April Newsletter
News, Exhibitions and Events...
🕊️ April
The clocks have changed, the days are drawing out and the weather is softening. Swallows swooped in this week, carried by blustery southwesterly winds. I’ve spent long hours in the potager preparing for the growing season; it has been a joy to connect with the earth, listen to birdsong, and begin sowing and planting. Longer evenings mean more time for evening rides among scampering hares and deer— a delight and an inspiration as the landscape shifts with the season.
🕊️Summer Term Class availability
🕊️March in Review - what we’ve been creating.
🕊️April Project.
🕊️Upcoming Expos & Creative Gatherings.
🕊️Opportunities
🕊️Summer Term Class availability
I have added some new dates for private sessions (Wednesday afternoons) - these are one off sessions for individuals or small groups who can’t commit to a longer course. Book here.
🕊️ March in Review — What We’ve Been Creating
Recent events caused some disruption to classes, especially Thursday groups, to whom I am truly grateful for their understanding and support.
In March we explored perspective — a foundational skill that underpins drawing and composition. We continued working with tone and studied artists such as Jan Both (1615–1652), Pieter de Molijn (1597–1661), and Filippo Brunelleschi (1337–1446), observing how they used depth, structure, and geometry to guide the eye.
🕊️ April Project: Birds
The soundscape of this time of year is unmistakably birdsong: the liquid notes of garden birds, a woodpecker tapping in Theresa’s old walnut tree, buzzards circling high above, and best of all a song thrush keeping watch from the top of an ancient oak. Our theme for April is birds.
This month I’m sharing bird watercolour tutorials, and I invite you to explore this theme in your own way. Consider how your materials and techniques can express speed, lightness, curiosity, fragility, or boldness. Birds offer endless possibilities for gesture, colour, and movement.
🕊️ Upcoming Expos & Creative Gatherings
Musee des Beaux Arts, Rennes, 3500 - lots of events, talks and guided tours through April.
Musee des Beaux Arts, Vannes, UNDA / Traversée spectrale. Elsa Tomkowiak - contemporary artist…all year.
L’Homme qui vole – Hervé Walbecq - Le Triangle, Cité de la danse
Boulevard de Yougoslavie, 35000 Rennes (until 26 juin 2026)RWS Gallery, London. From April 10th Permanent revolving watercolour showcase.
Do let me know if you attend any of these — I’d love to hear your thoughts.
🕊️ Opportunities
The British Art Prize 2026
Deadline: 7 September 2026
This prize offers exceptional national exposure and the chance for artists to sell their work to an audience of nearly a million art lovers and collectors. The prize fund includes significant cash awards, and shortlisted artists will exhibit at OXO Gallery, 21–25 October 2026.
🕊️ Spring Begins…
Spring is officially here. Whether you’re gardening, walking the countryside, or enjoying a coffee at a streetside café, there is so much to see, hear, and be inspired by. Use your sketchbooks to record ideas — even quick notes can become seeds for future projects.
Your experience of place is more than visual: it’s sound, movement, temperature, scent, memory. Let it all feed your creativity. Enjoy the birds and breathe in the blossom.
A+
Elizabeth
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