Liz Seward has been painting and drawing all her life. After an early career in scientific illustration and raising a family she qualified as an Adult Education lecturer and taught drawing, watercolours and mixed media for 24 years, retiring in 2003 to concentrate on her own work and a busy schedule demonstrating to Art Societies throughout the country. Liz also demonstrates for a number of leading companies and is an expert on artists’ materials. She has exhibited widely in many galleries and on London at both Mall and Westminster Galleries. Her work has been reproduced as greeting cards by many organizations and she has won a number of prestigious awards. Liz has contributed to several books including ‘Watercolour Plus’ and ‘The Artists’ Sketchbook and is a regular contributor to ‘The Artist’ magazine. She was elected to The Society of Women Artists in 1993 and became a full member of the Society of Floral Painters.
Our Course Tutors
Our regular course tutors are listed below. Click on a name to read a short artist biography and follow a link to the artist’s own website.
Roger Dellar is a professional figurative artist who works in oils, pastels, mixed media, Acrylics, and water-based media. His interest in observing people in their environments has influenced him to record and interpret them, capturing light effects.
He is a member of the ROI (The Royal Institute of Oil Painters) RASMA ( Associated Member of the Royal Society of Marine Artists) The RI (The Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours) and also a Council Member, The Pastel Society, The Wapping Group (Past President) The Chelsea Art Society and The Brit Plein Air.
Roger has also exhibited with The Royal Water-Colour Society at The Bankside Gallery, The Royal Society of Marine Artists, The New English Art Club, The Royal Society of British Artists – all at the Mall Galleries, The West of England Academy (Bristol) and The Royal Academy London. Wapping Group.
Winston has painted watercolour landscapes and townscapes in Dedham and Suffolk for more than a decade. He was tutored by the late James Fletcher-Watson and John Yardley, and has painted with Ken Howard. He is an elected member of the Pure Watercolour Society. “The Artist” magazine has featured a series of his instructional articles since 1999, some of which were published in “The Problem Solver” (Harper Collins). He has had solo exhibitions in the UK, Switzerland and Singapore, and in mixed exhibitions in Sydney and the Mall Galleries in London. His Watercolour course consists of structured slide tutorials, morning demonstrations, outdoor painting in various locations in Suffolk combined with individual tuition on site and in the studio. The subjects covered during the week include skies, trees, foreground, water, figures, tones and composition.
Brian Smith RI, SWDS
I am a professional Artist specialising in Watercolour, my paintings have been exhibited at Open Exhibitions internationally gaining numerous awards from the RI, RWS, RWA, and RSMA, SDWS Art Societies. I am a member of The Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour based at the prestigious Mall galleries in London and San Diego Watercolour Society in USA.
I tutor Watercolour from my studio and also monthly workshops on Zoom. I also demonstrate and tutor workshops at art societies around the UK and Europe. I regularly write feature articles in Art magazines worldwide including The Art of Watercolour, International Artist and The Artist.
Anne Blankson-Hemans BA (hons) Fine Art, SWA
Anne Blankson-Hemans is a professional figurative artist known for her use of bright and energetic colours in her artwork. her preferred medium is oils, and she finds inspiration both indoors in her studio and outdoors while urban sketching and painting en plein air.
Anne's passion for showing her art has lead her to participate in three TV programs; 'Show Me The Monet', (BBC,2012), 'The Big Painting Chalenge, (BBC1, 2015) and series 10 of Sky Art's Portrait of The Year (Sky Arts, 2022). Additionally, she is involved in the art community as the Vice president of the society of Women Artists, supporting and promoting the work of female creatives.
Anne loves to people watch and often portrays people going about their daily lives in her work. She exhibits regularly with The society of Women Artists at teh Mall Galleries in London and has also exhibited with the Royal Society of British Artists and other art societies.
In addition to working in oils, Anne is also comfortable with acrylic and watercolour and is an avid outdoor sketcher working predominantly with pen and watercolour washes.
annebh-art.com
twitter: @annebh_art
Salliann studies at the West Surrey College of Art and Design. She is a qualified teacher and has run painting courses for a number of years. Her work is mostly in oil or watercolour and subjects include still life, flowers, interiors, figures and landscape. She has exhibited at the Royal Academy, the Royal Watercolour Exhibition, The New English Art Club, The Royal Society of British Artists and The Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour. She has had several one and two man shows and has won a number of awards including the Royal Watercolour Society Award and the Chris Beetles Award. Her paintings are in private collections both in this country and abroad.
Ann works primarily in coloured pencil and is well known for her fine detail, vibrant colours and strong contemporary style. She is passionate about coloured pencils believing they are easier to master, forgiving and accessible so that even a complete beginner can produce work of quality. She has been awarded 4 Gold Medals by the Royal Horticultural Society. Her work in represented in the prestigious Shirley Sherwood Collection and the RHS Lindley Collection and she has recently designed the ‘Botanical’ range of china for Jersey Pottery. Ann is an inspirational and nurturing tutor, happy to share all the techniques she encompasses in her work. She teaches around the world and is happy to work with students of all abilities.
Soraya is a professional artist and tutor. She is a regular contributor to The Artist Magazine and the success of her two art Books published by Harper Collins have brought her international recognition and following. She is a demonstrator for the US based art company “GOLDEN Artist Colours” and the “Caran D’Ache” Company of Switzerland. She also demonstrates her painting techniques to art groups and societies around the UK. She is an elected member of the Society of Women Artists and The Society of Floral Painters, and is currently the President of the Andover Art Society. Soraya is a figurative painter and works in watercolours, oils, pastels, acrylics and mixed media with a variety of subject matters such as musicians, café scenes and African market scenes amongst others. Many of her subjects are travel based including people in everyday life situations. Light and colour are the two important elements in her paintings together with semi abstract passages with a sense of ambiguity where she allows the viewer to make up their own story. Soraya has received a number of prestigious art awards for her paintings in recent years and many of her paintings can be found in private and public collections both at home and abroad. Soraya’s Studio is based at the prestigious “Project Workshops” in Quarley Hampshire, where she works with her husband Tim, who is Director of their Art Gallery and Workshops.
Graham Webber ROI is and elected member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters and exhibits in galleries across the country. He has won multiple awards for his painting and his work has been featured in several publications as well as being collected worldwide. he is listed in Who's Who in Art and writes regularly for the Artist magazine and was invited to do a Plein Air oil painting video produced by Townhouse Films in 2022. Graham has become a popular teacher demonstrating and giving workshops across the country. he is keen to share his knowledge of oil painting and has become popular for his friendly, open and approachable teaching style. Inspired by artists such as Edward Seago and John Constable, Graham is known for his depiction of the east Anglian landscape.
S.M.KUMAR ARSMA
Kumar is primarily a traditional watercolour painter, his style of painting is loose capturing the atmosphere, mood and light. He believes in painting the subject quickly showing the essential elements of the scene in bold shapes with emphasis on composition, tone and colour.
He emphasises this should be deliberate and direct to retain the freshness and the luminosity which is so unique to this medium. He paints a variety of subject matters some of which include, landscapes, street scenes and still life and enjoys painting outdoors in various locations throughout the UK and overseas.
He is currently the 100th president of the Lytham Art Society and does regular group en-plein air and studio demonstrations. He is also a member of the East Anglian Group of Marine Artists.
For the past few years some of his work has been selected and exhibited at the annual RSMA exhibition in the Mall Gallery and was awarded the Charles Pears Award in 2020 and this year his work was selected for the Winners/Award Winning Artist exhibition in Mall Gallery. Best watercolour painting award from Artist and Illustrators magazine., also Classic boat award 2022 (RSMA Exhibition Mall Gallery) He will also be having a one-man exhibition in Summer 2023 at the Lytham Heritage Centre which will display a large body of his current works.
During the course he will demonstrate in the studio and on location in the nearby villages and estuaries, weather permitting. The emphasis will be on drawing skills, design, composition, focal point and painting methods in a lively and friendly atmosphere which is suitable for all skills and abilities.
SMKumar Paintings
Andrew Pitt gives demonstrations and runs workshops in watercolour, pen and wash and oils. He frequently writes articles that are published in The Leisure Painter Magazine. He is able to give help to students in discovering their own personal style of painting.
Steve Hall started painting and drawing at an early age and developed a love of the English landscape and a desire to capture its ever-changing moods and seasons on paper. This desire was left unfulfilled for many years as he pursued a teaching career in Further Education and eventually became an Assistant Principal for Gwent Tertiary College. Following early retirement, he became Chairman of Bath City Football Club and at the same time developed a successful property business.
In tandem with these activities, Steve was able to devote much of his time to painting and in particular watercolour. Eventually this became his sole occupation and towards the end of the 1990's he became a full time painter, tutor and demonstrator. Today he is a popular teacher at many venues around Britain and has developed a considerable following at Dedham hall. He is the author of seven books, including two about his own work, the latest being 'Steve hall, My Way with Watercolour'. He also produced five instructional DVD's and is a regular contributor to The artist magazine.
he has been much inspired by the work of such artists as Edward Wesson, Edward Seago, Jack Merriott and John Yardley. His aim is to capture light and form by the most simple and fresh means possible and to pass on this approach to course members. Steve likes to lead by example and his one-to-one teaching at Dedham hall is supported by demonstrations and short tutorials. he makes no distinction between beginners and more experienced painters, believing all are deserving of his time and effort, whatever their ability.
In recent years, Steve has extended his teaching at Dedham hall to include Pastel and Acrylic tuition. these mediums now form an important addition to Steve's portfolio of work and he is delighted to share these skills with those around him.
Wherever possible those attending May and August courses will go out into the surrounding countryside or coastline so that they may capture the essence of the scene plein air. For courses held in March and October the work is studio based.
So, join Steve on a journey that is unending yet, for the determined traveller, one that can be so rewarding.
Steve's work can be viewed on www.stevehallartist.co.uk and at his gallery www.bradfordgallery.co.uk
David is a professional painter and experienced teacher working in watercolour, oils and pastels and is always happy to be amongst East Anglian landscape and marine subjects. He also paints equestrian and shooting pictures, life work and anything else that takes his fancy and firmly believes that irrespective of the subject all that matters is the quality of the painting itself. Apart from discussions on materials and technique and the occasional demonstration, he likes to spend time with students working on the fundamentals of composition, tone and colour both as a group and individually and is a great advocate of painting plein air at various locations and developing ideas through drawing and sketching. David’s work is constantly in demand and he supplies a number of major galleries both in the UK and overseas and has had over 20 one-man shows in various parts of the world. Apart from gallery commitments he regularly undertakes commissions and his paintings hang in collections located worldwide, ranging from city boardrooms to Middle Eastern palaces. His work has been reproduced in magazine articles, books, video and limited edition prints and he is a past president of the Royal Society of Marine Artists and an honoury member of the Pure Watercolour Society.
Andy Evansen
Signature member of AWS, PAPA, RRWS, TWSA
Andy Evansen's interest in art started in childhood, as he can't recall a time when he wasn't drawing. He began painting watercolors in the mid 1990's as a change of pace from his career as a medical illustrator. Choosing a 'style' was not difficult, as Andy was always inspired by the watercolor paintings of British artists Trevor Chamberlain, David Curtis, Ed Seago and John Yardley among others.
He found himself attempting to capture the landscape with the same economy of brushstroke, taking advantage of the luminosity of watercolors done in just a few washes. In addition, he was impressed with the way those artists seemed to capture everyday scenes in such a way that revealed hidden beauty, subjects that many would simply pass by.
His work gained recognition after winning an international watercolour competition through American Artist magazine, appearing on their cover in 2005. He's been featured in numerous publications since, and has become a sought-after workshop instructor who paints and teaches internationally. He has become a signature member of the prestigious Plein Air Painters of America (PAPA) in 2012 and served as their president from 2015 - 2017. His paintings have won numerous awards including the Bronze and High Winds Medals from the American Watercolor Society, and he was their demonstration artist for the 2018 Exhibition. His love of painting on location also led him being a featured presenter at the 2014 and 2016 Plein Air Conventions and inclusion in the 2017 Quingdao International Masters Watercolor Plein Air Event.
John Hoar was born in 1947 and studied Architecture at Cambridge. He has painted professionally ’since 1980 and has won several prizes for watercolour. Town House Films has made five DVD's of his work, one of which (on pen and ink and watercolour) was a best-seller for some years. He has taught watercolour courses at the Quingdao International Watercolour Salon in China. His courses are for aspiring artists of all abilities and his approach is vry broad and simple and easy to follow. (included in the course will be instruction in pure watercolour, pen and ink and wash as well as sepia wash). He does many demonstrations both in and out-of-doors while his aim is to give his pupils the knowledge and confidence to produce paintings they can be proud of..
Richard Green is an artist based in Preston, Lancashire who has always had an interest in Art from an early age which was fostered by a constant supply of paper for drawing provided by a relative who worked at a paper mill.
Working in the heating industry for forty years the last twenty two of which have been training industry professionals to exceedingly high standards he endeavours to use this experience in adult education, to deliver simple effective processes to help others make improvements in their art.
Primarily a landscape painter, he has been influenced by the work of the "Edwards" (Wesson and Seago) and he tries to capture the essence of the scene in his chosen medium of watercolour in loose fluid washes with the minimum of fuss and application.
Richard's work has won numerous awards including the Leisure Painter award in the 2022 Patchings exhibition and he is represented by The Picture house gallery Padiham.
www.picturehousepreston.co.uk
www.richardg-green.squarespace.com
Chris is a professional, figurative painter working in acrylics, watercolour and mixed media. He is mostly concerned with landscape and architectural subjects and in capturing atmosphere, fleeting moments of changing light and using dynamic composition and expressive mark-making while leaving some areas as vague abstraction, letting the viewer use their imagination. His work is widely exibited throughout the UK. He has won prizes for his work at The Mall Galleries and is a member of the RI and SGFA (Society of Graphic Fine Artists). He is in popular demand for his lively informative demonstrations and he runs courses in Cornwall and Greece. He believes in getting to know his painting subject through sketching and observation, planning composition and colour, and then working quickly and expressivly back in the studio, making the work look spontaneous, lively and exciting. He will be using this approach on this course.
November in Bentley Woods, oil, 26 x 33 cm
Fiona is a professional artist and tutor with many years' teaching experience with adults. Educated in Scotland, she lived in several countries before moving to southern England in 2009. She works in many mediums and her love for vibrant and harmonious colour is evident in her paintings. Outdoor painting is her passion, using watercolour sketches as well as photos to paint oils and acrylics in her studio. Her style is loose and impressionistic and she loves to create textures with a painting knife. She runs a weekly art class, exhibits regularly, demonstrates and does workshops for local art groups near Salisbury, Wiltshire.
Her experience of meeting and mixing with different nationalities and cultures has been a major influence in her life in art.
www.fionajforbesart.com
Keith was a respected architectural illustrator - a Fellow of the Society of Architectural Illustration - for 30 years and is now enjoying the freedom of being able to paint for himself with a loose spontaneous approach and to teach his simple methods to others. Capturing the light is everything and Keith will show you how to do just that, using just a few basic colours.
His work has been exhibited in galleries and exhibitions worldwide and he is a frequent exhibitor at The Mall Galleries with the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour where he was awarded a Schmincke prize for an outstanding watercolour.
www.hornblowerart.com
Ian McManus AIEA Ian McManus is a very popular and sought after workshop tutor and demonstrator. The energy and enthusiasm Ian brings to the workshop, ensures his students thoroughly enjoy the lessons, and many praise him for the immediate and ongoing improvement in their own watercolour paintings. Compleetly self taught, Ian’s reputation has grown following his highly successful major solo exhibitions over the last four years. Ian became an Associate Member of The Institute of East Anglian Artists after his entry won the Picture of the Exhibition award, and in 2014, was pre-selected for the RI Exhibition of Painters in Water Colours. Ian’s subjects range from rural scenes to bustling street scenes where dramatic effects of light and shade are enhanced by his confidence to incorporate complex figurative studies. He continues to develop his technique, which he believes gives each finished painting a transparency and a freedom of expression envied by many of his piers.
Kim Page has been painting seriously from the age of 12 when he won a scholarship to a junior Art School for 3 years. After having a career in printing he decided to turn professional as an artist after 25 years in the industry. Painting mainly in watercolour and mixed media he enjoys painting landscape, portrait and still life and recently semi abstract. He tutors at Art Societys, workshops and appraisals and has shown work at The Mall and various galleries both in this country and abroad.
Lynda is a popular tutor with a degree in art education and has taught in tertiary and further education for many years. Her aim is to build confidence in her students be they beginners or the more experienced. Her work covers a wide range of subject matter in both watercolour and acrylic but her great love is architecture and landscape both manmade and natural which she approaches with strong tone and fresh colour.
Following careers in commercial Graphic Design and teaching, Anne’s natural talents, combined with a desire for artistic freedom inevitably resulted in fine art painting becoming her now well established profession.
Her work has taken many directions in subject matter and at various times has moved across all mediums of oil, acrylics and mixed media, with watercolour always dominating. Subjects have also been ‘on the move’ with subjects taken from her travels and interior scenes featuring people in everyday situations becoming the subjects for which Anne has received most acclaim.
In addition to showing in many independent galleries, her work has achieved much recognition by the leading and celebrated art societies, with work selected by the SWA (Society of Women Artists) RI ( Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours) RWS ( Royal Watercolour Society) ROI ( Royal Institute of Oil Painters) and RA ( Royal Academy Summer Exhibition).
1994 awarded membership to the SWA ( Past Vice President)
2007 elected member of the RI ( Currently a serving member of the RI Council)
AWARDS
SWA. ‘Best Work’ in annual open SWA exhibition 1996
HAS John Goss Award 1998, 2006, 2013
Bill Dale Award 1999,2007,2014
Lady Laming Award 2009, 2015
Edward Mason Watercolour Award 2016
RI Best Figure Work 2006
Most Atmospheric Painting 2009
Best Outstanding Collection of Work 2011
The Anthony J Lester Art Critic Award 2011
Most Innovative work in exhibition 2013
mccormackone@icloud.com
Carole Massey has been a professional artist all her working life, firstly as a graphic designer with her own advertising business and latterly as a popular tutor and demonstrator. Although her work covers a wide range of subjects in watercolour, pastels and acrylics, portraiture is her favorite. Her most recent commission was of Sir Charles Bean, the retiring Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, where the painting now hangs.
She is a very sympathetic and informative tutor who equally welcomes beginners as well as more experienced artists in her classes.
Carole has written 6 teaching art books for Search Press, translated into 16 languages, can be seen regularly on the Painting Channel, contributes articles to the Leisure Painter magazine and is a founder member of the online tuition website, ArtTutor.com. She has exhibited at the Mall Galleries with the SWA as well as in France, where she presently lives.
Michal has grown in an art-oriented family. During his architecture studies he started working as an architect beside his father. After a few years of strictly engineering work and occasional painting just for fun, he discovered that painting can be something serious. He made a few trips to European countries, started exhibiting his works in local galleries and got very positive feedback. Around 2010 he managed to organise several individual exhibitions and this was the moment when he started to perceive himself in terms of a person who is professionally involved in art.
Professionally active. A painter at the same time - treats painting as a hobby which, beside architecture, is a passion and a part of lifestyle. Contrary to his technical education perceives watercolour as a category of painting/art rather that graphics. Elements of architecture frequently appear in his works, though they are never represented directly: they are usually part of a broader cultural landscape. The coexistence of the natural landscape and human artifacts makes a remarkable material which enables the artist to create a half-realistic, half-poetic vision of the world, a vision as elusive as the changing light or seasons of the year. The resulting works are quite often inspired by a flash of light on a facade, shimmering surface of water, billowing sky rather than by a particular object.
At present he is a recognized watercolour artist invited to take part in prestigious events across the globe. Articles about him have been published, among others, i The Art of Watercolour (En.), Pratique des Arts (Fr.), Artysta i Sztuka (Pol.).
Many of his works are located in European, Chinese and American collections.
He runs workshops and live painting sessions.
He lives and works in his hometown with his wife and three children.
www.michaljasiewicz.com
Amanda is an "alla prima" artist, painting "at the first go". She is instinctive and aims to create an expressive effect directly, immediately and spontaneously, to "achieve the final look in one session". This requires skillful manipulation of the brushes and the medium, working quickly, and with 30 years experience she is a master of alla prima watercolour.
She strives to create a sense of light and energy in her work which attracts the viewer via their immediate reaction to the play of tones, contrast of darks and lights, and her omission of unnecessary detail....making every brush stroke matter.
She aims to continue this lineage by transmitting this knowledge to students via her many teaching workshops. A combination of sensuality and interllect characterise this artist.
Amanda Hyatt was born and educated in Melbourne and qualified with a BSc Hons-Chemistry) and a Dip Ed. She began her art career in 1984 and has since achieved the following
- Recognised as one of Australia's and the world's best watercolour artists who pushes the boundary of traditional watercolour.
- Sought after portrait painter (oil), examples Prof. Peter Doherty (Nobel Laureate), Prof Robin Batterham (Chief Scientist, Rio Tinto); Mr Barry Jones and numerous CSIRO executives Prof. Mike Rickard and Dr Bill Snowdon).
- 33 solo exhibitions, 2 in New York.
- Won most Australian art awards including the following majors: The Camberwell Rotary Gold Medal for Watercolour, and 8 other club awards. The St Kevin's College 1st prize. Mt Waverley 1st prize. The AME Bale watercolour award. People's Choice Award Victorian Artist Society. Victorian Artist Society Artist of the Year. Kenneth Jach Watercolour Award
Jem Bowden is a 'plein air' watercolour landscape painter.
Inspired from an early age by the natural world and being outdoors, Jem began to paint the landscape as a child after discovering JMW Turner and then the French Impressionists. Later, his love of the British watercolour landscape tradition particularly influenced his development, with plein air painting becoming central to his practice. he enjoys socialising with others around the subject of painting and is always wishing to 'demystify' the watercolour medium and related aspects of the visual world. While Jem has won awards for his work he finds greater reward in helping others to enjoy painting, and simply being in the presence of nature with perhaps a chance to pass on the inspiration gleaned.
www.jembowdenwatercolour.co.uk
Jem Bowden Riverside meadow
Jem Bowden - Pin Mill
Jem Bowden - Dedham Vale
Jake exhibits widely and is represented by galleries across the country - In 2004 he was a finalist in the Daily Mail's 'Not the Turner Prize' and in 2007 his work was selected for The Royal Society of British Artists exhibition in The Mall Galleries, London. Since this time he has been a regular contributor to The Artist magazine. Jake has been winner of catagory and best in show at Marwell International Wildlife Art Society's annual exhibition and in 2009 was awarded the prestigious St. Cuthberts Mill award for best watercolour at the Society of Equestrian Artists annual show.
Jake has been the subject of three instructional DVD's by Townhouse Films and he has a book, 'Light and Movement in Watercolour'.
Anne demonstrates and tutors workshops fro many art groups over a wide area and also teaches watercolour onboard cruise liners! She is chairman of the Sleaford Art Group and a member of the Shelford Group of Artists.
Anne's studio is in her garden in the village of Digby where she teaches and paints the inspiring great Linconshire skies and landscapes.
Anne has won awards for her paintings and exhibits in Norfolk, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and Ireland. Her paintings are in private collections in many of the countries of Europe, also Australia, New Zealand and the USA.
www.saa.co.uk/art/annebarnham
Melanie is an artist with many years of teaching experience who loves to encourage everyone to develop their skills and personal style at whatever level. Working with oils, her enthusiasm for the medium is infectious, encouraging students to make the most of this exciting medium. Her positive approach creates a friendly and creative atmosphere wherever she teaches.
She is a regular visitor to art groups around South East England, offering demonstrations and workshops as well as hosting UK-based painting holidays. Melanie has written fore art instruction books for Collins and has her own range of artist brushes specifically created for Oil and acrylic painters.
