Summer has arrived! 

 And with it sunshine and plenty of poppies.  Which for the Centenary year of the first world war, seems appropriate.  Find here a link to the reason why the poppy was the designated flower of remembrance.History of the Poppy

With that in mind I set to work a couple of weeks ago on my Gelli Printing not really knowing where I was going, but achieved something I had long been hoping to do and that was a series of paintings/prints of poppy field to mark the anniversary of the first world war.  The fact that it happened this year was perfect.  So here are two of my Centenary Field series, yet to be completed.

More on Gelli Plate printing further down!

Lest we Forget                                                    Ghosts of Summer

Art Holidays

Our first tutored week of the season has just been completed and what a week we had.

Stephie Butler was our tutor who specialises in human portraiture, but more recently in wild cats 

and other animals.  Everyone learnt and achieved so

by G. Grayland

 much in this week and I think came away thrilled with their results.  We too were very happy that everyone had a lovely time and that the sun finally graced us with its presence.  Although the sun was out, work still had to be done in the Studio but we found plenty of time to go out and about and do some sight seeing too!

As this area is so steeped in Medieval history we
we all went to St Loup which is just off the Road of the Plantagenet Kings.  We also went to Parthenay which is famous to be the route of St. James (or St. Jacques in Frances) who was the Pilgrim who walked the route to Compestello - click here for more information. And to finish off the week we went to Thouars for the weekly market. So how could we not go out.

But whilst we were all working in the Studio here are some of the samples of works that were achieved.  For more photos of work and from our week please visit  Here you will also  find albums from our previous holidays and more photos of Bandouille itself.  You are free to use these photos as reference if you so wish.

And here are some that I managed to do. Mainly after Stephie left as I was flitting from Studio to kitchen all the time.  But these are only the first run and works in progress as I learnt so much from just doing these the once and learning from my mistakes.  Mainly I go to heavy with the painting so will have to pull back a bit.  But in saying that its more the little techniques on the way that have been the most useful and that I can implement into my own style, rather than develop the style of the artist.  As I feel that I will always be far bolder than Stephies lovely gentle way of painting.  Ho hum!

These two lovely portraits were gifted to us by Stephie and we are thrilled to have her work here at Bandouille.

With that said...Stephie will be back next year.  Please add your name to the waiting list through our contact page on our website www.francepaintingholiday.com   Spaces are limited 

In the meantime......We still have spaces for Eugen Chisnicean and for Jane Minter.  For our schedule, view previous post or go to our website. Only a couple spaces left, so you need to be quick!

Gelli Plate Printing

USEFUL TIP!

When making your plate (instructions on previous post) place large piece of clingfilm into the mould...This makes it 100 times easier to remove than without. Also if you like the crinkly effect of clingfilm in your artwork, you can use the underside too.  It needs to be large as it seems to want to shrink due to the warmth of the mix.

Here I have used a  polystyrene sausage container.  Look out for interesting sized or shaped containers from Supermarkets. Also keep an eye on textured bases of containers too.  I confess that I have bought these kind of items just because I needed the mould....shhh!

WARNING!!!!!!!  Do not leave in the sun or even in a room that is too warm....the plate melts....I know!!

Since discovering this technique I do have mixed responses, which are easily divided.  The men think I have totally lost the plot and the women LOVE IT!

This includes Stephie who, as she and our other guests had an extra day, got me to demonstrate how this method works.  And guess what....they were hooked.  They had great fun! And produced loads and loads and loads.  So much in fact, my supply of paint has totally disappeared and its a good job Drew has gone back to the UK to pick up extra supplies. 

Here are a few prints from a batch that I did at the same time as the poppies above.  It shows how you can change course in your ideas as you are going along.

I am really excited by this method of "painting" and have just ordered a sencil cutting tool off Amazon to make my own stencils and masks.  I will let you all know how that is working out and post some results at a later date!!!.  

I am thinking of running an Art journalling week next year to include Gelli Plate printing.  Again, if you are interested please contact us on the link above.

BANDOUILLE

First though, some sad news.....Chippy our wonderful baby duckling that grew up to be our cheeky duck has, it seems, been taken by Mr. Fox.  He has not been seen for over two weeks now and we know he was too greedy to stay away for any other reason. As our other ducks are all sitting on nest we hope before he disappeared he was able to fertilise the females.  Maybe we will have many little chippies here...Will let you know......RIP Chippy x.

As to what is happening now, life goes on as normal at Bandouille.  Gardening, when possible and making quirky things like Elder Cordial (I have just bottled 4 litres of it) and my first batch has gone really fizzy and is delish! Planting and harvesting whatever I can find.  Sneaking into the studio to do some "stuff" inbetween cleaning.

So everyone, hope you like the catch up and speak to you soon.  And yep, I know the posts dont get any shorter....but you have caught up now!  Thats my excuse and I am sticking to it!

Bx

The Season has started.....

We have already had guests this May and this is how the schedule looks for the rest of 2014.  We are fully booked for Stephie Butler and Joanne Boon Thomas's workshops and for Keikos first week in July also.  We still have places for those shown below, but spaces are limited.

We are also taking bookings from artists that want to tutor and from groups too for 2015.  Please contact us here to enquire or make a booking

Although summer seems to be struggling to come to the fore we have had some lovely weather and quite dynamic weather too. 

Always an amazing sight from our terrace. Rainbows in abundance and 

 even managed to capture a lightening storm too.  I love and good storm and this one did not disappoint either.

All the flowers are having a ball, even though most are out too early but its lovely and colourful.

The ducks (4 of them) Chippy, Coco, Madge and Spot are all thriving nicely and two are laying and we are hoping that Chippy has done his bit, being the token male.  But we got in some guaranteed fertilised eggs, just incase the girls are disappointed in their 6 week gestation period and none hatch. Drew is such a good mommy!  Need to read earlier posts to catch up with that one.  So our lucky guests coming after the end of June will be able to watch the wonderful antics of baby ducklings, if Mr. Pike doesn't get to them first. Which sadly is a fact of life here!

KITCHEN

Been experimenting in the kitchen too and have discovered to make Greek yoghurt and cottage cheese. Sooooo easy and all the recipes found on Pinterest, my latest love.......  to see what boards I have created click here and browse, or take...what ever! Welcome to the wonderful world of sharing!  Bixxysbox

Also just made 2 litres of Elderflower cordial, ready to drink with some fizz for the summer.  Gorgeous!

Menus have been studied and tweaked for the coming season and rememb er that if you have any food allergies or dietary requirements these are all catered for too!

ART

Admittedly my creative flow started slowly this year due to my hip replacement recovery.  Which incidently has been a breeze and all is good there. But now having started the season, the juices are flowing and my little head is ticking over with millions of ideas and projects and techniques too.  Although watercolour is my first love I am also in love with Gelli Plate printing.   For those not aufait with this term, read previous blogpost!

To update those that are following, DO NOT LEAVE YOUR GELLI PLATE IN THE SUN - IT MELTS!  Try and keep your plate cool at all times, and now that winter is over, in the Fridge is best.  If you can!  I came into the studio the other day to find that one of mine, in direct sun, had started to travel across the Perspex sheet that it sits on.  BUT......no problem. Back in the microwave to melt down and place into the mould.  Be creative and check out the supermarket for interesting shapes and textures to use for moulds and different looks.  Even when one splits the effects can be great using the 2 halves.

Here are some example of what I have done in the last few days.  Bear in mind that some of these need further work and embellishment!  Which is the fun bit!

Great fun  - as you can see here and relatively easy to achieve..  

Just takes imagination and lots of paper.  Please feel free to leave comments and ask questions at any time!

Clares

Mine

With respect to other artwork that I have done recently, I bought Glyn Maceys Acrylics Unleased and was truly inspired and decided to have a play with one of my guests last week and boy did we have fun.  Although mine did not turn out as indicated (because I got carried away) I wasn't unhappy for my rare play with acrylics and we both like what we did.

And generally have been dabbling with watercolour techniques and getting the exercises ready for our next set of guests.

So lots of fun and looking forward to the rest of the season which is going to be very busy.

Blogs only really work if people comment, so please feel free to do so and I will answer whatever questions you have.

Shorters posts in future!!!!!  Have fun!

Bx

I'm in Love!!!!!

In love with a process called Gelli Plate printing.

Not heard of it?  Just type it in Google and oooooooogle it!   For me being a lover of finding ways to texture in watercolour, this is very different as using mostly acrylics which are textured in themselves, but am also experimenting with inks (brusho) and watercolour too and have a zillion ideas in my head.

But first I needed Gelli Plate, whose main ingredient, as the name indicates is humble Gelatine.  But don't be fooled to think its that easy.  i found that Gelatine comes in different forms, those being powder and sheets to name the only two that I have found.  And I am guessing that the content of these will vary depending on where you live.  So there is some degree of experimenting to do here.  But once made the plate will last and even when damaged or stained, you can melt it down again (on the stove or in the Microwave) and reset in a mould.

There are quite a few recipes on the web, and this is one that I used and modified it a bit to suit me, as my plate seemed weaker than the one shown and described. screen.

Gelli Plate Recipe

 There are recipes too that include Alcohol but that seems to be retracted as there were problems with the setting.  My recipe set down here can set without refrigeration, and kept without refrigeration too but if you have room in your fridge and your family wont tuck into it, it tends to speed setting up.  Try and leave it alone for a minimum of 24 hours.  I didnt and it was'nt ready and I had to reset it again.  One day I'll learn!

My first Gelli Plate

  

     Glycerine     -   250ml (From chemists)

     Gelatine       -     35gm = 2 packs dry sheets Gelatine
     Sugar           -    70gm
     Water           -   120ml

     Vinegar       -    120ml (white)

     Salt             -    1 tablespoon

Method: Soak the gelatine leaves in water for 5 mins till soft. Strain and put in saucepan add 120 ml boiling water and add sugar, vinegar and salt.  Heat through but do not boil  Add glycerine.  Stir till dissolved and pour in a suitable dish.  This could be a square glass Pyrex style dish, or a plastic container.  As long as it has straight sides and is over 1/2 inch deep. But it can be whatever size and shape you wish your prints to be and when you are bored you can melt it down and start again.  I made two from the recipe.  One square and one oblong!

This is the first time that I have done anything like this so am feeling my way and the Internet is a fantastic resource for millions of ideas, but experimenting is the key.  So try things out and see what works and what doesn't. But the one thing I did have was plenty of acrylic paint.  So I just played.  I also got out some rubbish watercolour tubes I had and didn't know what to do with and they are perfect for this.Even the Brusho has come out to be tested.. 

Now its play time. I recommend that you watch a few videos on Youtube Click link to see one artists work.  This video is nearly 2 hours long and there is plenty in it. See how others do theirs and then find your own way. Acrylic paints in tubes are ones that I am using as those are the ones that I have at hand, but more liquid ones in bottles can to be used too and I suspect that they will work better. 

Place small amounts on the plate, of colours that you like and then using a roller, brush, scraper, piece of card or even a pallete knife spread the paint around and then press different texture things into the paint to leave an impression.  Bubble wrap, corks, keys, buttons, string the options are endless.  Once your brain starts working on these texture ideas, it wont stop and now I am making my own stencils, masques, and stamps from polystyrene felt, foam and anything I can get my hands on.

The first pull many say (and I agree) is not everyones favourite as there is usually too much paint on the print, and by doing a second pull you are left with "ghosting" marks of the stencil or masque that you may have used. See left .  This produces a far more satisfying print in my opinion and one that you can grow from!

This heart was created by cutting a stencil from thin acetate with a soldering iron.  Worked great!  It melts polystyrene beautifully too.

These are some of my first pulls and this is what I have turned them into! 





After I have sat down with them for a while, I then decide on how I want to take them further and embellish with my Tombo and Zig pens, and silver and gold pens too.  A decoupage here and there et voila!!!! Another creation.

Your imagination is what gets this project going and what you can see in what you created and how far you want it to go!

The result of painting quite thick on the plate but that gave me four pulls and I was able to go in later and enhance with tombow pens and pull out the details that I wanted.


 

This is something I doodled with last night and where I want it to go  I printed off on the photocopier first to test my theory.  Now just have to be brave enough to try it out for real!

Now where do think I will be going with this one?

If you want to see more results of my gelli plate printing, please visit my Pinterest page by clicking here where I will be post more of my art, hopefully as I do it!

Also think of holding craft week holidays here at Bandouille so if you are interested please let me know and I will earmark a week this year!


Feel free to ask questions or comments and have fun!

Bix x

PS  to people that have followed my Bandouille blog in the past!!! Be impressed! My second post in 3 weeks....hey hey!!! x

A Brand New Start!

I know I know….April last year was the last time I wrote this blog, but I have been active all over Facebook and we have recently launched our Twitter hashtag (is that the right way to annouce it???)  Bixxy@bandouille1, so please join us on there too.  And if you feel that I am not communicating send me a message to give me a kick!!!  I also belong to various watercolour groups on the web…so I have not been idle by any means.

 So here we are in 2014 and my main resolution is to get to grips with this blog and we have an exciting year in store. Many of you already have seen our diary for this year so far but here is the line up which is also advertised in January’s Artists and Illustrators magazine.  We are so priviledged to have back Keiko Tanabe, Eugen Chisnicean, Joanne Boon Thomas and Jane Minter who all have had workshops here at Bandouille and already have had some of our former guest book with these artists for this year.  A compliment all round I think you would agree.  So exciting stuff and we are adding to this wonderful array the stunning work of both Amanda Spencer and Stephie Butler, all of whom work in pricipally watercolour.  All details to be found on our website.

To find out more about us and what we do and what is here please read this article written by one of our guests (Nikki Griffiths) we had in October!    http://www.seos-art.org/news/125    

This is another article written on the blog of Doron Art

Lovely to know that we are someones guilty pleasure!!!! To those outside the UK our house has been dressed like the Bourneville brand of chocolate. We are now someones guilty pleasure.  How wonderful!

Doron writes

 "I am sure you remember my painting holiday to France last year at Bandouille… I had some nice painting time after the Christmas holiday and I wanted to paint special thank you message. The holiday was so good that it remind me another good thing… Yes a great chocolate I am sure we all know!

Happy New Year Bix and Drew and thank you for a great holiday"

To read his full article Click here....Lovely read!
http://doronart.com/2013/06/02/bandouille/
 It was such a wonderful thing to know how much Bandouille is enjoyed by our guests and that is what we are striving for.  Also take a peek at the testimonials on our FB page and on our website too..

Please follow this blog for further news on future guest tutors and of course on Twitter too…..and always feel free to comment too.

ART

My artistic year started towards the end of the the Christmas break and I

have been busy putting together ideas for my textures and techniques (see above) classes and creating a small book to help me format a good balanced layout for exercises.  Whilst playing I created a few little gems and these dancers were just a happy accident.  But that’s the beauty of watercolour.  Sometimes things happen that you just don’t expect and the results can be fantastic.

From here I have also promised my self that this year I will paint more pictures for me from my reference library and the Pomegrantes just screamed at me (or Grenade in French) and I just had to try them.  I always seem to choose things that I know are out of my depth but I like the challenge and felt that I met this one full on. I was pleased with the result but regretted that it was so small (just under A4).  So now I want to revisit and do a larger version, perhaps with less fiddling too.

A site that I have joined in the last couple of weeks (United by watercolour – check it out) challenged us to doing our own self portraits, so here is mine in the 3 stages that it took me to do.  Great fun and my first.  Im not a great fan of the camera, or my face, but wanted to be a bit different and quirky and show something that was ME.

 I liked the results and that’s saying something!  Great fun! 



Next challenge from that site is to paint a piece of work from your favourite Artist.  So one of mine is John Singer Sargeant these are the ones I am juggling between Hard choice!  So pop by next time and see what I decided!!!  I'm think the Shadows on the house, or The Lesson. 

 Which would you choose?

I also enjoy just sitting down in front of the telly and sketching and drawing of an evening.  Especially at this time of year.  My children at Christmas bought me this gorgeous selection of drawer knobs, which I adore.  But instead of all being screwed into designated pieces of furniture, I have many other plans for  them before that.

At present I am just painting and drawing them in different ways with different mediums and on different papers too, but would also like to try collage, fabric and maybe mount some in a box frame.

We shall see!

  

That's it for the time being.  I don't want to bore you all.  I shall be posting items as I get them from now on rather than grouping it all together like this and see if that works better for us. 

So keep in touch and see more posts on Chippy and how he is getting on, the renovation on the Chapel and gardening if the weather allows.  Also I will be posting regularly on various crafty items that I have been creating too.

See you next time.

Bx