An Art Blossoms Morning with Pencoed’s Kestral Art Group

What a fun morning we ladies had down at the Woodlands pavilion yesterday.

Situated in Pencoed just outside Bridgend in South Wales the low level building is surrounded by lush mature shrubs and trees and wide open green spaces making it a gorgeous location to come for a morning of watercolour.

Jayne - in her oils - or should that be watercolours?:)! — Jayne – in her oils – or should that be watercolours?:)!

Below are some photos of artists in action!

No stopping them now - painting seahorses in watercolour — No stopping them now – painting seahorses in watercolour

The day was boiling hot but our end of the building was light but mercifully cool! We opened all the doors wide though to let in a lovely breeze.

A sample of the finished paintings - aren't they gorgeous? — A sample of the finished paintings – aren’t they gorgeous?

I had been invited back to Kestrals to do this morning workshop following on from a demo I did for them a month back. So Audrey, Jayne, Gill, Christine, Elaine, June and Diana were my class and it was a joy to be able to do the demo and then go around and help as they got underway with trying the painting for themselves.

Part of the seahorse step by step handout I had prepared for each member of the group

I had done each demo myself at home a few days before and photographed each step. That way I was able to create handy step-by-step A4 sheets in full colour with instructions which I gave out so to help everyone follow the process with ease…

We painted a magical emerald seahorse and a very realistic dog’s eye as well as having a brief introduction to watercolour papers, paints, brushes and fundamental techniques.

I wish I had got shots of all the eyes painted as there were great results!

One such technique – The Thirsty Brush” proved very useful during the morning as we lifted out colours to create highlights or simply to remove paint from places we didn’t want it to be.

This is a spare palette I took as I picked one of the ladies as my shadow painter for each demo - they painted along with me as the others watched us both — This is a spare palette I took as I picked one of the ladies as my shadow painter for each demo – they painted along with me as the others watched us both – first was Elaine and then Jayne – well done girls for coping with the pressure!

We had a lovely teatime with Christine having made sweet and ever so pretty flower decorated and butter-creamed cupcakes as well as slabs of cherry and chocolate cake. Thanks Christine for that. Wish I’d taken a photo of them but I was too interested in getting my mitts on one and eating it.

Several ladies had not done much with watercolour at all and so it was lovely to hear as we worked how much they were enjoying having a go at it. I hope that they will continue to experiment at home now with their new found confidence.

As usual I got so absorbed in the class and what everyone was doing that we painted right up to the bell and we all had to rush to pack away then! So sorry about that ladies. Next time we’ll stop 15 minutes earlier and re-cap and reflect!

Jayne - here seen agonising over which shade of green to use - decisions, decisions:)! — Jayne – here seen agonising over which shade of green to use – decisions, decisions:)!

If you would like to come to my home studio in Ynysybwl, Pontypridd, for an Art Blossom Painting Day or half day please contact me at eastwitching@hotmail.com or call on 07554344686.