Yes, the roses in the Watermill's walled garden are looking particularly fine this year, which prompted our social media factotum Gina Shearston to celebrate with the new Facebook cover picture above. For all the Watermill views and news, please just click here. We still have a few places left on our 2023 creative courses and we would love you to join us. The latest 2023 is shown below. (Don't Continue Reading
A horse and carriage ride in Lucca, organised by two enterprising Watermill painting course guests
In the main squares of the beautiful city of Lucca, one of the destinations on our Wednesday excursions during our creative course weeks, no lonely cab horse steams and stamps, but occasionally you will see an open horse-drawn carriage clip-clopping through the historic streets. We never knew where they came from until last Wednesday when two enterprising guests on a Watermill painting Continue Reading
Another knitting week to remember
We have just had two sparkling TripAdvisor reviews for Georgia Farrell’s knitting holiday a week or so ago. Both of the participant have been several times before. One, from Chichester in England, writes: “This was a return visit and, as on previous visits, it didn’t disappoint (apart from the weather). The course itself, which was led by Georgia Farrell, had just the right balance of tuition, Continue Reading
Work quickly, catch the moment. Mike’s new painting tip features the borlotti bean
Our Watermill tutors are nothing if not generous in sharing their knowledge and skill with our painting guests – and none more so Mike Willdridge, who urges you to take a sketchbook with you everywhere, to record those fleeting moments which will bring back memories forever. Mike says: “Without a doubt, my greatest pleasure in being an artist is drawing. It was my first love as a child and Continue Reading
High art and high fashion, a compelling combination
Have you wondered what the pictures would look like if the ‘bible’ of high fashion, Vogue magazine, asked famous painters to design its front cover? Wonder no more: over the years the editors of Vogue have done just that., and my favourite online art magazine, Dailyart, has just published an article showing the striking results. That’s an instantly recognisable Salvador Dali cover above from Continue Reading
It’s not just the painters who produce works of art…
This flower arrangement in the centre of our communal dining room was made by our social media factotum Gina Shearston, who also took the photograph. The Watermill team are nothing if not versatile! Continue Reading
Vegetarian snakes or nature as art?
Fawzia Rahman, who took this picture, calls them ‘vegetarian snakes.’ I think they are more like the sinuous natural curves that inspired art nouveau. Fawzia, a guest on Randy Hale’s painting course, took this picture on her afternoon walk along the millstream and riverside yesterday. The sinuous ‘snakes’ are, in fact, decayed tentacles of ivy snaking over logs from a dead fig tree which our Continue Reading
The end of two lovely creative knitting weeks with Georgia Farrell. Now to get down to some plein air painting!
We have just finished two back-to-back knitting weeks with our lovely new tutor Georgia Farrell. It was a great atmosphere on both weeks and our guests particularly seemed to enjoy being pulled out of their comfort zone by Georgia’s ‘knitted collage’ project, in which they clipped out architectural designs and shapes from magazines to make paper collages, which they translated into patterns -- and Continue Reading
Two stunning new pictures from Watermill tutors Tim and Grahame
I have been putting together new Tutor Profiles ready for the Watermill website’s update later this year, and in the process, our tutors have been sending me some stunning new pictures. Among them, Tim Wilmot and Grahame Booth, whose courses this autumn are both fully booked. If you want to enjoy a week with these tremendous watercolour artists and tutors NEXT year, now is the time to book. Continue Reading
Mediaeval architecture and modern sculpture
Sonia Lovett, a guest on this week's Watermill knitting week with Georgia Farrell, took this peaceful photograph of the arch of the lower gateway ( Porta di Sotto) of the walled mediaeval town of Fivizzano, where we visit the weekly local market . Beyond you can see entrries in a marble-carving competition. (The Apuan Alps, the marble mountains of Carrara, are nearby.) Come and see for yourself Continue Reading