International Artist Watercolour Art Workshop to the Cotswolds & Cornwall UK (August 16-28, 2014).
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I recently gave a 12 day workshop in England organised by Travelrite International.
The first week was spent in the Cotswolds, based at Stratford Upon Avon. We painted at several locations at Stratford and the scenes included the river, barges, streets, churches and people. We also had a sight-seeing tour of the town and saw all things Shakespearean, including his burial place in Trinity Church and were delighted by the history. All locations were within very easy walking distance of the hotel and we sometimes painted three times a day. From Stratford we also took several bus trips to the nearby villages of Stow-on-the-Wold, Bourton-on-the-Water and Castle Combe. A highlight of the trip was the excursion to Warwick Castle where we saw a very energetic jousting match and toured the castle interior.
After a fabulous week in Stratford we travelled by bus to Plymouth for another week of painting in Cornwall. From our base at Plymouth we took day trips down to Polperro, Looe, Mevagissey, Dartmouth and St. Michael’s Mount. Wonderful locations and wonderful paintings followed with wayside stops to places such as Jamaica Inn. The small Cornish fishing villages were a treat to paint with every angle giving a paintable scene. Some of the more intrepid walked across the causeway to the top of St Michael’s Mount while the others painted the wonderful view, tide out, from the beach. By the end of the two weeks the students were all painting with much more freedom and spontaneity, often doing small masterpieces at the end of a busy day.
My en plein air paintings are always done on full size watercolour sheets in under an hour. They are done in the alla prima style, intuitively with spontaneity and sensitivity.
The last day we painted at The Hoe (during a strong incoming ocean squall which involved strong wind and rain and tying the easel and table down and completing the paintings under umbrellas) a most historic area of British naval activity, with a vista looking out to where Drake saw the Armada approaching. We also visited The Barbican, from where the Mayflower sailed. Please enjoy a selection of images of the tour including paintings. The last five photos are compliments of Barbara and Graham Fea.
I hope you can come on my next tour (Travelrite International & International Artist – refer to “Workshops” tab on this website for contact details) to Amsterdam, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Estonia and St. Petersburg Russia, on cruise ship Celebrity Silhouette, in July next year.
