As we reach the end of our season of creative holidays here at the Watermill (somewhat curtailed this year, but it’s great to be back in the swing of running our weekly courses here), we are looking forward to repeating our online sessions, running through the Autumn and Winter, before the ‘real thing’ opens up again next spring And who better to give us an autumnal makeover than our old friend Continue Reading
A lovely painting week with Ali and friends
Our thanks to all our guests on Ali Hargreaves’ painting week just ended today. It was a fun week and everybody seemed to enjoy themselves despite the inclement weather. While the week was full of glorious Tuscan sunshine, it was unseasonably cold. Happily, the Watermill’s new air-conditioning came into play, keeping the studio, the communal sitting room and dining room, and all the bedrooms, cosy Continue Reading
By popular demand: our Watermill online, interactive painting sessions start again next month… in a bamboo forest!
It has been very pleasant to be able to start up our real-life creative weeks at the Watermill, after a long layoff due to coronavirus restrictions. We’ve still got another couple of courses at the Watermill itself, but we are now turning our attention to a new series of online, interactive painting sessions, beginning next month. Our first online session is with Randy Hale, the American Continue Reading
Be inspired to write the stories of your life with Jo
Jo Parfitt’s watchword is 'Sharing what I know to help others to grow' and that is certainly what she does on her renowned Writing Your Life Stories week at the Watermill. It is the perfect first step for any writer wanting to develop the skills and confidence necessary to move into writing memoir, non-fiction, articles or blogs. The course is designed to help both enthusiastic beginners and Continue Reading
Watching an artist at work: making a painting from a sketch
I love watching artists at work, making something, as it were, out of nothing. So, this sequence of photos, of Watermill tutor Ali Hargreaves demonstrating how to create a painting a out of a sketch, is just my cup of tea! Ali says: “I was going to make a sketch of the orange tree in your courtyard, but I was so taken by the image of Judy sitting on a bench that I sketched that Continue Reading
Free at last! Ali’s painting group celebrates in glorious Italy
Here are members of Ali Hargreaves’ painting group on the steps of the great castle at Verrucola, near the Watermill, celebrating, at last, their escape from the bureaucratic grip of Covid, and enjoying the inspiring freedom of a Watermill creative course. Thank you for coming, guys: it is great having you here and to be running our courses in full swing at last. We have a couple more Continue Reading
What sort of activities(?) do non-participating partners get up to?
We call them NPPs, Non-Participating Partners, spouses or friends who come with the guests on our creative courses, but do not participate in the painting, writing, knitting or Italian language sessions during the week. We have plenty of optional alternatives for them, including trips and tennis, walks and vineyard visits, marble quarries and enigmatic statues, about which you can find out more Continue Reading
Choose which painting mediums you would like to use in Maggie’s colo(u)rful Watermill week
We are looking forward again, at last, to another colo(u)rful week with our friend and Watermill painting tutor Maggie Renner Hellmann, who will be with us in May/June next year. Our guests always have a fun and inspiring time with Maggie, and with her husband Lou, also a talented artist, who is there to help along, too. Maggie calls her week a Courageous Color Workshop, and among other Continue Reading
Draw and paint for pleasure with Carl in beautiful Tuscany, Italy
Carl March calls his course at the Watermill 'Drawing and Painting for Pleasure’ and that is just what you’ll get if you join this international artist on his painting course here next summer. You will be out at stunning locations in unspoiled rural Tuscany Italy, capturing the scenery with your pencil and brush. .Carl, an English painter and printmaker, has studied in Milan and lived in Continue Reading
Enjoy a colourful knitting week with Debbie in Tuscany next Spring
We are delighted to welcome back Debbie Abrahams for another wonderfully relaxing painting holiday at the Watermill. Debbie will be with us from Saturday 14 May to Saturday 21 May 2022. We already have 11 people (including one non-knitting partner) on her course, so we have room for only one or two more people. Come and join Debbie’s ‘Knitting and La Bella Vita’ week in the beautiful Tuscan Continue Reading