Looking to sunshine in Italy in MAY!

Anyone feel like a painting experience with me in Italy this MAY?
May in Venice - 5 – 12th Details from www.shinafoot.co.uk
Discover the quiet corners of Venice, as well as the islands of the Lagoon..
This trip can be added to Cortona & travel advice available from Margaret
May in Cortona Tuscany - 12-19th Book with info@tuscanyintheframe.com
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For anyone who wants inspiration to paint paint paint..... whether you even need tuition, or just ambience of great company!! Contact me on the web or email
Ciao amici!

Sorry for the Neglect!!

Well, I am humbly sorry to all who have been following the blog! Between internet connections being difficult to access over the last 3 months' travels, I have been a bad girl! But here are a few paintings just off the easel this week and off to various Xmas Shows this week...hopefully to cheer someone else's wall space!!!

Baking batches....working in themes...

I usually find if I have a bee in my bonnet about a certain theme to paint, ie Scottish landscapes, or Venetian cityscpaes, I do a 'set' of them at once. I find it helps to keep a unity through the work if it is going off together to an exhibition. My latest 'batch' are Little People ie children doing things on beaches. Maybe it is the summer theme that is catching on to me, but i am often inspired by what is around me at a particular time.... going to Venice, then Tuscany soon so watch out for the next 'batch'!

'Cuillin Orange'

The half way stage, and the final stage of what is now titled ' Cuillin Orange' Keeping it all as loose as possible now, as i build up layers of painterly marks...and running through my delicious box of 'Great American Artworks' pastels, which are fantastic...and of course, my own selection of colours!! See www.greatpastels.com I selected rows of basic colours as you would in tubes of paint, then added a row of lights, another of darks, then neutrals. The result...a box worth buying!!

Galashiels Workshop Scottish Borders

1-day workshop at Galashiels demonstrating wet techniques with Pastels on Colorfix papers....

Just wrote a whole new post and it lost in transit...blast!

New Inspirations

It always inspires me when I go to the iAPS Pastel Convention in New Mexico - apart from the fantastic surroundings, which I actually got to paint this year, as I taughtt the Plein-Air Workshop, meeting and watching all my favourite artists fills me with new ideas. This year I treated myself to attend Elizabeth Mowry's 'Moods & Mists' demonstration, and it was not only useful, but appropriate to my lovely Scotch Mist I like to paint, so I have just finished off these 2 paintings since returning....more mists to follow!!