Lois and I have just been for our Sunday morning constitutional along the riverside during our weekend visit ensure that all is progressing satisfactorily ready for the opening of our creative courses next month. All is coming along well. We have installed new powerful Wi-Fi to ensure fast international communications for our guests; a man […]
‘One-stop Uffizi’ 3: Piero and the one-eyed duke
We were talking recently with friends about the importance of not letting the ‘back story’ get in the way of looking at pictures. You know what I mean: becoming bogged down in facts and figures, like who painted the picture and when, the historical context, the implications of the subject matter and, as far as […]
A symbol of optimism and hope
I was preparing some flyers for our tutors who are coming in 2023 (we like to keep ahead at the Watermill!) and I came across this delightful sunflower painting by Maggie Renner Hellmann. It struck me as the perfect symbol of optimism and hope as we begin to finalise our plans for this season of […]
Eavesdrop our stories to improve your creative writing. Find out more in this month’s Watermill newsletter
The Watermill March newsletter, just out, contains it usual rich mix of stories on painting, creative writing, knitting and Italian language, including an article on how listing into other people’s conversation can improve your creative writing. Read all about it by clicking here. In this month’s newsletter there are also stories on how to avoid […]
A nostalgic watercolour to introduce this week’s report on Watermill creative course availability
Forgive a little nostalgia on a Sunday morning, but this atmospheric watercolour of the Watermill is by our old friend and erstwhile Watermill painting tutor John Christian and it brings back fond memories of the Watermill 10 years ago. A lot has happened since then, with major renovations and restorations, including en suite bathrooms in […]
Yes, trains appeal to the female as well as the male. Come and enjoy a delightful train journey on a Watermill creative course
Well, we’ve been overwhelmed by the response to our blog yesterday asking whether women like pictures of trains and railway stations, or whether it is just a man thing. More than 550 people Liked our Facebook report on the blog, of whom more than 150 took the trouble to comment. The overwhelming majority of those […]
More good news on travel to Italy
The Italian health minister Roberto Speranza yesterday announced a further easing of restrictions for visitors from the United Kingdom and the United States (among other countries) to make it even easier for you to travel to Italy for a creative holiday at the Watermill. From March 1 onwards you will not need to take a […]
Do women like paintings of railway stations and trains? Or is it a man thing? Please let me know
I was browsing through the online Dailyart magazine (https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/) when I came across a fascinating article, to my mind at least, called Fabulous Railway Station Paintings from the Golden Age of Train Travel. I thought: ‘I will share that our Watermill Facebook friends. There are more than 8,000 of you, mainly women.’ Then I thought: […]
Mike’s Watermill memories linger on – so could yours
We have said it before (and no doubt we will say it again), memories of a week’s creative course at the Watermill linger on for months, if not years, if not forever afterwards. This is particularly true of painting courses, where our guests relive their time with us by painting at home pictures based on […]
Do you get ‘cultural indigestion’ in art galleries?
I don’t know about you, but after I have been for half an hour or so in great art galleries like the Uffizi, I start to suffer from ‘cultural indigestion’ or ‘cultural overload.’ I have seen so many masterpieces that my poor old brain just can’t take any more. Or rather cannot give the proper […]