We know that artists ‘see’ the world better than we do and we know that the area of Lunigiana around the mill, a National Park, abounds in wildlife, but we have never seen a penguin walking on a high wire across the valley of the river Rosaro, with Posara in the background. Eric Drewery, one […]
Artistic new Year resolutions 2023: Come on a Watermill creative course this year.
Did you make any resolutions for 2023? And if so, how they holding up on day three? I must confess I’m rather past making resolutions these days, but I was rather taken by the 10 artistic New Year resolutions published b my favourite online art magazine dailyartmagazine.com. And of course, each resolution was accompanied by […]
Happy New Year! How Watermill guests will stop 40,000 used plastic bottles from reaching the ocean next year
Yes, in a fantastic deal with Ocean Bottle* we’ve created a scheme to collect each year 450 kgs of ocean-bound plastic from the world’s most polluted rivers and waterways and ensure that it is not dumped into the sea. This is equivalent to around 40,000 single-use half-litre bottles. It will make us ‘plastic neutral’ for […]
It’s not all bad: How 29,000 plastic ducks spilled into the sea, but helped oceanographers map global currents.
Have you heard of the Friendly Floatees? Some 29,000 bath toys, mainly plastic ducks, spilled accidentally from a container ship into to the northern Pacific in 1992. And they have been drifting around in the ocean currents ever since. (Well, for at least 20+ years after the incident. I can’t find anything much more up-to-date […]
Collect your watermill £75 Christmas Box to enjoy your 2023 creative holiday here even more.
. When I was very young, I thought that Boxing Day, 26 December, was so-called because after the over-indulgence of Christmas Day peopletook vigorous exercie, like boxing, to try to work off some of the excess. My parents quickly disabused me of this concept, explaining that it was the day when the better-off distributed Christmas […]
A record year of sun-made electricity at the Cool and Green watermill*
*And soon we will be even Cooler and Greener, with a major new initiative. Watch this space! As you may know, more than three years ago we installed at the Watermill a hidden array of photovoltaic panels on our south-facing roofs, to produce electricity from the sun. In each full year we produce at least […]
Celebrating the life of an Ukrainian artistic heroine
At this time of family warmth and (occasional) overindulgence it seems appropriate to commemorate the gallant Ukrainian people suffering through devastation, deprivation and cold. So today, courtesy of the online DailyArt magazine, we are celebrating the life of Lyubov Panchenko, who, “despite extreme opposition, dared to celebrate her Ukrainian identity through colourful folk art collages.†[…]
10..9..8..7.. counting down to the end of our Early Bird discount on Watermill creative courses
.if you would like to be to be an Early Bird and claim our special £75 (British pounds) discount offer, you have only some 10 days left to do so. I know you’re busy but just taking a few minutes to reserve your place will bring you the quiet satisfaction of looking forward to inspiring […]
Left-handed artistic geniuses: am I hand-in-hand with Michelangelo, Leonardo and Vincent (to say nothing of Wolfgang Amadeus and Ludwig)?
It pays to be an Early Bird: see below. I am what the Italians call a mancino, a left-hander. The word also means dishonest or underhand, a reflection of an age when left-handedness was regarded with the greatest suspicion, and associated with the devil, heresy and witchcraft. Indeed, until comparatively recently, left-handed children were forced […]
The Watermill memories linger on (continued)
It pays to be an Early Bird (see below). We’ve always said that the inspiring effects of a Watermill creative course (especially painting) linger on well after the week you spend with us. And that’s been proved yet again by the painting above. It comes from Carrie Rodgers-O’Neal, who writes: “After the plein air watercolor […]