West Norfolk Arts Centre

This week I was invited to teach two courses next year at West Norfolk Arts Centre.

The Centre is situated in the delightful conservation village of Castle Rising , close to the Sandringham estate, nature reserves, woodlands and the north Norfolk Coast.

Established in 1993 by Ros and Richard Cartwright, it enjoys an excellent reputation as a quality Painting Course provider both in the U.K. and abroad. Each year, approximately forty painting courses are held in West Norfolk and four structured painting courses abroad. This year, Egypt, Venice, Tuscany and Skiathos were on the itinerary.

The range of courses on offer is huge, from pen and wash to acrylics, oils, pastels, wildlife , abstraction, botanical painting etc.

In 2011, I will be teaching the following. " The art of Gouache Painting" July 23/24 and "Portraiture" October 28, 29, 30th.

For information on the west Norfolk Arts Centre and all the courses it runs go to www.westnorfolkartscentre.co.uk

Mixed media

It is on occasions, great fun to play around with different mediums and combining them in unusual ways. The monochrome painting below was done using charcoal, conte, soft chalk and gouache. It is of an old jetty at Felixstowe Ferry on the Suffolk coast.




I began with a piece of MDF which I primed with a couple of coats of acrylic gesso . I then sketched in the composition using charcoal. I used conte crayon for finer detail and soft chalks to soften and blend large areas like the sky. At other times I used gouache in certain passages, e.g. a lot of the background , but overlaid it in places with chalk.

A charming new venue for painting classes

Back in May, when it became clear that the future of the Lothbury Centre remained uncertain, I decided to move my classes to the Old Reading Room, still in Weston Colville.

This week saw the start of these classes, " Painting for Pleasure " and Portrait Painting. I am delighted to say that lots of my students from the Lothbury decided to make the move as well, so it really was like meeting up with old friends.The new setting for the classes is really charming with lots of character, from great arching timber beams and fireplaces to excellent modern facilities.





Our model for the portrait class was Lin, resplendant in Edwardian costume. Shades of Whistler and Singer Sargent!



All in all, it was a very pleasant and relaxed day. An excellent start to a new term in our new home.

These particular classes are fully booked this term. Anyone wishing to enrol for the January term ,however, should either e mail me at john@gloverart.co.uk or tel. 01284 810 460