Getting Out of the Studio to Paint

Hi everyone,

January at the lake has been a month of (more ) crazy weather, 30 degree days, wild winds and heavy rain. Tempers have sometimes been frayed by humid stickiness . We’ve had lots of visitors – which has been lovely – and are now enjoying a quiet patch.

This morning I took my paints round to the west side of the lake, found myself a peaceful spot in the shade and spent a happy morning painting. Having a duck bring her ducklings to settle in for a nap in my pile of painting gear was a nice bonus.
Neither painting effort was very good, but it was nice just to be out there doing it after a big gap. One downside of having a studio open to the public is that I need to be there! Though my Man has now learnt to operate the eftpos machine 🙂 But then it’s no use having a studio if I don’t get time to paint!

The trap I often fall into when I’m painting outside is being too fussy, sometimes it’s better to jump in with paint rather than fret about a perfect drawing. The other thing which trips me up is not choosing my colours carefully before I start. It’s easy to decide that you need another yellow, no wait, another blue…and before you know it you’ve got a muddy problem on your paper. Try to remember to start with just one red, one yellow and one blue and only bring in another colour if you have to. That way your work will be harmonious and you’ll be a lot less stressed!

If you’d like to try painting outdoors our casual Wai Knot watercolour group is getting together on Tuesday 20th Feb at Riwaka Wharf from 10 ish. You’re very welcome to come along , painters of all abilities welcome and it’s a nice way to meet other watercolourists.

Though I haven’t been getting out painting much I have been tutoring here, working with a lovely lady on keeping her travel sketchbook and I have been also working away planning my 2024 workshop schedule.

I’m delighted to let you know that Watercolour NZ have invited me to tutor a workshop in Wellington on the 27th – /28th of April – “Flights of Fancy” – painting birds in watercolour. If you’d like to know more please keep an eye on the WCNZ website https://www.watercolournewzealand.nz/events/workshops.htm

And if you’re a member of WCNZ maybe I’ll catch up with you on May 10th-13th at Lake Brunner for the paintaway weekend.
I plan to teach a weekend beginners workshop here at my studio on 18th/19th May, and will shortly be adding details of this to my workshop page. This one usually books up quite quickly , so please let me know if you want to join in. At this stage I won’t be planning any others as I’m heading to Western Australia in the winter to wander and hopefully paint! Which is why I need to brush up on my plein air skills.

Other stuff… If you live in Tasman , this Saturday is the Inangahua A and P show at Reefton and I’ll be down there judging the art, which I enjoy and feel humbled to be invited.It’s a wonderful old school show, with woodchopping, equestrian events and – yes- sideshows!

I’m always happy to hear feedback from you – please let me know if you have a painting topic that you’d like me to tackle in my blog and I’ll do my best.

I trust that you’re all enjoying the summer, getting out there and painting 🙂 and I hope to catch up with you soon,

Jan