I don’t know about you, but I am mightily fed up all the gloom-mongering by our politicians and bureaucrats and above all by the teenage scribblers in our media, who can only see the worst in any situation, and turn out doom-laden goblets of ill-digested and inaccurate information about the coronavirus pandemic and its consequences.
As a counterbalance to this, let me tell you that the Watermill is in the happiness business, providing a secure and beautiful space in which people can learn new creative things, enjoy warm hospitality and great food and wine, and the convivial company of like-minded people. And that is what we will continue doing.
.Our friend and Watermill painting tutor Mike Willdridge always likes to take a ‘silly’ picture when putting together the group photograph at the end of his week. So, this Sunday, instead of being too serious, I thought I might cheer you up by pictures of some of our previous guests being, um, well, silly with Mike, like the one above. Or how about this one, below, taken after a lovely lunch in a hilltop village?
And I have always loved this Mike’s picture of these three ladies waiting for the train to take them to the glorious fishing villages of the Cinque Terre during a Watermill painting week excursion.
The Watermill is in its winter mothballs of the moment, ready for a glorious spring reopening next year. More than 250 people have already booked up to celebrate creativity and conviviality — and not to be too serious. Here is the inspiring list for next year. And to h*ll with the gloom-sayers.
First, painting.
Mary Padgett
30 April – 7 May 2022 Course full, Waiting list open
Pastels (and other portable materials) en plein air
To learn more about Mary and her course at the mill, please visit her 2022 Profile Page.
Keiko Tanabe
21 – 28 May 2022 Course full, Waiting list open
Watercolours
To learn more about Keiko and her course at the mill, please visit her 2022 Profile Page.
Maggie Renner Hellman
28 May-4 June 2022 Still a couple of places
Courageous Color Workshop’ Your choice: oils, acrylics, pastels and/or watercolour travel sketches
To learn more about Maggie and her course at the Watermill, please visit her 2022 Profile Page.
Ruth Koch
4-11 June 2022 Course full, Waiting list open
Art journaling
To learn more about Ruth and her course at the Watermill, please visit her 2022 Profile Page.
Randy Hale
11-18 June 2022 Two or three places left
Watercolours
To learn more about Randy and his course at the Watermill, please visit his 2022 Profile Page.
Ted Dansey
25 June-2 July 2022 Still plenty of places
Watercolours and drawing
To learn more about Ted and his course at the Watermill, please visit his 2022 Profile Page.
Vicki Norman
2-9 July 2022 One of two places left
Oils and watercolours (and other mediums)
To learn more about Vicki and her course at the mill, please visit her 2022 Profile Page.
Pamme Turner
9-16 July 2022 Still plenty of places
Watercolour and gouache en plein air
To learn more about Pamme and her week at the mill, please visit her 2022 Profile Page
Carl March
16-23 July 2022 Three or four places left
Drawing and watercolour en plein air
To learn more about Carl and his course at the mill, please visit his 2022 Profile Page.
Paul Talbot-Greaves
20-27 August 2022 Still plenty of places
Watercolours (and acrylics)
To learn more about Paul and his course at the mill, please visit his 2022 Profile Page.
Rebecca de Mendonça
27 August-3 September 2022 Still plenty of places
Pastels
To learn more about Rebecca and her course at the mill, please visit her 2022 Profile Page.
Mike Willdridge
3-10 September 2022 Course full, Waiting list open
Watercolours and drawing (also gouache and acrylics, with a special emphasis on drawing on location.)
To learn more about Mike and his course at the mill, please visit his 2022 Profile Page.
Varvara Neiman
10-17 September 2022 Still plenty of places
Water-based oils, acrylics and watercolours
To learn more about Varvara and her course at the mill, please visit her 2022 Profile Page.
Milind Mulick
17-24 September 2022 One place left
‘Colourful watercolours’
To learn more about Milind and his course at the mill, please visit his 2022 Profile Page.
Cynthia Armstrong
24 September-1 October 2022 Course full, Waiting list open
Watercolours and gouache
To learn more about Cynthia and her course at the mill, please visit her 2022 Profile Page.
Tim Wilmot
1-8 October 2022 Course full, Waiting list open
Watercolours
To learn more about Tim and his course at the mill, please visit his 2022 Profile Page.
Grahame Booth
8 – 15 October 2022 Course full, Waiting list open
Watercolours
To learn more about Grahame and his course at the mill, please visit his 2022 Profile Page.
Our wonderful writing course
Jo Parfitt
18-25 June 2022 Course full, Waiting list open
Writing your fife stories
To learn more about Jo and her course at the mill, please visit her 2022 Profile Page.
Our notable knitting weeks
Norah Gaughan Course full, Waiting list open
23-30 April 2022
Knitting and la bella vita
To learn more about Norah and her week at the mill, please visit her 2022 Profile Page.
Louisa Harding
7-14 May 2022 two places left
Knitting and la bella vita
To learn more about Louisa and her week at the mill, please visit her 2022 Profile Page.
Debbie Abrahams
14-21 May 2022 Course full, Waiting list open
Knitting and la bella vita
23-30 April 2022
To learn more about Debbie and her week at the mill, please visit her 2022 Profile Page.
Our unique Italian Language course
Francesca la Sala
15-22 October 2022Â Â Four places left
A novel approach to learning Italian
To learn more about Francesca and our unique Italian week at the mill, please click here.