The dates for the workshop 10th – 13th February. Just under a month away so I am preparing in spite of the possibility that it will not run.

I have perfected the recipe for jelly plates so a couple of people can work on those at any time. The premis for the workshop being ‘press free’, though of course there will be presses available. I learnt my mono print techniques before I owned a press and want to show how much can be achieved without using a print workshop or purchasing expensive equipment.

Any means of transferring marks from one surface to another is monoprint – the different surfaces dictate the paints or inks that can be used and the quality of the detail that can be achieved. Printing using hand pressure or wooden spoon. A car or a load of people. The boundaries are only imposed by our imagination and our own ambition.

Low sun, short days, a contemplative mood, resting or waiting for something. In a creative tunnel with no light shining. Patient. Making Sketches and working without inspiration. It is a fallow time, it happens after a rich creative seam is mined and comes to an end. It feels like depression but is really a nessesary winter with the belief of spring to follow.

I have a number of ways to kick start, but being too needy can be inhibiting.

Watercolour sketched out.

West Dean is having the roof fixed. The flint walls peek out from benieth massive scaffolding structure and layers of tarpaulins.

Once inside the building there is very little difference – a few areas blocked off. ( health and safety) but it is business as usual. A slight inconvenience in that the back door was out of action, so we had to walk right round the building to get to the orangery, (healthy activity) . And there is no access to the internal courtyard for fresh air with a coffee at break time.

No one on my beginner watercolour course complained and they were, men and women, a really charming group of people.

We worked through the basic techniques of watercolour. First evening, with a gentle introduction to glazes.

I did a demo of Stretching paper and everyone then did their own. It went well with just a couple of cockled capers. Paper has such strength – bending boards and ripping the tape willy nilly as it drys.

The practice of flat washes, graduated washes, lifting off, wet in wet, wax resist and dry brush, all on one page. With layering, lifting off and some salt intervention.

Colour theory, more mixing of colours and painting.

To cap it all we had half an hour outside sketching in the winter sunshine. A thoroughly productive and enjoyable time. Only one painter was lost in the rough sea of watercolour – this time.

I have often heard people tell of how they have overworked a painting. Ruined a piece by not knowing when to stop. It is something I have considered and feel it is a false premis. Certainly from my experience.

When I am engaged with a painting, the process feels like a conversation – a dialogue that continues until there is nothing more to say. It is resolved. And if it carries on and on, it is usually because there is a problem with composition, proportions or somefhing other unsolvable. It is not a painting that is ruined or ends through overworking, it actually never was any good. Though in my memory it may have seemed better. It could not have been right.

This painting needed serious attention and additions. And the dialogue still continues. I was completely distracted from my class by it – which is a mixture of pleasure and annoyance. It is the best of feelings to be locked into a piece of work – so utterly absorbing.

During this weekend workshop at Aboyne i introduced a lot of water colour techniques – most participants should have come across them before in their years of watercolour painting. By combining and layering these techniques we can achieve richer colours and bold images. But that is where the confusion starts. Some people can work out the possibilities and realise an order to water-soluble versus permanent – but it catches other people out.

I take it for granted that if I draw with wax or oil pastel that that is irreversible – no wriggle room, or changing my mind. Like a tattoo, it is going to be painful and it will cost dear to remove it and it will probably still leave scars. I need to be at least a little bit cautious when using these unforgiving technuques.

And what is the benifit? A mark or line that cannot be removed? Exactly that. That I can paint loose and free knowing it will not bleed or shift.

Balancing control and chaos, wet and dry, permanent and impermanent.

I painted this during the last couple of hours of the workshop to try and convey some of the benifits and reasons for combining media. It is a loud and unbalanced piece. But it was my rabbit out of a hat.

And it is now being worked on – To infinity joy or beyond, to destruction…

Layers of colour create some unique and intriguing mixes – different from the range of colours and effects made by mixing the pigments or the paint.

Late October, on a painting course at West Highland Arts, led by the artist David Tress. His paintings vivid renditions of landscape and weather. The sun and rain, clouds and their shadows cast broad across mountains, fields and waters. His teaching thought provoking and generous, encouraging a bold start with a big idea.

The west coast landscape is variously hugely intimidating yet close and intimate. Lumps of hill and water, layered and going far away, with clusters of human habitation and tiny trees all dwarfed by the scale of the mountains. Even with the bright skies, the huge rocks shadows kept some parts frosty chill all day. The low sun never reaching over their brow.

We had no wind, rain only on the first day, frosty starts and clear bright sky days.

I learnt a lot from David Tress. A fine art tutor who shared his methods and knowledge – with the addition of some well chosen poetry. It will take time to digest his input so that I can pass it on appropriately to my own groups . It was an extraordinary week. With the best of company, particularly Sarah Franklyn, plenty of lovely food and wine – and the most perfect swim.

Sketching out at Fishorn Loch – having melted the frost layer the gentle sun warmed us as we drew and painted.

Sunshine and frost, outdoor drawing, food and wine and companionship. With David Tress at the helm. We are drawing and painting all day.

Lucky with the weather, though of course we were prepared for all possibilities. There are elemental and uplifting aspects in trying to draw this magnificent cenery. It’s a bit bonkers too.

And we watched as the sunset.

I spent a pleasant hour being reminded of different painting locations, while delving through a heavy tin full of painting photos. All From the time before digital images – they are clunky, weighty and mostly very poor quality. But serve well to trip the memory switches.

Zakynthos – 2000. The beach so clean and the trees offering gentle shade.

Port St Niclaus certainly grew and developed over the 15 years that we went there. But it did not loose its intrinsic charm.