Plein Air Painting in Killarney

Hi all, I wanted to share with you what I got up to last weekend. I decided to have a little painting "me" time so I booked in on a Plein Air Painting weekend with local artist Tina Reed. I painted with Tina last year and had loved it and the challenge of plein air painting with oils in Killarney was too good an opportunity to miss. Oils are still quite a new medium to me but I now adore them and find I am reaching to the oil tubes more frequently then the acrylic tubes these days but it depends on what I am working on.

The setting was the Lake Hotel in Killarney which has stunning views. As you can see the day started off quite dullish but we watched our paint palette get brighter and brighter over the weekend and the magnificent colour change on the mountains (Torc and Mangerton were our main focal points) and the lakes. We had it all, swans, boats and also some very interested patrons from the hotel having a gander at our work. 

I shared the weekend with 6 ladies and Tina our teacher. Everybody was at different levels in painting from people painting for the very first time to some very talented experienced painters. 

We painted mostly with palette knives but as a brush lover I did sneak in the did brush stroke throughout the weekend. 

One of the bonuses of oils (which I used to consider a negative in my impatience) is the slow drying time which allowed me to work on the painting in more detail when I got home. The composition in its vastness was quite challenging but very interesting. I haven't quite completed a masterpiece yet in oils but slowly but surely I am learning more and more with each project. 

If you fancy a weekend with a difference I would highly recommend Tina's courses. And for those of you looking for regular oil painting classes we are honoured to have Tina teaching Tuesday evenings in our own workshop room whilst she builds a new studio in the stunning Clydagh Valley.

Thanks Tina and to to the lovely ladies I met over the weekend. I hope to see you back on a course very soon.

Cathy

Next Workshops Date 7th June 2008

Well todays (Saturday 24th May) workshops were a great success and thanks to everybody who attended.

We started off with card making this morning and made two beautiful cards - a castle design and a free design where the children got to choose what they wanted to design. We learned about punching, stamping and embellishing the cards and the cars turned out fantastic. I will put up pics of the demo cards we used next week and a step by step guide on how we made them.

Felicia's jewellery making class followed with everybody creating a beautiful bracelet and set of earrings using a range of beading techniques. Everybody got to choose their own beads and left with some amazing designs.

Finally our workshops finished off with glass painting. We got the chance to design our very own mirrors and used the Marabu glass painters to create some funky designs. We added that very special touch to our mirrors at the end by sticking on some glass jewels and buttons.

Everybody had lots of fun and our next workshops are already filling up. Details are as follows.

NEXT WORKSHOP DATE - Saturday 7th June

Children's Card Making at 10AM. We will be designing twisted pyramid cards from a brand new range that is new and exclusive to The Crafty Alley Shop. (Details and pictures will go up during the week).

Adult Jewelery Making at 12PM. Details to follow.

Children's Ceramic Painting at 2pm. Paint your very own mug!

As usual please email me at cathy@craftyalley.com or ring the shop on 06430800 to put your name down for a workshop.

Finally, we still have a couple of places left at our drawing class on a Monday evening. The watercolour class which starts on Thursday the 5th June is almost full so make sure you put down your 50% deposit (€30) to secure your place. We are currently taking names for acrylic and oil painting which will also start in early June.

See you soon

Cathy ;-)

Thanks

Well the opening was a great success and lots of fun was had by all. From the face painting to the jewelery making workshops there was something for everybody to do. Thanks to The Kerryman which did a great feature on us.

Thanks to the girls from Cork Croppers and Craft Eire for visiting too.

We are still working away on the website which will hopefully be up within the next week or two at the latest. In the meantime to give a taste of what we have in the shop I will be putting up some product information on the blog.

The workshops were also a great success and we are going to be advertising the programme of workshops from now til September over the coming days.

For now I can confirm that drawing takes place every Monday evening in the shop from 7pm to 8.30pm and jewelery making will be held in the shop the first Sat of every Month from 12pm to 1.30pm.

Other workshops coming up include

Scrapbooking
Cardmaking
Watercolour Painting
Oil Painting
Acrylic Painting

Please email me if you are interested in any of the classes and places are limited.

Thanks