Merry Christmas!

Here to Ignite, Encourage and Inspire your Creative Flame

‘All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.’ – Walt Disney

Please note: some items are repeated for the benefit of new subscribers. Thank you 😊

Merry Christmas my friends I hope you’re all keeping well and warm. Where has this year gone? I don’t know about you but for me the months have flown by.

Those of you that follow me on social media will no doubt know that I’m in the process of building a new studio – a ‘self-build garage conversion’ (yes I must be mad lol). Work is going well, but I’m now taking a break for the festive season (that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it lol). In actual fact the cold snap last week was enough to put a pause on things so to speak, as I’m now at the stage where the garage door needs to be replaced by bricks, blocks and a large window. So that, all being well, will be the next phase in January 😊

Yes that’s me busy fitting timber to the wall, and by the looks of it a complete ‘follower of fashion’…. not lol. I don’t usually walk around in socks and crocs, promise, lol, and yes I do wear boots when carrying the timber or using power tools lol. So looking forward to having the new studio up and running, and I promise once I’m settled in I’ll do a studio tour for those of you who’ve been asking 😉 Until then I’m having to work from the spare bedroom, oh my word the space is crammed with all of my supplies that I haven’t been able to fit into my mum’s garage. I can honestly say that our spare bedroom hasn’t turned out to be the Tardis I had hoped for 😂

Wildlife Art Workshops for 2023

£60 per person

Ten new dates for 2023 have been pencilled in, now waiting for Martin Mere Wetland Centre to confirm these. One running each month, with the exception of July and December. Workshops will alternate between Watercolour and Pastel, but feel free to bring along any art medium you wish if the subject is something you would like to create from. All workshops are suitable for beginners. More information can be found over on our exclusive Art Workshop page on the Martin Mere website as well as on the Workshop page of my website. If participants would like further mediums or subjects added then extra dates can be slotted in to suit. So if your passion is coloured pencil or you love acrylic or oil painting then just let me know.

Diary Dates

Patching’s Art Festival	13th – 16th July 2023
Exhibition of Wildlife Art	28th – 30th July 2023
North West Birdwatching Festival	TBC
Art Safari in Uganda	16th February – 3rd March 2023

Patching’s Art Festival – an international four day art event celebrating the best in art & craft. Open to all there’s something for everyone, the chance to meet over 250 artists, a lot of which will be demonstrating (including me demonstrating for Caran d’Ache). Plus ‘hands-on’ workshops and art material offers all set in 60 acres of beautiful Nottinghamshire countryside.

Exhibition of Wildlife Art – ‘an exciting three day show featuring the work of some of the world’s most talented wildlife artists. The biggest and most successful, open selling, exhibition of Wildlife Art outside of London. All exhibited work is for sale and many artist demonstrate whilst there.’ I’ll be demonstrating whilst exhibiting there this year and would love for you to drop by and say hello.

North West Birdwatching Festival – Open at 8am, start your day by watching the spectacle of thousands of wild geese leave the roost before heading for breakfast in the Martin Mere restaurant. Over the two day there will be an array of guest speakers and exhibitors, artists and photographers including photography workshops, guided reserve walks, and more. I’ll be exhibiting and demonstrating throughout the weekend and would love you to drop by and say hello.

Art Safari in Uganda – a two week tour taking in some of Uganda’s best national parks, optional gorilla and chimpanzee tracking, visiting a rhino sanctuary and so much more. With a maximum of 6 participants this art based safari ensures you’ll have all the natural world of Uganda has to offer, plus plenty of 1 to 1 guidance from me when you need it to enable you to capture all that you want on paper or canvas.

Subscriber Question

Q. How can I stop my paper buckling when I paint on it?

A. Firstly by choosing to use a heavy weight paper helps, no lighter than 140lb. Secondly you can either stretch the paper yourself (see the video below) or buy your paper in block form. When sheets are purchased in block form they are all glued to each other around the edges, once you’ve completed your painting on the upper sheet you simply remove it with a palette knife. However, depending on the paper and the amount of water you’ve used even this paper can slightly buckle and would need to be dryed with a hairdryer etc to get it completely flat again.

I may not always have a video on my YouTube channel to go alongside a subscriber’s question, but when I do I’ll be sure to add it.

Okay folks that’s it for me today, short and sweet this time. Thank you once again, as always my friends, for spending some time with me today, and please feel free to leave a question or suggestion in the contact form below.

Let me once again take this opportunity in wishing you all a truly magical Christmas! 😊

Wishing you all the best, until next time, as always, stay safe and stay creative, Kerry xXx

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