Training a shaggy Beardie
Daily walks in the gorgeous countryside
An adorable thatched cottage
Pub meals
Huge breakfasts
Delicious cheeses
Wonderful dinners
Stonehenge
Visiting with old friends and meeting new friends
Seeing the Mall Gallery's Royal Society of Portrait Painters Exhibition
Double-decker buses
Talking to all hours
Laughing at all hours
A magical, wonder-filled, inspiring visit
I can’t even begin to describe the wonder of this time in England. I had high hopes for this week, and it far exceeded my hopes and dreams.
Some of my greatest passions are dog training, art, teaching, and learning, and this week was built around and permeated with all of those. It was a new situation for me to be sharing talents as Jean and I did, with her teaching me her magical way of using watercolour and me training her and Bailey, who are both apt and quick students. Teaching and learning woven together throughout every day, as even our tea breaks were filled with discussion and discovery of the similarities in how we each approach our teaching, even using almost identical metaphors to explain and encourage the learning process.
Here is a sampling of my washes, experiments, and paintings as we progressed through the week, generally following a plan Jean had for helping me learn and grow and loosen up as an artist. Her plan worked, and I am thrilled every time I pick up a paintbrush and look at a white piece of paper.
Quail eggs—the first thing we painted together. I tried to splatter the eggs with a toothbrush and ended up splattering everything BUT the eggs
.Cowslip Washes—not attempting to paint the cowslips but rather just get the feel and color --painting flowers CAN be exciting!
Snowdrops—how to get the whiteness of the snowdrop along with the cold feeling of early spring
Resting Beardie
Happy Wash—a flow of colour to capture movement and light 
Sheep 
Duck
(reference photos-- Duck, Sheep, & Beardie by Jean Haines)
4 comments:
Sounds like you had a wonderful time! I was wondering when you would be back. I'll give you a call in the next few days and perhaps we can set up a lunch!
I loved reading you blog Melissa, it really shows in your paintings you had a great time.
hugs
Joanna.
I did have the most wonderful week ever, Terri! Would love to have lunch sometime.
Joanna, thanks for reading my blog! You're always so encouraging. I have your flowers right here by my desk.
I -love- the dog! ("Beardie?") Great character in the painting :-)
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