A few days off is good for the soul. Christmas and the days leading up to it went so fast but our day was spent with family, eating, chatting relaxing and then friends on boxing day. So good. I have been spending lots of time with the hubby – a Harry Potter marathon (every single film over 5 days – so rare for me to sit down and watch a whole film without working at the same time) and just having a lovely time together, the two of us and Munro and Millie (our black cats).

Yesterday and today I spent a little time in the studio each day finishing this oil painting. You may remember I purchased this online course from Will Kemp and has been a brilliant gift to myself – helping me to plough through my worries about learning how to work with oils – I am rather pleased with the result! Now I can’t wait to start using them in my own style, to see if I can create the atmosphere and emotion in this medium – also gradually introducing colour and more glazes. I may start a new painting tomorrow. (Incidentally Will Kemp has just added a new online workshop to his site for a bargain price so if you are interested in acrylics and still life then take a look. His teaching style is very relaxed and thorough and he explains everything really well.)

I received some money for Christmas and decided to treat myself to some new paint brushes – some for oils and some for acrylics. I went with the brushes Will recommends from Rosemary & Co, ordered them late Monday afternoon and they arrived Tuesday morning (talk about fast delivery!) and I am over the moon with them. I have only used them for oils so far but they are far superior to the cheap hog brushes I had been using up till now.  They are a synthetic bristle, slightly softer than a hog brush with more bounce and are extremely responsive to work with – they also clean up brilliantly and are really reasonably priced – I will buying more for sure. I also ordered a couple of kolinsky sable brushes which are also wonderful.

I really hope you had a wonderful time over the holidays whatever and however you celebrate. It can be a wonderful time of year but I also know that it can also be a lonely time for some, so I wish you all the very best. Thank you so much for reading along on my new blog so far!

x x x