What do you expect from a workshop?

I would love to go on a writing course for a day and be quite brilliant and fully equipped by the end of the day to write my hilarious international bestseller!

My tutor will teach me everything they know, and I’ll pick it up like a pure natural with all the confidence required to see me set off on the road to my new and exciting career. Hahahahaaaaaaaa

Sorry guys, I love running workshops in my studio, but I’m selling a good day out. An experience of painting in a working studio, seeing exactly how I make my work and deciding which bits you think can help your painting move forward, and which bits are utter rubbish and would never work for you.

It really is a fun day, but one of the first pieces of advice I offer, is to manage your expectations. I stop short of gleefully showing you the pile of canvases in a dark corner, that never made the cut, but I will admit to their existence. We all have them. The near miss, the total failure, the one that technically hits all the marks but, in the end, just isn’t good enough.  These pieces are actually as important as the ones that go on show. Without getting it wrong, how can you possibly know how to get it right? By relaxing into a good time, laughing and enjoying the process, you stand a far better chance of producing something you love. Pick the colours that light you up. Swing your arms around and make the marks that are your marks. This is the path to success in the painting studio… well it is in mine anyway.

On the occasions that I try too hard, or feel the pressure, my work freezes. It becomes stifled and stiff. I rely on my own discernment and intuition to tell me when to stop, when to free up, and when to add the detail. Painting with me is a chance to grow your confidence and dare to push yourself. I have many people who come to me after being told as a child they were rubbish at art. (This is gut wrenching to hear and may be the subject of a future blog!) What’s rubbish is to think you can’t do it. Of course you can! You’re great and you can pick a colour and make a mark like no-one else. You’re the best at being you, so come and have a go, leave your worries elsewhere and let yourself go.

If you come for time in the studio with me, expect to enjoy the day, pick up some dos and don’ts, learn some techniques you might not have tried before, and you never know, you might produce something you didn’t know you had in you.

Expect a good day out with the potential of making great discoveries and maybe even some lovely artwork.