Don’t they look bright and cheerful? It has been a freezing week and the flowers and plants in the Watermill gardens and grounds are quite rightly waiting for more signs of spring until they burst forth. So these bright red berries of the nandina* bush add a much-needed splash of colour. We have three or […]
The Ghirlandaio bedroom:Modern comforts in a beautifully restored 17th century watermill
Our tour of Watermill bedrooms continues today with the Ghirlandaio. Here’s Lois’ video to tell you about it In the video, Lois mentions Domenico Ghirlandaio’s beautiful cycle of frescoes on the life of St Francis in the Sassetti Chapel of the Santa Trinità church in Florence. It’s a great place to see great art without […]
What is the point of George’s Sunday afternoon in the park?
Today I’m continuing my musings on great paintings, part of my contribution to the artistic ethos of the Watermill. The iconic picture above, George Seurat’s Un dimanche après-midi à l’ÃŽle de la Grande Jatte, is, I suppose, the prime example of pointillisme, the painting style which attempted systematically to apply optical science to art, making […]
The special holidays of Non-Participating Partners
While his wife Alison was painting with Grahame Booth yesterday, Greg Cokorinos enjoyed a breath-taking walk, taking in three villages of the beautiful Cinque Terre, with magnificent views over the Mediterranean… The day before both of them had gone to the quintessential Italian city of Lucca on the Watermill’s Wednesday excursion.… A couple of weeks […]
Mike’s ‘silly’ photograph of his painting group reminds us of fun and friendship
It is worthwhile being an Early Bird. See below. Continuing the tradition of taking a ‘silly’ photograph at the end of his painting weeks with us, Mike Willdridge has just sent us this fun picture of the group that was with us a week or so ago. He says: “As I write (now back in Poundbury […]
 Truthfully poignant observations on youth and old age
As John Keats told us “Beauty is truth, truth beauty – that is all you know on earth and all you need to know.†Art, too, whether writing or the visual arts, only really succeeds (in my opinion) when it is true, stripped away of self-delusion and artifice. That is why, for me, the self-portraits […]
Calling oil painters and pastellists: come and paint with Pamme at the Watermill
Our enthusiastic American painting tutor Pamme Turner calls her week-long course at the Watermill a Plein Air Essentials workshop (for watercolor and gouache). But she tells me that she is very happy to welcome and help oil painters and pastellists, too. So, if these are your preferred mediums why not join Pamme for her week […]
Maggie captures some of the atmospheric delights of a Watermill painting holiday
Here are a couple of bright paintings by Watermill tutor Maggie Renner Hellmann, capturing just two of the many inspiring subjects in and around the Watermill. Above left is Maggie’s colourful and innovative interpretation of the view from the walls of the mediaeval town of Fivizzano down the river Rosaro towards Posara; while to the […]
And today’s surprise is… apple strudel!
Every day at the Watermill, we like to give our guests a surprise, a little something to add to the enjoyment of their day, already full of inspiring tuition, beautiful surroundings, delicious food and wine and the convivial company of like-minded people on a creative course. It might be ‘a little night music,’ a short […]
If music be the food of love, the menu is written in Italian
Have you ever thought why Italian is the language of music? Pick up a musical score and instructions will tell you, for example, to play or sing allegro non troppo (fast but not too fast) or to take it easy: rallentando, slow down! I was reminded of this Italian domination of the classical musical scene […]