2012 review - January to March!

Reclining male with tattoos
SOLD

I've had such an amazing and busy year that I felt I really needed to write it all down in a little review, before I can move forwards into 2013. My lovely friends, if you've been following my blog the whole year I do hope you won't mind taking this trip down memory lane with me! For newer subscribers, I hope you'll find it interesting to read about those events I consider my highlights from 2012, and to see my favourite paintings from this year.

Melting snow in the lane
£395 framed

In January this year my husband, children and I moved back to our home in Lincolnshire, England. We had spent the whole of 2011 living on a tiny island without cars in Brittany, France. What an adventure that was! We all had a fantastic year together, and this January found the children back at their same schools in England. I remember the driving around everywhere came as a shock to me!

Lincolnshire mud tracks 1
£245 framed

Lincolnshire mud tracks 3
SOLD

Lincolnshire mud tracks 2
SOLD

While walking our dog, Maisie, I found colours in all the muddy tracks around our village!
I also made the most of the snow when it arrived, getting around locally to paint it every day it was here. I put on snowboarding trousers and pulled my pochade box around on a sledge.

Snow day Sunday
SOLD

Fred's paddock in the snow
£245 framed

Railway cottages at Carlton Scroop
£395 framed

The railway cottages caught my eye one chilly frosty morning while doing the school run. The sun was coming up and lit up the front of the cottages beautifully, while the grassy bank at the side of the road was in the shade and still frozen.

I had a little excitement when I had a painting pre-selected for the Royal Society of Portrait painters exhibition. The only problem was... the painting was in our French island house! There then followed a quick weekend dash to collect it in order to send it down to the Mall galleries. Unfortunately it didn't make it into the exhibition but it was the first time I'd entered and the fact that it had passed pre-selection gave me a real confidence boost.

I started teaching day workshops in my local area. It was lovely being back with the ladies that I used to teach weekly before disappearing to France. Some of the workshop topics I covered during this time were 'painting faster', 'acrylic painting', 'flower painting' and 'painting a tea party'.

Painting faster workshop

Party girls
A speedy demo for the painting faster workshop!

Missing the sea, I also went for a drive to the Lincolnshire coast at Sutton-on-sea. It's become a favourite painting spot for me now, well worth driving for an hour and a half or so to get there!

Sutton-on-sea
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Tomorrow, I'll talk about April to June - things get really exciting! In fact, there's an awful lot to cover...