Di and I are very much looking forward to the summer and our first full week at Chateau Ribagnac in May. It gives our tutor, Sylvia Paul, another opportunity of capturing the character in her own inimitable style of the area in and around this charming castle not far from Limoges in central France. That's when she's not passing on to our artists the benefit of her wide experience and helping them to develop their skills.
We'll be sharing the great food and wine Colette creates in the kitchen and the companionship these houseparty-holidays for people who like to paint always generate. With economic flights between London Stansted and Limoges the chateau is easy to reach. Some prefer to drive on French motorways - a holiday in itself compared with the daily gridlock almost anywhere in the UK - which can be accomplished comfortably in eight hours from the Channel ports.
Sylvia was a popular demonstrator at the Artists and Illustrators' Exhibition in London last July, where she completed on our stand one of her trademark collages, based on one of Ribagnac's fairytale towers.We stayed there last May in response to a request from Patrick for the filming of TV's More Chaos at the Castle, the follow-up to the programme on how Patrick and Colette took their children and left their London lawyers' practices to renovate a very pretty chateau in the heart of the Lake District of France.
We pay two visits to Chateau Ribagnac this year. The first has been fully-booked for weeks so we are taking bookings now for our September week there. Our tutor then will be the celebrated Devon South West Acadamician and portraitist Ann L. Roe - also known as Ann Jones. Ann is currently busy at Longleat, painting Lord Bath.
May is a particularly busy for Sylvia Paul and our artists who admire her work will be glad she's made space in her diary to be with us, supported in style as always by her husband Geoff. Not long after a successful exhibition at a new gallery in Long Melford, Suffolk, where she was among a selection of young Scottish artists, she is exhibiting in Ely more than 30 of her paintings and mixed media collages of Venetian subjects. No other city in the world has captured the imagination of artists as this gilded mysterious city in the sea, and her show opens after a private view on Wednesday May 2nd from 7pm at the Old Fire Engine House. It continues until Sunday, June 3rd. View her work on www.sylviapaul.com
Meantime the autumn gold of the forests clothing the slopes of the French Alps above Morzine is again attracting artists to Au Coin du Feu. The cuisine in the Haute Savoie is very special to the area but Francesca who ran her own catering business in London before she and Paul settled with their young family in their tailor-made chalet-hotel, approves the wonderful dishes produced by chefs keen to create gastronomic treats.
Oh, and the painting.. It's led by Jonathan Newey, who conducted our holidays on Andalusia's Costa de Luz and Vellano in Tuscany. He too was demonstrating at the A&I in Islington last year and he'll be offering his expertise to artists of all ability and in all mediums. Marlborough College is among the organisations who benefit from his experience and skill. You can see some of his work on www.jonathannewey.com
And why not visit us? www.paintingactivities.co.uk