Dear Friend,

Well, here we are then. We're running a painting course at the mill this week, but after six months of positive thinking and optimism, we have had to abandon hope of any others happening this year. But we shall survive... As that old Eastern proverb exhorts us: Fall down seven times, get up eight. That quote is often attributed to that wise old sage Confucius, but we are not so sure it’s really his aphorism. What he did say, certainly, was: Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

So, here we are bobbing up again, concentrating our positive thoughts on 2021, where we have a wonderful programme of creative courses lined up. And we already have more than 180 bookings from people keen to join us next year, many of whom have switched from this year. So if you would like to sample the unique delights of a Watermill creative course, now is the time to reserve your place.

Just click
https://watermill.net/ for more info

There are more details later on in this newsletter, but you can also just click here to see our updated Watermill website and to be inspired.

A lot of positive things have occurred this year too, not just in our private lives, but also in maintaining and improving the ambience of the mill. Thanks to Karsten Müller and Flavio Terenzoni, the mill and its gardens are looking splendid. And we have had some fun times here with friends and family. So before we tell you about our plans for next year, there are one or two stories about our summer lives at the mill, notably on roadside fruit and irresistible pastries, and on the magic of early morning sunlight illuminating our valley. To say nothing of the Mount of Olives...

Happy reading....

May the Force be with you:
Princess Leia and Hans Solo
from Star Wars

Bring a partner: there's plenty for them to do

They don’t have to participate in the course, but they will be able to enjoy the wonderful hospitality of the mill and, whenever they want, to come out with you to our beautiful locations.

We also offer a range of Alternative activities for partners on all our courses, as well as a generous £GBP 250 discount if they share a room with you.

Free fruit, irresistible pastries

While preparing the Watermill for the season, Lois and I and our daughter Lara went on a few early morning walks, up the hill to the nearby village of Moncigoli, from which there are wonderful views over the valley of the River Rosaro (pictures in the next story below). And, by the roadside, brambles in profusion, to add to our morning breakfast. Lara took the picture above left to prove that free food is not without cost: she is trying to demonstrate the scars she received while picking. You can see them if you look closely, but we think she’s going to live!

Ever keen to add to the culinary delights of the Watermill, Lois suggested at breakfast that we placed some of the blackberries on top of peanut-buttered toast (above right). And very tasty they were too.

If you join us next summer when the blackberries are ripe, you can try them yourself. But, of course, our culinary offers run to much more than that: delicious food with an Italian flavour cooked by Lois and our local chefs. Among the delights: involtini, panzanella, finocchio al forno, tagliatelle con funghi porcini, torta di cioccollato di Capri. That sounds a little more sophisticated, doesn’t it?

Gaudy but gorgeous

Come and join one of our renowned creative weeks next year and enjoy inspirational teaching, a beautiful setting, warm hospitality, convivial company and, of course, la bella cucina italiana. Oh, and some peanut butter, if that’s what you fancy.

And still on the food front, not free, but irresistible, we have also been enjoying from time to time pasticcini, sweet pastries, made by our friends at the Ricci pasticceria in nearby Fivizzano. Bill is particularly fond of those mini rum babas. We will be tempting our guests on our creative courses with these on Tuesday afternoons, when we return from the market in the nearby walled mediaeval town of Fivizzano.

Early morning sun

Above are a couple of pictures, taken by Lara Breckon, on our early morning walks. On the left: the sun bringing our valley to life, with the imposing Apuan Alps in the background. On the right: A view of the mountains from the rooftops of the village of Moncigoli. All this is just a short stroll from the Watermill.

And here is another morning picture, taken before breakfast at a friend’s house:

Not such a bad life, although we have had no guests this year to share our bella vita. We are missing you, so come and savour all this on one of our renowned creative weeks – painting, creative writing, knitting and Italian language – and share the delights of unspoiled Tuscany. There are details of our inspiring 2021 creative courses further below.

The Mount of Olives

Overnight, a antique mural of ancient olive branches has emerged on the stairs inside our Tuscan House in the Watermill complex. It looks like it has been there for ever, but it was all in a day’s work for Lois and our good friend, interior designer Vivienne White. Here they are at work creating another enticing space the Watermill. Our thanks to Vivienne for her enthusiasm and support.

Bill was tempted to call the murals The Mount of Olives, but he has been restrained.

Dramatic scene inspires Mike’s online pupils

The dramatic scene on the right, painted by Watermill tutor Mike Willdridge, is of a thundery day at Milford Sound in New Zealand. It was the latest subject of Mike’s series of free, interactive Internet painting sessions, organised by the Watermill at Posara. And it proved inspirational to the 100+ people who took part in the session this week.

Many of the participants in these fun sessions send us their efforts at the end of the day. Here is a montage of just eight of them, chosen entirely at random by Bill. Thanks to all who sent in their pictures; apologies to those whose works were omitted. We simply don’t have space for them all.

We suspect the images here are a little small to do them justice, so Bill made one of those 30-second Facebook videos, which you can see by clicking here.

We have organised more of these inspiring sessions which are designed to help you brush up your painting skills. They are completely free, though many of our guests have generously sent us donations, for which many thanks. If you would like to donate (it is purely voluntary), Lois will tell you how to do so when you sign up for one or more of the sessions. (Details below.)

The next batch of three sessions will run on Thursdays in September. The dates are 10 September, 17 September and 24 September and the sessions, as usual, will be at 2.30 in the afternoon, British time. The theme will be ‘cafés and markets’ and, since we went on a wonderful trip to Venice in August, here is a picture of the Rialto fish market there to get you in the mood.

When you register with Lois, she will send you more images to inspire you.

Please register by using the Watermill contact form, which you can find by clicking here. Mark the topic as ‘Mike’s free interactive sessions.

Unlike many online painting programmes, Mike’s will not expect you to ‘look over his shoulder’ for a long demonstration, and perhaps be allowed to ask the odd question or two. No, you will be painting along at more or less the same time, trying out the watercolour techniques that Mike has shown you, step-by-step. He will demonstrate some basic techniques for only a few minutes before you start painting the same subject at home. Then, after you have had your turn, Mike will move onto the next part of the process. Lois will be on hand to feed your questions. The session will last a couple of hours.

Mike’s demonstration picture
of a busy market
for one of our interactive sessions

Before each session Mike supplies photograph of what is going to be painted, and a list of equipment and colours for your palette. We will send these beforehand to all the participants in the session. After the session we will send you a link that will enable to you revisit Mike’s step-by-step teaching.

We will be running these online sessions throughout the autumn and winter months, as part of the Watermill’s contribution to online teaching (and fun), but also to try to persuade you to come and sample the real thing one of our Watermill creative courses, as outlined below in the next story.

Looking forward to a creative annus mirabilis in 2021

Yes, after our annus miserabilis of 2020 were looking forward to a ‘wonderful year’ in 2021. We have created a very full programme of creative courses and we hope we can entice you to come and join us.

Many of our regular tutors will be with us again, and we have some exciting and inspiring new tutors too. So, whether your metier is painting, creative writing, knitting or learning more of the wonderful Italian language, the Watermill is the place to be. Cast off your (and our) coronavirus blues and get your booking in now! We can’t wait to welcome you here.

As usual, we have an exciting mixture of old and trusted tutors, together with some inspiring new ones. Our new tutors are a truly international team:

• Mary Padgett from the USA
• Carl March from the UK
• Grahame Booth from Ireland
• Caroline Deeble from Australia
• Randy Hale from the USA
• Milind Mulick from India
• Brienne Brown from the USA
• Ali Hargreaves from the UK.

Our returning painting tutors and friends are:

• Keiko Tanabe from Japan
• Sandra Strohschein from the USA
• Paul Talbot-Greaves from the UK
• Rebecca de Mendonça from the UK
• Vicki Norman from the UK
• Sue Ford from the UK
• Mike Willdridge from the UK
• Charles Sluga from Australia
• Tim Wilmot from the UK.

We will be introducing them individually in our newsletters and in our daily blogs, which you can see by clicking here. In this month’s newsletter, we are featuring the return of our lovely Japanese tutor Keiko Tanabe and we are welcoming the passionate Pastellist Mary Padgett from the USA. Below are Keiko’s atmospheric watercolour of the Watermill vine verandah and Mary’s striking pastel of cypress trees near Florence. (For more about Keiko and Mary, please see Painting News below.)

On the knitting front, we have two exciting new tutors: Norah Gaughan from the USA, and Louisa Harding, from the UK. There is more about them, and about our Knitting Retreat, in Knitting News, below.

Our two exciting new knitting tutors, Norah and Louisa

Our writing tutors are old friends: Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran will be presenting their unique Scriptwriting course, while Jo Parfitt will be here for another of her world-renowned Writing Your Life Stories. There’s more about them in Writing News, below.

And, last but by no means least, we are delighted to welcome back our old friend and language tutor Francesca La Sala, for another of her unique Italian Language weeks. Again, there are more details below.

Laurence and Maurice, Jo and Francesca.

Come and enjoy inspiring tuition, a beautiful setting, warm hospitality, delicious food and the convivial company of like-minded people.

Just to remind you that we are Cool and Green

Vicki Norman’s evocative oil painting
of sunshine on a nearby vineyard

Just in case you were worried that it may be too warm for you in the summer months in Italy, don’t forget that we are a thousand feet above sea level and enjoy cool breezes from the mountains. But within the Watermill complex itself, we are also Cool and Green!

We have installed air-conditioning units in all our bedrooms and in the public rooms (the dining room, the sitting room, the studio). They are all powered by our array of photovoltaic cells, installed last summer, which are already making more than enough power to ensure that we are self-sufficient in electricity. In the first year of operation we have produced more than 14,000 kilowatt hours of solar-powered electricity and what’s more, we saved more than 10 tonnes of carbon dioxide production.