Newsletter - Christmas 2020

 

Christmas Greetings,    I hope you are well and doing okay, I thought I would let you know how I have been getting on this rather different year, and wish you a Merry Christmas.   It has certainly been a busy year, full of ups downs and many new challenges.  The year started with regular classes planned at Oakley, Kingsclere, Viables and Baughurst and plans for one off workshops. I enjoyed an overnight stay at London zoo in February with Mum which was an amazing experience and great opportunity to sketch animals from life. This trip has provided a lot of inspiration throughout this year. In March everything changed and with my art classes cancelled it was a mad rush of research and learning new tech skills to get online classes set up, which I offered for free to start with. My first camera set up was mostly held together with blue tack until I was able to purchase an overhead camera stand, lighting remained a problem for a long while but I now also have an overhead light!

Moving my classes online has meant changing my normal teaching methods to a demonstration format and means that I am painting far more than before, which I have to say I do enjoy. Another result of teaching online means that I have had students from all over the UK and beyond join: Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Malta, St. Lucia and even from a yacht once! The world has become a smaller place during these times and we have all benefited from coming together in this way. I have fortunately been able to continue teaching for the Hurst online as well as offering my own classes which I am happy about although moving all the required paperwork online has given me a few headaches. It is all worth it when I hear how much people are appreciating the classes and this year has really proved how beneficial art can be for mental well-being. I have had such wonderful feedback it really brightens my day! A further sense of community has come about through the class Facebook group, which has seen an increase in participation, which is wonderful.   During the Summer I started doing some one off Workshops in addition to my regular classes and have been offering some festive themed ones this Christmas. I was asked to do an online nature journaling workshop for a local Brownies group who missed their camp due to lockdown. I have also started offering one to one tuition by both email and zoom. Figuring out how to do all this, plan the lessons and then teach them has kept me extremely busy.    Further online learning opportunities will be available in the New Year, so keep an eye out for the next newsletter. Here are some provisional 2021 dates for your diary: Tuesday Art Class begins on 19th January Painting with Watercolours begins on 11th and again on 22nd February Drawing and Painting Animals 13th January Painting with Acrylics 24th February   Birdwatching (and all Nature watching) is one of my hobbies and this year I have been stuck at home with my garden birds (and wildlife) who I have become more familiar with and appreciate more than before. I have especially got to know a couple of wood pigeons who found the window feeder that I made in March. The female who I call ‘Pig’ is especially bold and will come to be hand fed she has also interrupted the occasional lesson by sitting on the window sill and staring at me or pecking the window. Watching them court, bicker, collect nest material and more has kept me entertained and I was pleasantly surprised one day when they showed up with their squab. My health has not been good this year and so I find nature a good distraction and therapy as well as a source of inspiration. In June Basingstoke art club asked me to do a painting demonstration for them and has held a number of online exhibitions and themed projects which I have taken part in when time allowed. I also came up with my own drawing challenge ‘Naturetober’ where my students and I worked from a nature themed prompt list with the aim to make a drawing each day of October.  I will certainly be doing more challenges and drawing prompts like this in the future and have a Christmas Challenge on the 12 days of Christmas for students to join in with.  Take a look at Facebook for details.   During the Summer I held an exhibition of my students’ artworks online.  I have also taken part in a few online figure drawing and wildlife drawing sessions myself and enjoyed life drawing live on the BBC and Greyson’s art club. I have undertaken a number of Commissions this year and already have another booked in to start on next year. I have also sold some paintings and packs of greetings cards online and hope to get an online shop set up next year to make this easier.  I am hoping for a few restful days over Christmas, before I start planning for next year. Here is a selection of a few of my paintings from this year.   Best wishes for the festive season and thanks for all of your support over the last challenging and stressful year.   Keep painting, have a safe and happy Christmas and best wishes for the New Year, Bethany x