Archives for September 2020

Market day in the town of Lavalenet in the south of France was the subject of Mike Willdridge’s latest inspiring, interactive, online painting session. And, as ever, many of our 100+ participants found the session both challenging and absorbing, but always fun. Here are some of their comments:

Thanks to you and Mike for today, great fun!

It is with great pleasure that I take part in Mike’s classes and learn with him through your generous help! 

Enjoyed this one and have just finished painting at nearly 7 o’clock! Many thanks to you and Mike. Was glad to hear there will be another series later on!

I loved the subject matter!

I thoroughly enjoy painting with Mike it’s so different and fun!

Very challenging, but absorbing!

I enjoyed the challenge! 

You could do it more often. I am sure everyone would agree, it’s such fun.

.Many of the participants in these sessions send us their efforts at the end of the day. Here is a montage of a few of them, chosen entirely at random. Thanks to all who sent in their pictures; apologies to those whose works were omitted. We simply don’t have space for them all.

We have organised more of these inspiring sessions, each of which can now take up to 500 people. They are designed to help you brush up your painting skills, and they are completely free, though many of our guests have generously sent us donations, for which many thanks. If you would like to donate (it is purely voluntary), Lois will tell you how to do so when you sign up for one or more of the sessions. (Details below.)

The next session will run on Thursday 24 September and , as usual, will be at 2.30 in the afternoon, British time. The next topic is a café in the beautiful town of Vernazza in the Cinque Terre, one of the excursion venues on Wednesdays during our creative courses. Here is the reference photograph:

When you register with Lois, she will send you more images, and a drawing of the scene, to inspire you.

Please register by using the Watermill contact form, which you can find by clicking here. Mark the topic as ‘Mike’s free interactive sessions.

Unlike many online painting programmes, Mike’s will not expect you to ‘look over his shoulder’ for a long demonstration, and perhaps be allowed to ask the odd question or two. No, you will be painting along at more or less the same time, trying out the watercolour techniques that Mike has shown you, step-by-step. He will demonstrate some basic techniques for only a few minutes before you start painting the same subject at home. Then, after you have had your turn, Mike will move onto the next part of the process. Lois will be on hand to feed your questions. The session will last a couple of hours.

Before each session Mike supplies a photograph and a drawing of what is going to be painted, and a list of equipment and colours for your palette. We will send these beforehand to all the participants in the session. After the session we will send you a link that will enable to you revisit Mike’s step-by-step teaching.

And when you’ve enjoyed working with Mike online, why not join him for real, on his Watermill course next year?

Mike Willdridge 

Saturday 4 September to Saturday 11 September 2021 

Watercolours and drawing (also gouache and acrylics)

To learn more about Mike and his week at the Watermill, please click here.

You can learn about all our renowned creative courses, in painting, creative writing, knitting and Italian language, by clicking here. We would love you to join us!

We are delighted to welcome back, after an absence of a few years, one of our most versatile and most loved painting tutors, Sue Ford.

Sue has experimented with almost every conceivable media in her career. Sue says: “I just love creating pictures in any medium – and I love passing on what I’ve learned to other people, helping them to release their creativity.”  Her wonderful pastel above is of the Cinque Terre. And below is a watercolour of the archway from the Watermill courtyard to the walled garden.

Sue’s week-long course, in watercolours, pastels, collage and mixed media plus acrylic, will run from Saturday 10 July to Saturday 17 July 2021.

She says: “Each student will be guided carefully throughout the day, from initial demonstration to ‘getting started’, followed by patient, professional tuition.

“The aim is to stretch all students, regardless of their ability, in a relaxed learning environment, giving them a foundation of artistic techniques, as well as developing their own style.

“I want to help my students to create paintings which will give them the confidence in their abilities and help them to develop their own artistic vision.”

A guest on Sue’s previous painting course here said: “I had a wonderful time. Everything was superb – the accommodation, the trips out and the food! A wonderful experience that I will treasure. Sue Ford is an exceptional tutor with a lovely manner and treats all with respect and kindness.”

I have made one of those fun Facebook slideshows with more of Sue’s paintings in different mediums, which you can see 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 (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 you will be Cool and Green: all our rooms are air-conditioned, powered by photovoltaic panels which make us self-sufficient in electricity.

Sue Ford 

Saturday 10 July to Saturday 17 July 2021 

Watercolours, pastels, collage and mixed media plus acrylic

To learn more about Sue and her week at the Watermill, please click here.

Come and join us and make 2021 a year to remember.

We are looking forward to the return of Vicki Norman this summer for another of her charming and inspirational painting weeks. Vicki will be with us for her course, in oils and watercolours (and other mediums), from Saturday 3 July to Saturday, 10 July 2021.

English painting tutor Vicki Norman specialises in painting on location. Her paintings seek to capture the essence of the day and the sense of place through the colour and play of the light. Vicki will teach primarily in oils and watercolours, but is happy to help with other mediums, too. She has been teaching professionally for more than 15 years and offers plenty of help and individual attention.

Here’s a comment from one of our guests on Vicki’s last course at the Watermill: “An excellent painting and holiday week. All the trips out to painting locations were well organised and Vicki was excellent as a teacher: Her wonderful paintings were an inspiration.”

I have made one of those short, fun Facebook slideshows with more of Vicki’s exciting paintings which you can see 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 (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 you will be Cool and Green: all our rooms are air-conditioned, powered by photovoltaic panels which make us self-sufficient in electricity.

Vicki Norman 

Saturday 3 July to Saturday 10 July 2021 

Oils and watercolours (and other mediums)

To learn more about Vicki and her week at the Watermill, please click here.

Come and join us and make 2021 a year to remember.

English pastellist Rebecca de Mendonça’s  teaching and painting are the result of a varied career in the arts. Having completed her degree in Theatre Design, she worked on projects ranging from Harrods Food Hall to the Phantom of the Opera and has been commissioned to paint dancers at English National Ballet and actors in West End Shows. Her atmospheric paste labove is of an archway in the walled village of Verrucola, one of our painting locations, while below is the stunning ‘Sitting on the steps”.

We are delighted to welcome Rebecca back to the Watermill for another of her inspirational pastel (and other media) courses. Her week next year will run from 26 June to 3 July 2021.

I have made one of those 30-second Facebook slide shows with more of Rebecca’s lovely pastels, which you can see by clicking here.

Rebecca will help you to capture the architecture and landscape of the beautiful Watermill painting venues with a combination of materials: soft pastels, pen and ink, Conte crayons and pastel pencils, separately and in combination, to achieve lively sketches and finished pieces.

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 (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 you will be Cool and Green: all our rooms are air-conditioned, powered by photovoltaic panels which make us self-sufficient in electricity.

Rebecca de Mendonça  

Saturday 26 June to Saturday 3 July 2021 

Pastels and mixed media

To learn more about Rebecca and her week at the Watermill, please click here.

Come and join us and make 2021 a year to remember.

Challenging. That’s the word that cropped up more often than any other reaction to Mike Willdridge’s latest free, interactive, online painting session. The subject was the fish market by the Rialto Bridge in Venice and it certainly encouraged to 130+ participants to work hard!

Here are some of those comments:

Thanks again Lois. Very challenging image. Mike’s work is a pleasure to watch.

….I loved doing this one!  Many thanks! 

Great session today, thanks. Tricky subject but good experience. Learned a lot.

Just a quick thank you to Mike and yourself for another couple of hours escape from reality.

Phew! This was a tough one and I feel I overdosed on vermilion! It certainly challenged me.

Looking forward to the next session and more especially actually getting to The Watermill

This was very challenging but enjoyed it and the time flew by!

Thank you for today’s session, Lois, I found it to be the toughest challenge yet!

I will now sit down with a cuppa to recover…

OMG – that was something!!!

I really enjoyed yesterday’s lesson which was quite complex but very interesting especially with the more complex perspective.   It’s good to push the boundaries a bit!

Oh, what fun!!! Thank you!

Challenging, certainly, but fun too. Many of the participants in these sessions send us their efforts at the end of the day. Here is a montage of just seven of them, chosen entirely at random. Thanks to all who sent in their pictures; apologies to those whose works were omitted. We simply don’t have space for them all.

We have organised more of these inspiring sessions, each of which can now take up to 500 people. They are designed to help you brush up your painting skills, and they are completely free, though many of our guests have generously sent us donations, for which many thanks. If you would like to donate (it is purely voluntary), Lois will tell you how to do so when you sign up for one or more of the sessions. (Details below.)

The next sessions will run on Thursdays in September. The dates are 17 September and 24 September and the sessions, as usual, will be at 2.30 in the afternoon, British time. The next topic should be a little simpler: it’s an outdoor market in Devon, England. Here is the reference photograph:

And here is Mike’s drawing of the scene:

When you register with Lois, she will send you more images to inspire you.

Please register by using the Watermill contact form, which you can find by clicking here. Mark the topic as ‘Mike’s free interactive sessions.

Unlike many online painting programmes, Mike’s will not expect you to ‘look over his shoulder’ for a long demonstration, and perhaps be allowed to ask the odd question or two. No, you will be painting along at more or less the same time, trying out the watercolour techniques that Mike has shown you, step-by-step. He will demonstrate some basic techniques for only a few minutes before you start painting the same subject at home. Then, after you have had your turn, Mike will move onto the next part of the process. Lois will be on hand to feed your questions. The session will last a couple of hours.

Before each session Mike supplies photograph of what is going to be painted, and a list of equipment and colours for your palette. We will send these beforehand to all the participants in the session. After the session we will send you a link that will enable to you revisit Mike’s step-by-step teaching.

And when you’ve enjoyed working with Mike online, why not join him for real, on his Watermill course next year?

Mike Willdridge 

Saturday 4 September to Saturday 11 September 2021 

Watercolours and drawing (also gouache and acrylics)

To learn more about Mike and his week at the Watermill, please click here.

I’ve always loved this dynamic watercolour demonstration painting by one of our most popular tutors Sandra Strohschein. It’s a view through one of the gateways from the imposing castle of Verrucola and the village nestling around its 13^th Century walls. This is our painting venue on Mondays, before enjoying an authentic Italian lunch in the trattoria beside the bridge.

The picture purports to illustrate the consequences of a sudden rain squall, with our painting guests huddled under their umbrellas, while another umbrella spins topsy-turvy on the ground

Sandra is very proud of this dramatic watercolour, and so she should be. But one small meteorological point: it didn’t rain at all during that morning painting session! Sandra simply wanted to show her students techniques for capturing the effects of wind and rain on the landscape, so she made up the whole watery scene, wind, umbrellas and all. All great art is an illusion and what a fine example we have in Sandra’s demonstration picture. We liked it so much it’s now hanging in the Watermill’s inspiring picture gallery on our sitting room wall.

Sandra Stroschein is one of our longest serving and most popular painting tutors. I’ve lost count of the number of times she has run sun-filled (but it does rain occasionally!), fun-filled painting weeks, but it must be round about 10 by now.

And we’re looking forward to welcoming her back again in 2021, for not one, but two glorious weeks in 2020. Her courses in watercolour will run from Saturday 5 June to Saturday 12 June 2021 and from Saturday 12 June to Saturday 19 June 2021. We would be delighted if you could join us for one or both of them.

Here’s another Sandra Strohschein (sunlit) picture, of the view down the valley towards Posara from the nearby walled mediaeval town of Fivizzano, where we go with our groups not only to paint but to enjoy the hustle and bustle of the weekly market.

I have made one of those short Facebook slideshows with more of Sandra’s vibrant watercolours. You can see them by clicking here.

If you fancy capturing the stunning Tuscan countryside, rain or shine, now is the time to book, particularly since we have 11 reservations for her first week already, and nine for her second.

Sandra Strohschein   

Saturday 5 June to Saturday 12 June 2021  and Saturday 12 June to Saturday 19 June 2021 

Watercolours

 To learn more about Sandra and her week at the Watermill, please click 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 (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 you will be Cool and Green: all our rooms are air-conditioned, powered by photovoltaic panels which make us self-sufficient in electricity.

Come and join us and make 2021 a year to remember.