Dear Friend,

What better way to start our festive-season newsletter than some pictures from one of this year’s most important innovations: online painting sessions presented by inspiring Watermill tutors. At the top and bottom of this introductory section there are pictures made by some of the participants on the latest of these sessions, a snowy scene by the renowned pastellist Rebecca de Mendonça.

Painting skies
was one of Mike Willdridge’s online,
interactive painting subjects

Yes, the big news of the year is that we have become online entrepreneurs, producing a series of live, interactive painting sessions. The concept was inspired by our painting-tutor friend Michael Willdridge and has proved highly successful: hundreds of people from all over the world join in our weekly Zoom sessions, watching Mike and others at work and painting along with him. Together we’ve created an international group, where like-minded people get together to enjoy creativity and camaraderie. We even hosted a ‘virtual’ Watermill week, where our online guests ‘visited’ the wonderful Tuscan locations we normally go to on our Watermill creative courses, painting along with Mike every afternoon for seven days.

We also gave them Watermill recipes, so that they could cook at home, to add to the flavour (sorry about that!) of their virtual week. And talking of la cucina, we are now working on a new online series called Italian Cooking, Watermill Style. Watch out Nigella! That’s Lois (above left) in the nerve centre of the Watermill cooking operation, while to the right is one of our most popular puddings: chocolate cake from Capri made with ground almonds rather than flour.

You can come and taste Italian cooking, Watermill style for real, on one of our renowned week-long creative holidays, in painting, creative writing, knitting and Italian language. We have organised another exciting season for 2021 and already these weeks, the perfect combination of relaxation and creativity, are filling up: we have more than 215 bookings out of a potential total of some 250/260.

Now is the time to reserve your place if you want to enjoy inspiring teaching, warm hospitality and convivial company (and chocolate cake from Capri, as well as other delights from the Watermill’s cucina). There’s more about our 2021 creative courses on our Watermill website: Just click here.

In this month’s newsletter we have stories on:

• A winter rose brings promise of a brighter spring
• Harvesting next year’s liquid gold
• Watermill memories last through the years
• Celebrating a 17th century female painter who achieved fame in a man’s world
• Thanks to Italian sunshine, we've done it again!
• A sneak preview of our next interactive, online sessions
• ‘Her wonderful paintings are an inspiration.' Painting tutor of the month: Vicki Norman
• An interview with knitting tutor Norah Gaughan
• Famous books that were almost called something else
• The Italian festive cake battle: panettone or pandoro?

Happy reading!

I know we planned our honeymoon
in Windsor, Albert,
but don’t you think a week at
the Watermill
would be more amusing?

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.

Picture of Victoria and Albert’s wedding (above, right) by George Hayter

A Winter rose brings promise of a brighter Spring

To say the early December weather at the Watermill was inclement is a gross understatement. We had it all: rain, sleet, hail, frost, snow and strong winds, which sent us scurrying for indoor warmth.

Italian kids look to the future, too

The weather calmed down towards the middle of the month and on one of our well-wrapped morning walks, we were heartened to see the rose above left still blossoming on a sunny wall on the southern façade of the Watermill.

It was not alone: several other blooms (above right) defied the season, bright symbols that tutto andrà bene, all will be well.

PS: We even made a little Facebook slideshow of roses at the Watermill, to remind us what early summer looks like in Posara. You can view it by clicking here.

Harvesting next year's liquid gold

(Left) Lois, Vivienne and Nick with a can of next year’s precious olive oil
(Right) Vivienne hard at work gathering in the crop

Here’s Lois, with our friends Vivienne and Nick White, with a tin of ‘liquid gold’, this year’s olive oil for the Watermill: hand-picked, cold-pressed, environmentally friendly, virtually food-mile-free, ready for your delectation during our creative courses in 2021.

Vivienne and Nick have some 600 olive trees on the land surrounding their beautiful house in the village of Canneto, high in the hills, a few kilometres from the Watermill. Lois has been helping out with the harvest, and Nick and Vivienne have been overseeing the pressing of their extra virgin oil in the local olive press. It is certainly amongst the best olive oil in the world and 12 five-litre cans are already on order for the Watermill.

Watermill memories last through the years

Bonny Myers, one of the guests on our Watermill online ‘virtual’ painting week last month, was prompted by our ‘visit’ to the castle and village of Verrucola to dig out an acrylic she painted there more than a dozen years ago, when she was a guest on one of our ‘real’ painting courses. She kindly sent it to us (above left). Bonny is still correcting the painting, as you can see from the chalk marks.

So, you see, a Watermill painting course doesn’t just last week, but a lifetime. Come and join us and create your own memories. And return to your paintings again and again! So why not beat the coronavirus blues, book your place and enjoy pleasant anticipation during the winter months?

Celebrating a 17th-century painter who achieved fame in a man's world

(Left) Gentileschi Bedroom - Picture: Francesco Lastrucci
(Right) Artemisia self-portrait as the allegory of painting

Our Facebook tours of Watermill bedrooms continue today with the Gentileschi: celebrating the life and work of Artemisia Gentileschi, an early 17th-century Baroque painter working in Florence, at a time when female painters were not easily accepted by the artistic community, nor by patrons. But she was highly successful and was the first woman ever to become a member of the Accademia di Arte del Disegno.

Picture: the Uffizi Gallery, Florence

Artemisia has become a feminist’s favourite and while I appreciate her skill, I’m not the greatest of fans of Baroque painting in general. But in the naming of our bedrooms, it is good to celebrate women artists as well as the more well known men of the Renaissance and Early Modern period. Below is Gentileschi’s rather horrific Judith slaying Holofernes, which you can see in the Uffizi gallery in Florence. It is also considered a self-portrait and carrying a feminist message, way before the #metoo movement.

We should celebrate two other artistic women, too: Vivienne White (of olive-picking fame, see story above), our friend and interior designer, and Lois Breckon, who together chose the colours and painted the animated frieze of dandelion puffballs.

The paintings above the bed (above left) are by a contemporary male artist, our friend and Watermill tutor, Michael Willdridge, and are part of a series of 100 paintings he painted in 100 days in 2018. (Number 100 is on our sitting room wall.)

Another delight of the Gentileschi bedroom is the French windows looking out on to the riverside terrace (above right) with the Rosaro burbling beyond. Again, we have made one of those fun, 30-second Facebook slideshows with pictures of the Gentileschi bedroom. You can view it by clicking here.

Thanks to Italian sunshine, we've done it again

Our handy little app shows that we have generated more than 14,000 kWh of electricity
from our photovoltaic panels this year

You may remember that we commissioned our photovoltaic electricity-producing system some 18 months again, on 12 June 2019 to be precise. In its first year of operation it produced no fewer than 14,000 kilowatt hours of electricity – a wonderful achievement. Yesterday, we are pleased to announce, in the first full calendar year of operation, we have achieved our goal yet again. We made 14,000 kWh between 1 January 2020 and 21 December 2020. Overall, our home-produced electricity total is now more than 21,000, kilowatt hours, and in the process, we have also saved 15 tonnes of carbon dioxide production. Something to celebrate in these gloomy times.

Solar power to keep you cool.
Some of our panel embedded in the roof
of the 19th century watermill

Our arrays of photovoltaic panels, hidden away on our south-facing roofs overlooking the river, make us totally self-sufficient in electricity generation, even powering the new air-conditioning units in all our bedrooms and public rooms. We’ve commissioned the air-conditioning system, and we now have another little app which enables us to control each unit remotely, even from Florence!

As you know, the Watermill is renowned for its inspiring teaching, its beautiful setting, its delicious food and wine, and its warm and welcoming hospitality. Now, whatever the weather, you will be Cool and Green with us.

At the moment we have no guests at the Watermill to enjoy the fruits of our photovoltaic labours. Still, we are putting the bulk of our production back into the electricity grid, giving us plenty of credit for when we are able to welcome you here again. Very soon, we hope.

A sneak preview of our next online sessions

(Left) A snowy English village: demonstration picture for Mike Willdridge's next online session
(Right) A demonstration picture by Randy Hale of sunlit houses in Lucca, Italy

As we said above, the Watermill’s series of online, interactive painting sessions has proved a great success.

We are taking a Christmas break at the moment, but starting up again in the New Year and I thought I’d just give you a sneak preview of our next sessions.

The Watermill's online sessions webpage:
Just click here to go there

As well as painting along with our inspiring tutors on our online sessions, you will also enjoy an afternoon of camaraderie with like-minded people.

We would be delighted if you could join us, and you can register your interest here. In addition to watercolourists Mike Willdridge and Randy Hale, we will also be welcoming in January and February our tutor in acrylics, Sue Ford, and pastellist, Rebecca de Mendonça.

Whichever medium you choose, painting along with our inspiring tutors will make your day.