With the end of 2011 and the beginning of the New Year, another season of painting holidays is approaching fast. But before I dash ahead for more painting adventures, I like to cast a last glance back to the happy days of travelling and painting in 2011.
As always we had a fantastic time painting in MOROCCO in March, where our host and guide Ali Mouni organized beautiful painting trips. Ali had become a father for the third time and we were all invited to share a meal with his family. Celebrations out of the way, we set to work in earnest and painted the ‘golden’ desert dunes surrounding the Nomad Palace, old villages and lush palmeries, jade-green valleys in the Dades Gorge and the Nomad Palace. There were camels, lovingly arranged to be our models and local men in traditional dress appeared casually and were eagerly sketched by us. On the journey back we were awed by the view of the snow covered peaks of the Atlas Mountains in the distance.
SICILY in April and the brilliant Sicilian sun provided us with rich colours, reflected in the enormous terracotta olive vessels seemingly ‘growing’ on the terraces of the Fattoria Mose. There was lots to choose from: archways overhung by flowering Wisteria, gates with peep through effects, fields full of wild flowers, intimate corners with old stable doors, the glorious temples at the ‘Valley Of The Temples’ near Agrigento with the azure blue sea beyond. The sister of our hostess Chiara Agnello, Simonetta Hornby, had published another book about their childhood in Sicily, featuring Chiara’s culinary secrets. The recipes have been passed on from generation to generation and we were lucky enough to taste Chiara’s Sicilian home cooking.
Later on in May at Peralta in TUSCANY the uninterrupted blue skies during daytime were matched by the warm evenings spent dining on the terrace with fireflies for lamplight. The sunlight, clear and crisp, cast deep shadows across the old stone walls, pots and gardens. Our first painting outing to the hill top village of Torcigliano was great fun. Next day in Pietrasanta, we were able to sketch and paint medieval architecture, street scenes and people. One evening our hostess Dinah Voison invited us for drinks in the sculpture room and old studios of the former owner of Peralta and famous sculptress Fiore de Henriquez. Her work was truly inspiring!
The sunny weather in TUSCANY in late May made the mountain village of Cotto look as paintable as ever and brought out vibrant green colours on hills and mountains, while nurturing an unusual amount of colourful flowers and butterflies. Some low clouds passed soon and we were able to enjoy the swimming pool and painting around Cotto, the nearby old market town and the medieval castle Verrucola. On our outing to Lucca we enjoyed mixing the pleasure of sketching or painting with light shopping and sightseeing. The fabulous meal in the old ’ Il Gardinetto’ in Fivizzano was a great way to finish the week, surrounded by an extraordinary collection of modern paintings and old masters collected by Peppino, the owner of the hotel.
I arrived on a sunny day in the SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS in June. The majestic Torridon Hills seen across the water from the small village of Achintraid showed themselves in the best possible light and we could hardly wait to start painting by the side of picturesque Loch Kishorn. We made an amazing excursion across the high mountain pass to the secluded cliffs beyond the village of Applecross. An outstanding location, on whose rugged shores I have spotted Sea Otters eating freshly caught fish. Splendid painting trips and culinary treats complemented a highly creative week with a last night of sea-food, haggis and pipes.
My visits to Coombe Farm Studios, DEVON marked the end of the year's painting holidays. We spent time painting flowers in the studio, landscapes around Coombe Farm, the breathtaking garden of sculptress Jilly Sutton and the romantic Mill Creek. Newly discovered, the dovecotes at the back of the old buildings proved an absolute success. Everybody enjoyed painting there while the doves were coming and going or sitting by their little entrances modelling for us. In August I was invited by Paul and Tina Riley at Coombe Farm to a special dinner, where I met Sir Peter Blake, the famous English pop artist. His work was on show at the Riley's Gallery in Dartmouth and also in the Gallery at Coombe Farm Studios together with some of my paintings. Leaving Devon was made slightly easier this time by the prospect of a visit to Germany and exciting art projects ahead.
‘MAIL ART ‘ (Post RAY JOHNSON), the first EXHIBITION I participated in, took place in October at Marylebone’s A&D Gallery in London, inspired by the work of New York artist Ray Johnston and in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust. This was followed by the EXHIBITION 'Internationale Des Monstres'Galerie Espace, at Galerie Espace in MONTREAL, CANADA in late October, where I contributed watercolours. An invitation in September by my colleague Sally Child took me to the seaside town of Walton On The Naze where we filmed my PERFORMANCE (balancing on a Groyne!) for ‘THE GROYNE GALLERY’. My visit to Germany led me into another venture of film making and resulted in two more SHORT FILMS. In March the ‘LEISURE PAINTER’ magazine published my three page illustrated article ‘FRESH & WILD’, A ROUGH GUIDE TO VIBRANT WATERCOLOURS –even on a dull day, and later in June, the magazine featured my TUSCANY holiday courses as their “Holiday of the Month”.
All in all it was a wonderful season and a great pleasure to meet up with so many familiar faces and making so many new friends. I hope very much you can join me again for another expedition into the exciting world of paintbrush and easel and wish you a very happy and creative New Year
Bettina Schroeder