Monday 29 July 2013

Amazing Ways With Watercolour DVD

Amazing Ways With Watercolour
DVD

There is a great introduction to my teaching style on my DVD "Atmospheric Watercolours". There is also a small rose demonstrations which shows how I work loosely to create a rose simply, in watercolour.

You can purchase or watch a clip of this film via this link



All About Roses

Rose Study
Painting in the Garden

Following last weeks workshops I am now desperately trying to catch up in my studio. I still have to finalise the 2014 watercolour workshop programme and I have a meeting with my publisher in August. I am really looking forward to sharing my new paintings, step by steps and ideas for my new book.

Yesterday I visited a gorgeous garden centre and found myself studying an amazing variety of roses. I was lost in a sea of colour and perfume. Even though my painting time is limited today I couldn't resist starting a small rose study from my garden. Just a few minutes to play with colour and water, looking for the shape of the rose against the dark foliage it was nestling in. This is my idea of heaven, painting what I want when I want to!

I am very aware that the flowers in my garden have a limited life.  If I want to paint them outside I need to do it now in the summer months while I can. Making the most of each ray of sunshine and daylight painting time.

This could be a week full of rose paintings!

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Sunday 28 July 2013

Poetry in Motion : Rose

Rose
Workshop Demonstration 2013
Pure watercolour only

It has been yet another incredible week as I have held the last of my UK Summer workshops for 2013. Each day I met fantastic groups of artists and there were many moments where as the mentor I had to leave the room silently, just to soak in the incredible atmosphere which was fantastic. There were happy tears at times as artist reached goals for the first time or found a level of enthusiasm that had been missing from their art lives until now. This was indeed a very special week.

I show my passion for watercolour through my workshops mainly to share not only my joy for working in this magical medium but also to encourage artists of all levels to discover the pleasure I feel when moving my brushes. I cannot describe this fabulous "high" when pigments flow across paper. But I do believe everyone of us that works with colour is privileged in so many ways. 

I am now going to work on my new book quietly throughout the rest of the Summer, it is beginning to take shape and look fantastic. Each chapter is like a Chistmas gift waiting to be unwrapped by the reader and I am hoping to give as many "gifts" away in it of step by steps and tips. Writing it is making me feel even more enthusiastic than I do already about painting in watercolour. Something that I thought would be impossible!

I am now reading  touching emails from some of the artists who attended my workshops last week thanking me fo rthe sessions. If you are reading this Sue, I loved your comment about "watching me work is like watching poetry in motion". What a fabulous compliment and thank you so very much.

Thank you to all the artists who have attended my sessions  this year. The 2014 workshop programe will be sent by email to everyone on my contact list at some point in September or October. Please book early when it arrives as there are some  really exciting sessions planned for next year.

I will be sharing details of my 2014 International Workshops later too.

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For full information about my 2014 workshops please email me on

 jeanhaines@hotmail.com

If you belong to an Art Society and wish to book a workshop in USA or Australia please contact me directly for full information as I am now planning my 2015 tour.

Tuesday 23 July 2013

Atmospheric Watercolours Workshop

Elephant emerging from a first wash
Workshop Demonstration 2013

This week I have  watercolour workshops taking place in Hampshire, U.K. Today was the first session with the theme of "Atmospheric Watercolours", following my latest book of the same name. I look forward to these events as much as artists attending them. We covered so many subjects throughout the day but my favourite had to be the closing demonstration of an elephant.The atmosphere in the room at this point was wonderful and despite the intense Summer heat we all had such a great time.

I feel so privileged when I take these workshops as I get to meet so many wonderful people from all over the world. I reunite with old friends who may have attended my workshops in the past and  I also make new friends of the future. People who, like me, are fascinated in the magical medium we know as watercolour. In my  workshop today was an artist from Sweden, this year alone has seen artists from Iceland,Vietnam, Thailand, France, Italy, USA, Canada and Croatia.

There are times in each session where I feel like celebrating, when an artist achieves a new high or reaches a new personal goal.  And I love hearing when artists who have come to me gain places in exhibitions, sell their first paintings or win competitions. Each year the feeling of elation from a great workshop day never fades, but in fact grows even stronger.

How lucky we are to be able to share a passion as we do, because even now if you are reading my blog post I am connecting with you,where ever in the world you happen to be. Tomorrow I take a new session specifically aimed at capturing summer subjects.

 It is going to be a very exciting week!

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My International Workshops are fully booked this year and the waiting lists have all been closed. But there are still a few places avilable in Mexico this November, please contact me on jeanhaines@hotmail.com if you would like details.

2014 Workshop information will be released later this year.

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Tuesday 16 July 2013

Meet The Artist, Dogs in Art Gallery ,17th July

"Loved"

MEET THE ARTIST
Dogs in Art Gallery
Stockbridge
Hampshire
17th July 2013
2.00 pm- 4.00pm

I will be at the Dogs in Art Gallery in Stockbridge tomorrow, delivering work and signing books. Everyone is welcome and it is a fabulous gallery/town to visit. My Summer Show has now officially opened. My watercolour  collection and details of art events throughout the exhibition can be found via this link.


Monday 15 July 2013

Dogs in Art Gallery E-Brochure




Hampshire Hog
SOLD 

DOGS IN ART GALLERY
An e-brochure of my current exhibition at the Dogs in Art Gallery, Stockbridge is now available via this link


 The owners of the gallery are happy to send paintings to overseas collectors.

Poppies Galore!

Poppies on my Easel from a painting session in my garden

The weather is glorious and it is a perfect time of year to take my watercolours into the garden to capture colour in natural sunlight. Near the woodland section of our cottage garden there is a mass of red poppies growing wildly, where they have self seeded. They made a fabulous display of red flower heads softly swaying in what little breeze there was over the weekend.

I literally sat  with a few small pieces of paper and painted what I saw, exploring flower shapes as the breeze forced transparent petals to dance this way and that, changing direction frequently.  Studying from nature and NOT photographs is the best way to improve as an artist as your eyes are constantly searching for true colour and shape interaction. 

If you can, get outsde and paint from life as often as possible. The rewards are endless.

For now this is the end of this blog post as I am going out into my garden to paint again!

Happy Painting!

Friday 12 July 2013

Dogs in Art Gallery, AUGUST 4th Special Event

Hampshire Hog
£595
SOLD

My solo exhibition has opend at the Dogs in Art Gallery in Stockbridge ,Hampshire today. My "Hampshire Hog" painting has already sold and interest in the show has been wonderful leading up to the opening.

There are two dates  that may be of interest during the exhibition.


Meet the Artist and Book Signing Event
Wednesday 17th July 
2.00 p.m  - 4.00 p.m.

I will be at the gallery to sign books on Wednesday and free to meet visitors and discuss paintings in my new collection. Everyone is welcome and it is a fabulous opportunity to visit the gallery and the wonderful town of Stockbridge whilst it is quieter mid week.


Gallery Event
 Sunday , 4th August
The gallery are hosting an invitation only  private reception. Full details on how to obtain invitations which are limited can be found via this link 

"We are holding our Gallery Summer Show Private Reception on Sunday 4th August from noon until 2pm.  Drinks will be served and Jean will be present to give our guests a private viewing of her Summer Sensations exhibition.  This is a private event for ticket holders only.  Space is limited and we expect to be oversubscribed so please email us asap if you would like to secure tickets."


 The annual food festival will be taking place at Stockbridge on the Sunday which is a brilliant time to visit this gorgeous town.

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Taking Time to Smell the Roses

Rose  painted from my garden this morning.
Work in progress

Life is busy, as always. The more I do the more I seem to have to do. I open emails constantly and read wonderful invitations where my brain screams at me to say "no" but my heart yells say "Yes"! And I always without fail follow my heart. It hasn't led me in any wrong directions so far so I will keep listening to it!

However the problem, with being so busy, is that the artist who used to wander around her garden and sit to paint flowers as they appeared seems to have been forgotten. Which is why this morning I remembered her and her passion for painting roses. I sat quietly by a favourite rose in our garden and painted it. I listened to bird song, I absorbed its heady perfume in the sunlight and I allowed pigment to bring it to life on my paper using very gentle brush strokes.

If you can't enjoy painting roses when they are in bloom when can you?

Please take time, just for you, to paint what you like when you feel like it. Let the roller coaster of life wait for you for a change and put  the "u" back in "you"!

I did today and I feel fantastic!


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Tuesday 9 July 2013

Campanula : Garden Studies 2013

Campanula
Garden Study 2013

This year, Summer is wonderful and I am making the most of the sunshine by painting in my garden as often as possible. I keep a box with scraps of paper in it and grab a handful with a board, my brush sets and palette which can be easily carried. I only need two brushes for my floral work. My own size 10 Kolinsky sable for the main subject sections and my Kolinsky sable rigger for stems and adding last fine detail to my studies.

The point of my Kolinsky sable size ten is perfect for petal shapes and I can easily create a flower by moving the brush in a suitable angles. This is why I personally designed its' shape in the way that it is. The hair had to be the finest, soft sable that will curve easily for fluidity in results. For my Canterbury bells, above, I have been using a mixture of violet and turqouise shades.  My Kolinsky sable rigger is fantastic for working on stems and stamen. I simply slide my brush through pigment from my palette or already on paper making "lines" which act as the stems of my chosen flowers.

 Jean Haines personalised Kolinsky Brush sets available from

I love painting flowers in Summer.  I have several varieties of campanula growing in my garden. Some have tiny bells and are really delicate like in the study above. Others, as in the study below, have larger flower "bells" and look like a giant of the same plant. I have been so busy with exhibitions and art events this year that time now to simply enjoy painting, just for me is heaven! I have been excitedly working on my next book. The paintings  for the step by steps in it are so thrilling for me to work on that I can't wait for readers to see what I have shared this time. It is looking gorgeous so far.  But I still have a lot to write. My adventure in creating my next book is keeping me feeling very alive,young and happy!


Campanula, 
Garden Study II

Artists Tip For the day : Paint something from life as often as possible and really learn to see the colour that is missing so often when you work from photographs alone!

Monday 8 July 2013

Meet The Artist Event , Stockbridge Gallery July 17th







"Loved"
          £675            
H57cms x   W76cms


DOGS IN ART GALLERY
Stockbridge
Hampshire 

MEET THE ARTIST and BOOK SIGNING EVENT
Wednesday 17th July, 2013 from 2.00p.m to 4.00p.m.

I will be at the Dogs in Art Gallery in Stockbridge on the 17th July from 2.00 -4.00 p.m to sign books and meet visitors to my solo exhibition there. I love this gallery so much and always enjoy visiting the gorgeous town of Stockbridge. There is a stunning river walk, delightful tea room in the village and fabulous  places to sample food and wine such as The Three Cups.


 Stockbridge is a wonderful part of Hampshire to visit .


You don't need to book to visit the gallery on the Wednesday ,17th July.  Just turn up and if you would like me to sign  books I am will enjoy doing so and meeting you.

My collection is very varied and consists of many favourites!

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Gallery and exhibition detaisl can be found via this link 


 

Saturday 6 July 2013

New Greeting Cards : Kingfisher Blue

Kingfisher Blue
£595

Dogs in Art Gallery
Stockbridge
Summer Sensations
Solo Exhibition 
Opening July 13th, 2013


There will be a fabulous new collection of greeting cards exclusively selected for my solo exhibition at the Dogs in Art gallery in Stockbridge. I will be sharing the new designs throughout this week on my blog and explaining why I chose each painting for the limited card collection.

Kingfisher Blue, above was such a fabulous painting to work on. It is one of those paintings that carried a wonderfully magical feel about it. I live by water so I see a Kingfisher here almost daily and it has the most stunning colouring. Quite often when you walk alongside the canal near our home you will see a glimpse of turquoise. If the bird settles you can be lucky enough to observe its beauty. But these birds are so quick!  The colouring and movemnt suits my style and technique so I fell in love immeditaley with what I had seen as a new subject to paint. The watercolour above is intended to give the illusion of the kingfisher just settling onto a twig or it could be about to take flight.

Unfortunately my photograph does not do the colouring justice so an early visit to the gallery to see this piece is advised.





Friday 5 July 2013

Solo Exhibition Pre- Preview

Summer Sensations
Solo Exhibition at the Dogs in Art Gallery
Stockbridge
Hampshire 

I am preparing for my solo exhibition at the Dogs in Art Gallery in Stockbridge,Hampshire which includes many favoruite subjects. Here is a sneak preview of some of the paintings in my exhibition.


Kingfisher
£595



 Essence of the Country
£495


 The Cats Whiskers
£595




Hampshire Hog
£595

Not the Ugly Duckling
£245
(Thats me with the camera!)

Sweet Perfume
£245


For full size information and painting availability please contact the
the gallery via this link

Dogs in Art Solo Exhibition Opening July 13th, 2013

"Sweet Perfume"
£275


The courier has just collected from the framers and delivered my framed paintings, for my solo exhibition at the Dogs in Art Gallery which opens on July 13th. Amongst the collection of paintings is my favouite sweet pea watercolour and it looks wonderful. You can almost smell the flowers heady fragrance just by looking at this fresh piece, enhanced by a white frame. This is always the stage  where my  heart is torn. My husband saw this painting as I unwrapped it and immediately commented saying how much he liked it. It looks  amazing in our own home and this is where I feel I want to keep it!

But it will be in my show, amongst other new paintings as part of my annual summer exhibition at the Dogs in Art Gallery in Stockbridge. The gallery are happy to reserve favourite paintings so please contact them as soon as possible if you see any of my work that you like.

The gallery details are 

Stockbridge Gallery
Old Post Office
High Street
Stockbridge
Hampshire
SO20 6EU

Opening Hours : Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 4pm.

Telephone: +44 (0)1264 810142

Full details about my show can be found via this link 

Wednesday 3 July 2013

Dogs in Art Gallery Show Opening July 13th,2013

"The Cats Whiskers"
Dogs in Art Gallery, Stockbridge, Hampshire

My watercolour collection for my annual solo exhibition at the Dogs in Art Gallery, in Stockbridge, Hampshire is looking beautiful. There are hedgehogs, a kingfisher of course,dogs, cats and beautiful florals.  There is also a new greeting card collection created exclusively for the show. 

You can see " The Cats Whiskers" above and many more of my paintings at the gallery from July 13th.  If you are interested in buying a favourite subject please attend the show as early as possible,certain pieces do have a habit of disappearing fast.

You can read about my exhibition and learn about location of the gallery  via this link.

Tuesday 2 July 2013

Beach Boy On My Easel

"Beach boy" coming to life with further detail and the background added
Copyright: Jean Haines

Days like these I absolutely love. I woke early because I couldn't sleep last night for thinking of exciting paintings in my studio that have been playing on my mind. Yesterday I left the little beach boy on my easel. Walking away from it last night was very difficult but I knew I was tired and needed to leave it for fresh "Morning Eyes". I walked into my studio eagerly this morning really looking forward to seeing how this child looked in the paintings developing stage. He has sunlight on his hair and he does look as though he is playing in sunshine. I am thrilled.

Now I have a decision to make. I can add a little car in his hand which is what he really was playing with on the beach or I can let my artists imagination take over. I love the thought that he could be tossing sand in the air and I have already hinted at this happening with my background wash. I have left room for a sandcastle by his side but love the empty space  to the right of the figure. This section leads my viewers imagination into what is happening there.

This piece is so very nearly finished but when paintings are so enjoyable to work on as artists we often tend to overwork. Mainly by not putting our brushes down soon enough. I walk around my own workshops telling artists on my courses that their painting is finished on many occasions. This piece is nearly at that point!

I'm going toleave it at this stage and let the painting tell me what it needs.

Artists tip of the day; Don't be in a race to finish a painting. Enjoy very stage in its development!

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Copyright Information.

While I am  over the moon to inspire, please respect copyright laws.  Always aim to create your own original work. Certainly learn from techniques of other artists who you admire but avoid copying their work directly. Most importantly please only sell work that is you know is your own. Due to the internet, word soons gets around if work has been copied and it is your own reputation you risk ruining, by getting a bad name. So please be very careful!

Monday 1 July 2013

Beach Boys :Children in Watercolour

 Face appearing in first stage of a child in watercolour

I love Summer! I have childhood memories of being covered up on the beach due to my skin being so fair, having an overly protective Step Mum who always worried I would get terrible sunburn. In England now we see the sunshine so rarely that it is almost impossible to get sunburnt at all!

I have fabulous Summer workshops approaching this month and a Summer exhibition which has set my mind racing on all the  terrific subjects I could be painting that remind me of Summer. Nothing makes me feel more like the sunshine season than beach scenes. Especially children on beaches.  I have a favourite resource photograph of a little boy on a beach in Hong Kong. He was wrapped up as the sun had decided to hide that day. He reminded me of the days when I spent ages making sandcastles or excitedly looked for treasure on sandy Welsh beaches where I spent my childhood.

I have this painting started with the childs' head and worked away to the clothing. His little hand will be grabbing sand to release it between his fingers. I can remember that feeling and loving it as a child. I wonder how many memories this will bring for viewers of the finished painting ? So many artists have asked to see this particular subject from me again, so I thought I would  revisit a favourite painting. To see how far I have come in my own art journey by painting it again. I have always loved painting children and portraits so this is a lovely return "home"!


Working away from my starting point to the clothing of a child on the beach.

I am currently working on my new book which will contain so many exciting subjects. Each day is like Christmas as more and more ideas pour into it.  Being an artist is really exciting and at times makes me feel very youthful! 

I can't wait to continue on this piece.

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Kingfisher Blue, Dogs in Art Gallery

Kingfisher Blue
£595
From my new collection at the Dogs in Art Gallery, Stockbridge

This Kingfisher is part of my new collection of watercolours that will be on show at the gorgeous Dogs in Art Gallery in Stockbridge during my solo exhibition which opens on 13th July. Please view the exhibition early as favourite subjects have been sold very quickly in previous shows this year.