I can’t believe today is the first day of October & I still haven’t posted a blog for 2017!
So here goes…

It’s been a very busy year for me with teaching & exhibiting so have actually been more active on my Facebook page & also set up an Instagram account a few months ago to showcase my work so you can follow what I’m doing on both of those now too:

facebook.com/pamelahorsnellartist
Instagram: pamelahorsnellartist

On the last Wednesday of each month I teach a 3-hour watercolour & drawing workshop at The Bakehouse Studio in Marrickville & since January have covered such varied themes as: Summer Fruits; Water Views; Kitchen Still Life; World of Trees; Urban Sketching; Going Green; Native Plants & Figures. In September I also taught a Travel Sketching workshop at another local Marrickville venue, Rizzeria.

On every other Wednesday this year I have been teaching a casual 3-hour watercolour & drawing class at The Bakehouse & last month the owner of The Bakehouse Studio & Marrickville ceramic artist, Lisa Hoelzl, asked me to join her for an Open Studio every Friday morning as well. Outside of these weekly classes I have also been teaching regular one-on-one classes to some of my students during the year.

2017 has been a busy one again for exhibiting with another joint Pop-up show in March with potter, Lou McCallum, & I joined him again in August for a group show at his Marrickville shop & gallery – Made Local. I’ve also participated in 5 group exhibitions so far this year including the 2017 Australian Society of Miniature Art (ASMA) National Awards where I was awarded a Highly Commended Award on Opening Night for one of my miniature watercolours.

Well, there is still another 3 months left of this year so I will be continuing teaching my regular Wednesday classes & workshops as well as joining Lisa every Friday for the Open Studio. I’ll also be showing my work in a few upcoming group exhibitions so busy till the end of the year!

With 2016 about to come to an end, I thought this would be a good time to take a look back at the watercolour painting and drawing classes and workshops I taught during the second half of this year.

Since June this year I have continued to hold my weekly Wednesday morning casual drop-in classes and monthly, themed workshops at The Bakehouse Studio in Marrickville NSW. This fantastic, large space has plenty of natural light and a wonderfully creative, relaxing and inspiring ambience which has been very much enjoyed by both myself and all my students.

The casual drop-in classes enabled students to either bring along projects they had been working on at home that they needed some advice or guidance with; follow up on work from a previous workshop they had attended; or, alternatively, I was able to supply them with ideas and inspiration provided by a wide range of reference material to choose from.

In July, we had the casual drop-in classes for the first 3 Wednesdays followed by a watercolour workshop on July 27 with the theme of Birds of a Feather – featuring feathers, chickens, ducks and all our many other feathered friends with their wonderfully diverse array of colours, beautiful plumage and movement in flight which make them an ideal subject for watercolour painting.

During August the weekly drop-in classes continued followed by a watercolour workshop at the end of the month with the theme of Flowers & Foliage. Students had the opportunity to have a go at painting various flowers and leaves from a wide range of fresh subjects and photographic reference and it was also excellent practice for mixing greens.

The first 3 Wednesday mornings in September were our weekly drop-in classes followed by a watercolour workshop at the end of the month with the theme of Pen & Wash. Students were able to practise this technique using a range of different pens – from biros to bamboo pens with ink – combined with watercolour washes on a range of different subjects.

In October our weekly drop-in classes continued for the first 3 Wednesday mornings followed by a watercolour workshop at the end of the month with the theme of Lively Landscapes. Students were shown how vibrant and lively landscapes can be created by using just a limited palette of 5 colours and a loose, impressionistic style of painting.The first 4 Wednesday mornings in November were our drop-in classes and with Christmas just around the corner, the theme for the monthly watercolour workshop was Festive Season Flowers using both the European and native flowers we associate with that time of year for reference. Students worked on images they could possibly use for their own Christmas cards or original gifts for friends and relatives.

Throughout December I began a series of casual ‘Summer Watercolour Painting Classes’ on each Wednesday morning. These classes allowed students to bring along something they were interested in trying; follow up on work from workshops during the year they needed advice or guidance with; or alternatively, I was able to set them an exercise and supply reference material and inspiration.

These casual ‘Summer Watercolour Painting Classes’ on each Wednesday morning from 10am – 1pm will be continuing at The Bakehouse Studio throughout January and February in 2017 with the first class commencing on January 11. There will also be a themed workshop at the end of February with the topic to be announced.

All the classes and workshops I teach are suitable for absolute beginners, students with more painting experience or those who have perhaps worked in oils or acrylics and are interested in trying this wonderfully versatile medium. Workshops usually commence with some simple exercises and I always do demonstrations for students throughout all my classes.

My aim is to show students that watercolours can be made easy using a limited palette of colours and a loose, impressionistic style of painting with only minimal drawing required that is able to be applied to any subject matter.

In the second half of 2016 I also continued to teach one-on-one tuition in watercolour painting and drawing with some students which has been very rewarding and I look forward to doing this, along with teaching my regular weekly classes, once again in 2017.

Happy New Year and see you at The Bakehouse Studio!