About Me
A Passion for Art
I have always painted since childhood and by the age of 14 was using oil colours. I love the buttery texture and tactile nature of oil paint, the way you can move it around, scrape off and keep inspiration flowing.
My main artistic influences come from nature, particularly the English Coastline and the open Downland near to my home. Both places have such wide open spaces and big skies. Light, colour and atmosphere are inspirational to me – even an empty beach, if there are interesting cloud formations can be the starting point for a painting.
Whilst at school, I did not flourish in art and so ended up at business college and went in to an office environment to earn a living. Painting took a back seat. However, by 1998 the drive to paint was getting far too strong, so I took an opportunity to work part-time to spend more timing developing my art. After several years came the chance to take redundancy and step out fully into the art world. So here I am now, painting, teaching, developing my own colours and brushes and following my passion.
Melanie
With my Artist Tutor hat on, I have written four art instruction books to date, all published by HarperCollins, three for oil painters and one beginners book on acrylics. As a teacher I run workshops and painting holidays here in the UK, teaching mainly in oils and gouache. I have been teaching artists and running courses for more than 25 years. Each year I aim to offer a range of structured weekly classes, short breaks and painting holidays. Learning is within small groups with plenty of demonstrations, structured lessons, and one to one support when you need it. I aim to encourage a friendly atmosphere where there are no "silly questions". Everyone has time to develop their own style whilst learning those key skills which underpin your work and will help you become a better, more confident painter. Courses are for adults only but suitable for all abilities unless stated otherwise.
I also offer private zoom tuition with email support. Choose to take a single lesson (all recorded so you can keep it forever) or take a 2 or 3 session course. These short courses are an excellent way to really benefit from one to one help and are structured so that you learn exactly what you wish rather than being a generic course. Visit my On-line Learning page to find out more
For Art Groups, I love visiting you in person but also offer Zoom demonstrations for a fixed £150 fee (recorded) as a great way to reach out to art groups around the country which are too far away for me to travel to for a 2 hour demonstration. Visit my Art Groups page to find out what might suit you and get in touch.
Over the years I have found synthetic fibres make brushes which are much easier to handle when compared to natural hair. They also seem to have a longer lifespan, keeping their point or edge extremely well.
My range of brushes for both oils and gouache are available in sets or as individual brushes. Different brush types use different grades of synthetic hair, depending on whether they need to keep a springy edge or a sharp point. Available to own in sets or you can purchase individual brushes from my On-line Shop within this website