Dear Friend,

How does this tickle your appetite: panigacci piccoli con sugo di funghi, pesto di rucola, e cipolle agridolce; branzato di manzo, con rosmarino e radicchio; tris di crumble di mela, mini cupcake, mousse di cioccolato? Food always sounds wonderful in Italian and, at the Watermill, we aim to make it taste good as well.

So, we’ve been having a tasting of new dishes we’ll be serving here next year, prepared by our new cook, Arianna Merlini, among them those three dishes above. They are mini panigacci (a homemade bread, local to our area, rather like pitta) with a choice of mushroom sauce, pesto made with rocket, and sweet-and-sour onions; slow-cooked beef, with rosemary and radicchio; a tasting trio of apple crumble, mini cupcake and chocolate mousse. We have to say the tasting was an enormous success (see how we sacrifice ourselves to improve the offering to our guests) and Arianna will join Mirella Musetti and Lois Breckon, taking turns to prepare delicious meals.

If you’ve been to the Watermill before, you’ll know how seriously we take our food. Mirella, our Italian ‘grandmother’ cooks amazing traditional dishes, like tagliatelle with porcini mushrooms and arista (Tuscan roast pork) and her tiramisù and pannacotta are to die for. Lois, meanwhile, makes incredible involtini (chicken breast fillets rolled around cheese and ham, with a creamy sauce) and a sensational torta di cioccolata alla moda di Capri, a melt-in-the mouth chocolate cake made with ground almonds instead of flour. And sometimes we keep it simple, with a salad of lettuce, borage and nasturtium flowers, all from the Watermill garden

All this adds a further dimension to your Watermill experience, whether you are on a painting, knitting, creative writing, Italian language or yoga week. Bill can’t wait until the new season starts!

We’d love to welcome you here this year for one of our sun-filled, fun-filled, inspiring courses and there are more details below about all of them. Bookings are continuing to flow in, so if you’ve a favourite tutor, a specific week, or a special bedroom that you like, please get in touch as soon as you can, and we’ll set aside a place for you. Just click here, select the type of course you are interested in (painting, knitting, writing, yoga and or language), find out more about your tutor, then go to the Booking Enquiry form, fill in as appropriate and send it to us.

The two pictures above show (left) the food tasters ready to go and (right) a selection of starters; while below are, (left) a selection of dolci and (right) a simple salad (left), lettuce, borage and nasturtium flowers, all from the Watermill garden, with a mustard and honey vinaigrette.

In this month’s newsletter there are also stories on:

• happiness
• postcards and bookmarks
• dirty hands
• pencils and prayers
• singing mouthwash
• feet and sleep

Intrigued? Read on....

Together
at the Watermill

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

Why not bring your friend or partner? 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 2018 courses, as well as a generous £GBP 250 discount if they share a room with you.

Happiness is watercolour painting, says Sandra

The sparkling new watercolour (above) of a vase of flowers is by Watermill ‘Painter in Residence’ Sandra Strohschein. Sandra has sent us a few thoughts about why she was inspired by the flowers – and why she called her painting Happiness.

She says:“When I was in the middle of a busy day I happened to look over at a beautiful bouquet of flowers sitting on my kitchen counter. Next to them, were some old grapes and a couple of tangerines.

“The sun was striking them in a way that just filled me with a surprising moment of happiness: that wonderful moment: when you see something completely random and it stops you in your tracks, where the only thing you can do is pause for a moment and appreciate the beauty. This for me is the essence of happiness: not contrived, but casual and spontaneous.”

Sandra adds: “Maybe this is why I like watercolor so much: the spontaneity. We all talk about it but how to create it?Therein lies the challenge!

“My process for planned spontaneity happens like this. First, I do a loose gestural drawing with my pencil to get a feel for where my brushes will go. Usually this is when I plan on where I will keep my edges crisp and sharp.

 “In the painting, Happiness, I planned these moments around the fruit at the base, the white daisy and the pink flower on the right. With that plan I began the painting moving from one area to the next, letting colors spontaneously run together where I was not planning on a crisp edge. This all works out very well for me because I paint on dry paper. It's easy to hang on to edges when the paper is dry.

“Of course, once an area is wet, that is the time to play and let colors mingle and merge. I prefer to mix colors on the paper rather than the palette. This allows watercolor to be spontaneous. Hopefully, if I have let watercolor be watercolor, my effort at controlled chaos will pay off. When everything is dry, I usually go back in and layer a few dark glazes to further emphasize the light and shadow. I also go in and dry brush a few things.

“In the painting, Happiness, this is seen in the centers of the flowers and the blue lines defining the pottery. There are two moments that I love on the pottery: the way the blue line blurred at the bottom and the way the pink flower blurs into the pottery. I did not plan this, it just happened. Perhaps the paper had become a little wet and the colors ran. Instead of freaking out and trying to fix it, I just let it be.

Happiness:
Sandra in the Watermill garden

“I titled this work Happiness because that is how I felt when I saw the moment and all throughout the painting process. I stopped what I had been doing and immediately ran to my studio to paint what had excited me. I waited a long time to begin my life as a painter because I knew spontaneity would be a big part of it.

"Now, it is such a joy to be at a place where most of the time I am free to sit down and paint as the mood strikes. I hope you find yourself happy in your life as a painter too! "

Congratulations to Rebecca

Congratulations to our lovely pastel tutor Rebecca de Mendonça, who has been shortlisted as 2018 Artist of the Year by Artists and Illustrators magazine. The picture that gained her entry, London Afternoon,is shown above (Left).

Rebecca, who ran a wonderful pastel course at the Watermill last year with her colleague Nel Whatmore (above Right - Rebecca on the Left and Nel on the Right), will be back at the Watermill this September. Eleven people are already booked in for their course, but we’ve still a few places left: details and links below. Why don’t you come and learn the secrets of pastel painting from these two inspiring artists?

Postcard memories from Mike (and Sandra and the Watermill)

Our watercolour painting tutor and old friend Mike Willdridge has been visiting his daughter and grandchildren in Australia and he tells me: “For the last eight years, wherever I’ve travelled, I’ve drawn postcards for all my grandchildren (now four of them) and I was surprised to find so many of the cards posted on my daughter’s kitchen cabinets here in Australia.” Above left is a card that Mike sent last year from the Isles of Scilly, off the South-west of England. And to the right, another one Mike found in his daughter’s house, made on an earlier trip to Australia, influenced by indigenous art.

Our tutor Sandra Strohschein also likes postcards. Here’s the back of a vintage one (Left) she decorated with some vibrant roses.

Postcards are a terrific way of preserving memories and Mike will be persuading you to make your own. But if you’d rather not, The Watermill provides postcards (above Right) to remind you of your week with us – and to send to your friends to tell them what a wonderful time you’re having! We’ll even provide free stamps for you to post them home.