Dear Friend,

The Watermill’s 2023 creative season began at the end of April with a painting course tutored by the delightful Ali Hargreaves. The pictures at the top and bottom of this introductory section show Ali (top right) and some of our guests enjoying themselves at the Watermill or out on location.

It is good to be again doing what the Watermill does best: providing inspiring tuition, warm hospitality, delicious home-cooked food and local wines and savouring the convivial company of our guests.

Some of Ali’s group
painting the imposing castle
and fortified village of Verrucola,
one of the venues
for our painting expeditions

A thousand thanks to all of you who have booked a creative course this year – in painting, creative writing, knitting or Italian language. In fact, we ought to say 267 thanks, for that’s the number of people who are booked in for this year, a record.

We still have a few places left and there is a list below of the 2023 courses where we still have availability. We would love to welcome you here, but if you can’t make it this year, you had better bag your place for 2024. We only published our Watermill website 2024 Preview a few weeks ago and already we have more than 60 bookings. To find out about all NEXT year’s courses, please click here.

And don’t forget, there is a bonus: if you book one of next year’s courses NOW, you will be able to enjoy it at 2023 prices. This offer will end in September.

*Don’t forget that you will be Cool and Green at the Watermill: all our bedrooms and public rooms are air-conditioned, powered by our hidden array of photovoltaic cells, which make us self-sufficient in electricity. We’ve already saved more than 35 tons of carbon emissions from conventional power stations. Not only that, we've set up a scheme to remove this year from the most polluted parts of our oceans plastic waste equivalent to some 40,000 plastic bottles. This means our creative course guests will be ‘plastic neutral’ during their stay with us. You can learn all about it by clicking here.

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.

What shall we do with our New Found Land?

Our Terra Nuova is a tiny strip of land, beside the river Rosaro, just beyond the Watermill cascades. We purchased it recently from a neighbour, so I suppose it’s not strictly true to call it New Found Land (more like The Louisiana Purchase only much, much smaller) but it completes the protective ‘natural cordon’ around the mill. It also gives us the opportunity to improve still further the wonderful view from the Vasari Suite and Ghirlandaio and Uccello bedrooms, which overlook the cascades and the river Rosaro bubbling beyond. We’re not sure what we’re going to do with it yet. There is talk of having raised beds with low stone walls, perhaps even using river stones. Lois fancies an array of bulging squashes growing there. Or flowers to cut for the Watermill bedrooms. Whatever we do, we will nurture nature, if you see what I mean, and produce something in keeping with the beautiful surroundings of the Watermill.

Former guest and Watermill fan Margit Hotchkiss suggested: “A little waterside area where it’s easy to take a dip or sit to watch the river flow by.” And tutor Randy Hale’s idea: “You know what might be fun? Find a really good viewing spot of the Mill Stream down along the riverbank and create a flagstone patio surface with a path to it, so there’s enough room for a whole group to paint along the river edge with unobstructed views of spillways and the rushing stream. There should still be plenty of space left for flowers, raised beds, even some benches.”

That does sound fun. We will talk to Randy about it when he is here in couple of weeks’ time. And we would also love to hear your views. Please send us your thoughts.

Ali’s dress
is as colourful
as her painting

A double celebration on Ali’s week

We had a lovely week with Ali Hargreaves and our painting guests. The picture above shows Ali painting last Friday near the hilltop village of Monte dei Bianchi, before a gourmet lunch overlooking the mountains.

As usual on the Friday evening, we had a little prosecco reception in the studio while we admired their week’s efforts. Very impressive too. It was a double celebration since it was our manager, Karsten Müller’s birthday, so we all raised a glass to him, Lois and I giving particular thanks for his wonderful work with us over the years to make the Watermill so special a place.

A 'virtual' week at the mill - Video Box Sets

From the comfort of your own home, and in your own time, you can enjoy the excitement of painting watercolour in the wonderful Tuscan countryside, with Mike Willdridge. As Mike says: "You really only learn to paint by PAINTING," and these videos help you do just that.

These unique 'box sets' comprise the edited online sessions from Mike's 'virtual' weeks at the mill, with different scenes for each week.. There are seven separate videos for each box set, one for each venue including sketching in Pisa and the Cinque Terre (Lucca in the second week). You paint along with Mike 'on location', learning about perspective, mixing colours and drawing figures, all the while deepening your knowledge and experience of painting watercolour. As one student said: "I learnt more in seven days than I had in seven years!"

For more information and to order your BOXSET, please visit our Online Painting Courses Page here. Or go direct to a virtual painting week or another virtual painting week.

We can still fit you in on one of our 2023 creative courses

As we said above, our 2023 creative courses have filled up fast, but we still have a few places left:

• Georgia Farrell (knitting), 6 to 13 May (Lippi Suite and Ghirlandaio remaining)
• Pamme Turner (watercolour and gouache), 20 to 27 May (Uccello remaining)
• knitting retreat (no tutor), 15 to 22 July (Donatello, Ghiberti and Vasari Suite remaining)
• Giulia Balestri (Italian Language), 15 to 22 October (Bronzino, Brunelleschi, Fra Angelico, Vasari Suite remaining)

You will find our full 2023 programme here. if you like the look of a tutor or week that is currently full, don’t despair: there are often cancellations. Please get in touch via the Watermill Contact Form (by clicking here) and we will put you on a waiting list.