April Fools! Or are we just happy?

Today in France, people who are fooled on April 1 are called Poisson d'Avril, which literally means the "April Fish." What a fish has to do with April Fools' Day is not clear. Some believe that the fish is tied to Jesus Christ, who was often represented as a fish in early Christian times.

It's probably no coincidence that April Fools' Day is celebrated at the same time that two other similar holidays are celebrated. In ancient Rome, the festival of Hilaria was thrown to celebrate the resurrection of the god Attis. Hilaria is probably the base word for hilarity and hilarious, which mean great merriment. 

No wonder the word holiday is linked with happiness.  Check this out!

Holi - Festival of Colour

In India, the Holi festival celebrates the arrival of spring.  As a part of that festival, people play jokes and smear colours on each other.  Can you imagine being part of this!!!!

For me its always a special day as it was my fathers birthday and holds many (funny) memories of the dreadful jokes my brother and I played on him!

ART WORKSHOPS 
Exciting news!!!!!

We have another wonderful artist - Jane Minter - who has signed up with us to run a Watercolour workshop with us here at Bandouille.  Click here for more details of Jane and her work and the workshop.

Here is what Jean Haines  wrote for Janes first exhibition...


" Ever since I met Jane I have been impressed by her use of watercolour as a medium. She has a way of bringing subjects to life with gentle brushstrokes that tell a story via colour combined with a masterful technique. I am honoured to have been part of this artists journey in watercolour and feel they have a brilliant future in the world of art. " 

                                                            Jean Haines SWA
 Praise indeed!


Especially for those who love painting flowers and/or interesting objects for still life and wishing to achieve a looser style Jane is for you!  As always spaces are limited so be sure to book soon to guarantee a place.

We also have Joanne Boon Thomas, Eugen Chisnicean and Alison Cotton with paintbrushes at the ready to teach you all their secrets.
For details of all our other tutored groups in 2013 please click here..

ADVERTISING
There are a few publications out there showing our advert.  Please feel free to pass these amongst your art groups, friends and family.  The current Artists and Illustrator Magazine has our ad.  The magazine (Artists and Illustrator) also has us featured in an online article showing us as on of the   12 best Art Holiday's ....Yay! We have also re-produced our little "brochure".  Please click here to view.

BIXXY'S ARTWORK
I have been fairly busy the last couple of months finding ideas for the Watercolour Challenge on I Draw and Paint, which I have been running for the last couple of years. 

Since we last spoke I have painted a number of statues using the Brusho product that I love using at the moment, which was March's challenge and have caught up with February's challenge of portraits. I have learnt so much using Carrie Stuart Parks Book on watercolour portraits and by studying wonderful artists like Stephie Butler, Carole Massey and others found on the internet.

This month we have Spring has Sprung and that covers a multitude of subjects.  Contributors to this include Sharons lambs, Gary's ducks and Ann's geese.....all great Easter subjects.

If you didn't already know Art community websites are a wonderful place to belong to and the best learning platform ever (apart from our holidays that is!!!!).

I belong to a few I Draw and Paint which is mentioned above, The Painting Loft and Paint my Photo.  These are my main ones.  Others that I have tried failed to keep me interested or inspired and have therefore fallen by the wayside.  So if you are not member of any of these check them out.  You will find wonderful photos to paint from, a multitude of inspiration and plenty of advice from everyone that is on there.

Oh one last site I have just joined and I L O V E  in Pinterest.....hooked! This site should come with a health warning.......very absorbing!

I think that I will "draw" a line under that now (pardon the pun!!!) as I have promised to reduce the babble but post more often.

More next time about renovation and the garden.......

Please feel free to comment on anything that you have seen or read and see you again soon!

Bx