courses for 2020 of filling fast.

I wonder if we can persuade Chris to paint one of our dinner plates! Come and join us and find out.

Our thanks to Pam Smart, a student on Varvara Neiman’s painting holiday at the Watermill last week, for the colourful combination of pictures above, capturing the atmosphere of the week.

Pam obviously enjoyed herself here. She writes: “I have achieved my dream of painting in Tuscany and it was everything I hoped for and much more. The locations have been stunning, the attention to detail in all aspects of the holiday have been incredible, including amazingly supportive and considerate staff, the beautiful setting of The Watermill, the attentive tutor and even the food has been ‘Art on a plate’! I’ve had the most amazing time – thank you all at The Watermill.”

We are glad you had such a good time, Pam, and thank you for your fulsome praise.

If you look carefully at the photomontage above, you will see a rather interesting picture in the top right-hand corner. It is Pam’s take on the weekly Tuesday market in the nearby walled mediaeval town of Fivizzano where we go to sketch and have lunch during our painting weeks. From the sketches she made, Pam used her imagination to envisage an aerial shot of the market in the principal Piazza. Isn’t it fun?

We liked it so much, we bought it from Pam, and we are now having it framed so it can take pride of place, the other wonderful pictures in the Watermill sitting room.

If you would like to join us for one of our painting holidays, combining inspiring tuition, convivial company, caring hospitality, mouth-watering food and stunning locations, we would be delighted to welcome you here.

There are more details of all our 2020 painting courses on our website which you can find by clicking here. And if you book now you can take advantage of our Early Bird Discount Offer: if you book before 31 December 2019, there is a £75 (English pounds) per person discount on any of our 2020 creative courses. We are filling up fast so now is the time to reserve your place. Here’s another vibrant picture from market day in Fivizzano, this time by tutor Varvara Neiman.

We are delighted to welcome Randy Hale, an exciting watercolour painter from Colorado in United States, to the international team of Watermill tutors..

As well as his workshops in the USA, Randy has taken painting groups all over the world and he’s excited about discovering the unspoiled delights of our area of rural Tuscany. His painting above is of the seaside village of Vernazza, in the Cinque Terre, one of the locations you can visit on your Wednesday excursion during your Watermill painting week

After a successful business career, Randy returned to his first love, watercolour painting. But his true passion has proved to be sharing his knowledge as a teacher. And he loves discovering new locations in which to paint expressive watercolours and encourages students to do the same. One of Randy’s previous students said: “He knows his stuff and he knows how to teach! The best watercolour instructor I have ever had!” Another said: “He’s an excellent artist and instructor, offering clear and positive help.”

Here’s another of Randy’s vibrant watercolours, this time of a riverside café in Regensburg in Germany.

Randy will be with us for his watercolour course from Saturday 13 June to Saturday, 20 June 2020. We love you to join us. You can find out more about Randy and his course at the Watermill by clicking here

Everything is included in the cost of your holiday at the watermill: tuition, accommodation, pre-dinner aperitifs, all meals and wines (including outings to charming local restaurants) and all local transportation.

You get to Pisa, Italy, we do the rest!

We already have nine people booked in for Randy’s course, so to be sure of a place now is the time to book, especially when you can take advantage of our Early Bird discount: If you book before 31 December 2019 there’s a £75 (English pounds, about $90) per person discount on this fabulous 2020 painting holiday.

As well as beautiful scenery and expert painting tuition, you’ll enjoy delicious home-cooked Italian food, convivial company and, of course, aperitivi under the vine Verandah before dinner each night. Randy’s picture below, called Happy Hour, captures the spirit.

You can find out more about everything at the Watermill by clicking here.