If you have never painted in a YURT before now is the time to try it! I was recently invited to visit and look round Ulverscroft Manor near Markfield in Leicestershire where the Shuttlewood Clarke Foundation is located.
This is a charitable organisation devoted to providing support, care and friendship to the people of Leicestershire. I was taken round the place in a golf buggy and visited their various buildings including the now-famous yurt. OK OK I’ll tell you! A yurt is a tent/marquee-like structure built of pre-fabricated steam-bent wooden poles and covered with a waterproof fabric. The whole thing is topped with large acrylic circular window and the spacious interior is very well lit. A wood-burning stove completes the facilities. It is based on a Central Asia Nomadic Tent and I just fell in love with it and the organisers agreed I could run a one-day workshop in it.
We can take only 20 people/artists/would-be artists so please book early if you would like to join me. So the day of this amazing experience is going to be Friday August 6th from 10am till 4pm. The cost will be £60.00 a head. All profits from the day will go towards the work of the Shuttlewood Clarke Foundation, registered charity number 803525.
Your £60.00 will entitle you to coffee on arrival, excellent 2 course lunch with a glass of wine and tea or coffee with cake on departure. All materials will be provided for those of you without any. And of course, the teaching!
On these workshops I treat everybody as if they are beginners and devote the large part of the morning session to techniques. You will learn how to use the five basic methods of applying watercolour paint and after lunch we will move out into the grounds for you to start a landscape painting. You do not need any experience in watercolour painting to enrol and I love working with absolute beginners. We all learn a lot from each other. What magnificent grounds they are by the way…all 55 acres of them!
Have a look at the websites: www.shuttlewood-clarke.org and www.yewtrial.org.uk
Then let me or Linda Prime, Operations Director at the Shuttlewood Clarke Foundation (linda@shuttlewood-clarke.org), know if you are interested in joining us. We will give you more information about getting there and so on. I promise you an exciting and memorable day.
I look forward to hearing from you
Best wishes
Peter Welton
www.peterwelton.com
