Watercolour Workshops 2012 News

FULLY BOOKED

All my watercolour workshops including my new Motivational Masterclass are fully booked for 2012.

Unfortunately due to their popularity and the heavy demand for places on each session even the waiting lists for places on many have now had to be closed.

I really do hate disappointing those who are eager to come to my workshops and I will certainly be looking into the possibility of holding a few new sessions later next year so please contact me  if you would like your name to be added to the contact list.

jeanhaines@hotmail.com

I will be demonstrating at many art societies next year so will share my programme monthly on my blog showing which societies I will be visiting. Sadly I cannot take any more bookings for society demonstrations or workshops in 2012 as my diary  is now full.

USA Watercolour Workshops

I will be sharing news on my USA  workshop visit in Autumn 2012 and booking contacts but please book early if you wish to have a place once the information is available.

***********************

I am now already preparing for the 2012 watercolour Workshops which because my new book will be launched next year are going to be really memorable with a few surprises in each!

Please keep watching this blog  for updates.

****************

November 2011

A festive robin making an appearance for an early Christmas painting.

WIP. Work in Progress

My blog has fallen quiet  and I have recieved some wonderful messages letting me know I am being missd.Thank you so much to everyone who has contacted me.

My life has become so busy of late with so many projects to manage including painting for Christmas Exhibitions coming up. I have so much news to share I really don't know where to begin but I will slowly catch up over the next few days.

For everyone eagerly waiting to see who won the October Watercolour Challenge, you may like to know a winning painting has been seleceted and will be on show here very soon.

Watch this space!

**************

.

Days Gone By

First wash of an old man from Dubai.

 Working in my studio this afternoon I grabbed a half finished portrait and decided to try out some of the techniques from my next book on it  just to see what  would happen. I expected to throw my experiment in the bin as I was only painting for fun but I know once eyes have been added it could be quite interesting.

I have no idea why I have this fixation for painting portraits  or small studies of people from all over the world. It has been a long time habit of mine to paint on scraps of paper to  unwind at the end of the day often working from my imagination bringing a familiar character to life.

Sometimes it will be a gentle watercolour wash hinting at a face,sometimes it will be a complete painting. This all started when I lived in Dubai and fell in love with how a fabulous artist painted faces there. Tina Siddiqui to  this day still inspires my portraits as her knowldge and skill at the time was amazing to observe when she demonstrated in art classes.

I was working in pastel mainly back then for portraits, later I moved to painting them in watercolour.

I don't think I will ever outgrow this passion, or addiction as it seems to be and this week could just be the week for painting faces!

Days Gone By

Watch The Birdie

Chaffinch

 First and Second wash,waiting for the finishing touches. 

Working minus a preliminary sketch as always.

The beginning of the week is always my best time to paint. I feel exhilarated and eager to move my brushes. Today I have been working on two upcoming exhibitions and a fabulous new collection is already beginning to take shape. I am thrilled and cannot wait until tomorrow when I will be positively racing into my studio to work. I can't help but realise how lucky I am to type those words.

How many people in this world can honestly say they can't wait to work!

The workshops I held recently really sparked the already lit "on button" for enthusiastic painting but completing my new book over the weekend has also pushed my approach to many new subjects  with fresh eyes and wonderful new colour combinations.

I always wind down at the end of a painting session with something just for fun or  sometimes to share with an artist who has been on one of my workshops. Recently a really terrific lady brought in some beautiful resource images to work from during one of my Autumn workshops. During each of my sesssions I aim to give as much personal tuition as possible so that everyone attending can leave with ideas to work on when home. I didn't get a chance to work very far with this chaffinch demonstration so here it is hoping the artist can gain some further techniques to master from the personal beginning I gave in class.

I had fun painting this little study which I will complete tomorrow although it is now coming from my imagination more than a particular image. We are feeding the wild birds daily since the temperature has started to drop for winter. Already we are noticing how greedy some species are becoming. It is a few weeks now since a chaffinch has visited us so this painting will have to keep me going until they return!

If you were in the classes you may remember the hawthorn berries we painted?  I have decided to add some to my painting of this little bird as a background. No exercise is ever without value at a later date and pulling everything  you have seen in one workshop can be quite interesting.

****************

Watercolour Workshops UK 2012

My Watercolour workshops were so popular I am afraid all my sessions for 2012 in UK are now fully booked. Waiting lists have been closed on some of the dates whilst others remain open. If you would like to add your name to my email list for future booking availablity please contact me on

jeanhaines@hotmail.com

***************

Watercolour Workshops USA

I will be releasing information as soon as possible on my sessions in New York and Texas 2012.

Enquiries and to be pu ton the workshop list of contacts please email me on

jeanhaines@hotmail.com

************

My next exhibition will be in France  starting in December 2011 and I will be sharing news on this event very soon.

*********************

That Important Moment

That is it.

I have just  pressed "send" to attachments that hold the very last chapters of my new book and the feeling is very strange. From here in  all my paintings and text are in the hands of my publisher. The next time I see it will be in the form of a proof in my hands of the final layout,design and all the pages will have my images in place.

Part of me feels really sad that this time has come because the journey in writing this publication has made me a far better artist. I have been  quieter online over the last few weeks as the value of what I have been typing about has sunk in, inspiring me to work on my own collection of new watercolours which are far more alive than they have ever been in the past.

I feel as though I have taught myself how to improve, observe where I needed to change my ways and I have looked with  very new eyes at what I am hoping to achieve in my results. My new book will be out next year and I am now going to thoroughly love painting with the new techniques I have discovered and shared within its pages.

Will this be a time to relax?

I am afraid not as I now must work on my upcoming exhibitions and also write magazine features that have been very few on the ground since I took up this project. Apart from that I have a long list of emails I need to reply to with some very wonderful invitations. I am so sorry if you are someone reading my blog who has been waiting for a reply but I have shut myself away from the world to close my book. My emotions were running very high and that positive energy I needed to flow into my written words. I knew my goal and I have reached it with every single page.

A memorable day in my life and that moment I pressed send cannot be taken back.

My book is complete. Like a painting that could need one more brushstroke I have had to make a decision.

It really is finished!

*********************

My new book : Update

This week I have been working on the final text and chapters of my new book. All the paintings were delivered to my publisher a short time ago and now it is the text that is vitally needing attention with proof reading on my part and any last changes I feel I need to make.

At this stage in my books development it will soon leave my hands and go for approval with my publisher.  Decisions will have to be made regarding the cover image ad this is something very much on my mind, I can already see a vision of how I hope it will look.

I will need to write the dedication which is easy and written from my heart.Then I must add acknowledgements and I have so many people I would like to thank for supporting me and making this dream of mine come true. You may not realise this but every single positive comment I have received from wonderful artists attending my workshops,  amazing people sharing replies on my watercolour facebook page and here on my blog have made me feel so  inspired and encouraged to share even more than I already do. So if you have spoken to me even if it is purely by a small typed message I need to thank you too for being a part of my art journey and sharing every step of the way with me. It is people like you that help artists like me reach out for where  we want to be and I am very grateful.

I  am reminded of a wonderful old woman saying to me when I was a child that I had a beautiful singing voice and should use it  to give others pleasure. I was a shy and quiet little girl so found this very difficult. She told me there was no point in singing a  beautiful song if there was no one around to listen to the sound.  I wish she could have known I later sang as an adult to a crowd of 2000 in the audience and in Japanese. I am sure she would have smiled! I suppose this could be likened to painting a gorgeous watercolour but then not having the courage to show it to anyone.

I really cannot wait for my book launch next year which at this moment in time seesm so long away.

I will feel anxious before my books release, I will worry about it even though I know it contains my heart and soul and all I know about watercolour. I have been advised to hold things back rather than share  every fabulous tip given to me but I do know life is short. I want to give everyone who loves watercolour  all the techniques that have been passed on to me  from all over the world so that they can be passed on in turn to others. When it is my turn to leave this wonderful world I hope this new book will live on long after me and  give pleasure to many who simply wish to adore this magical medium.

It has been a very amazing week with many wonderful emails,contacts,requests and invitations.

Gradually when my time is more free I hope to share more again on my blog and for now I am simply looking forward to  enjoying all the watercolour paintings of lions!

October Watercolour Challenge 2011 Deadline

My blog has fallen quiet because this week has been more hectic than usual. But I just wanted to remind my blog followers that the deadline for submitting  your lion painting in Autumn colours for the October Watercolour Challenge with a prize of one of my palettes and  a favourite  watercolour shade is at midnight on the 5th November so by Sunday the  deadline will be closed.

I have received so many wonderful paintings and I am thrilled with the response. What has hit me so evidently is that working from a monochrome photograph has really captured the imagination of many artists and it will be a fascinating experience sharing all the favourite paintings later this month.

Thank you so much to everyone  who has  forwarded your lion watercolours and if you are still planning to time is beginnig to run out!

Happy painting!

Jean