Last weekends workshop was probably the best one that I've ever taught. What a nice bunch of people , who genuinely came along to learn- everyone was prepared to give things a go, even when well out of their comfort zone. We painted in rain and hot sunshine, gale force winds, in a very busy museum, sitting on graves in the historic cemetery, in a cafe, on the side of the road....nothing fazed them . Collingwood threw it all at us :) We painted landscapes, rusty wrought iron, old radios and sewing machines, our morning tea, historic  buildings, tractors and occasionally each other!
Thanks so much all of you for making the weekend such a great one, this is certainly a place that I want to run one at again, so if anyone is interested please get in touch.

Who remembers Aesops fable ?
A couple of days ago I was on duty at a regional art exhibition. It's good to  chat with  visitors and find out why they're interested in coming along to an art event .But I should have learned by now that its better not to ask whether they themselves are artists. If someone truly wants to talk to you about their work they'll do it anyway .  But an exhibition is really about enjoying others artwork.
I found myself asking the question and suddenly being deluged with phone images of this persons paintings. She asked my advice about how to become more proficient at watercolour, which she's tried. I replied that the only way to do that is lots of practise. But she was dismissive of that and told me that it was easier to try different mediums if one is too tricky. Again I answered "10,000 hours" and she said that garden sculptures are easier to make. Each time she asked me a question and I replied she neatly deflected it by coming up with an easier option. I was relieved when she finally moved on!
There is no easy way to become a good painter without hours of practise. There are no shortcuts.You may have the odd fluke as a beginner when you paint something amazing, but for most people (myself included) it takes a lot of hard work, maybe some tears, and lots of torn up/burned paintings before you can confidently begin to create beautiful paintings.
If you tackle things methodically, become familiar with both your materials and subjects you will get there in the end.But if you zoom around wildly looking for an easy way I can almost guarantee that you will fail.
I like hares - they have a bad boy reputation , but there's something that fascinates me about them. And you know that they're not even related to rabbits?