Pastel course, Kbuston Hall, October 2008

Day One: October 13th 2008 (Click on the links to see the pictures) Monday – and after being much later to bed than intended on Sunday evening, it was difficult to get out of bed. The alarm went off at half past five, and the second alarm, ten minutes later, but in between I had dragged myself from between the sheets. Doing things in a different order, as it was still dark outside, I printed out T-A's ‘While I’m away’ notes, which I forgot to print last night. The time seemed to fly by and having planned to leave by 7.30, it was 7.50 when I drove away. Somehow, I missed the turn off the A1 for the A45, and ended up stopping a couple of times to work out where I was, eventually using the A14, then on to the A45. After one stop to be sure that I was going the right way (it seemed a very long way!) and a false turn, I found Irchester, and a big sign saying, “Knuston Hall 2 miles.” I heaved a big sigh of relief as I turned off, and an even bigger one when I pulled up outside the Hall, two hours and fifteen minutes after setting off. Knuston Hall: The lady from Reception gave me a quick tour of the essential places – the classroom, the dining room, the bar and the loo – then left me to help myself to a hot drink. Before that, I took a couple of photos and sent messages to L and to my husband. Knuston Hall is an old building and the view from the forecourt is of meadow and autumn trees – well worth a couple of photos. As I made the tea, I heard one voice behind me mention watercolours, and introduced myself to F and D, the two who had arrived ahead of me. We chatted and gradually, others arrived and we took turns to introduce the group to each other – a good way of fixing names. By eleven, nine of the eleven had arrived and Liz came to introduce herself. At 11.15, we were led across to the Beech Room where Aladdin’s cave awaited us. 20 sheets of A2 size paper, four each of five colours, and several sets of pastels. Liz ‘called register’ then gave a brief demo of mark-making before leading us through a step-by-step sunset. Part way through, she left us to carry on and walked round to take a look. This was taking me right outside my Comfort Zone, with a new medium, a new surface, and I am totally unused to working indoors, and not from my own source material. I sat there thinking, "I don't think I can do this! A minute or two passed and I was close to tars, then, in disbelief at my emotional response, I gave myself a huge mental shake and talking to, and set to work. By lunchtime, most of us had a painting of sorts, and I was reasonably pleased with mine. Lunch was a choice of hot quiche or pasta, or cold ham and turkey, with various salads to accompany it. I chose ham and a roll and added salad and some dried apricots to my plate. We were split onto two tables and I’m sure it must be a first for a lunchtime conversation on an art course to be about the Footsie index and high finance, but at both tables, this was just about the first topic of conversation. After lunch, I collected my room key and headed for No 21, in the West Wing. The room is tiny, and I needed to move the chair to make somewhere to put my case down. The hanging space is about eighteen inches across and the ‘en suite’ is amazingly small! If I open wide the door of this mini-bathroom, it sends the overhead light rocking. It’s a little like an economy class cabin on a ship, but adequate for its purpose. Without the mini-bathroom, it would be a decent size. A diddy room: Just before two, I went back to the classroom. People drifted in and Liz set us to work. We were to do a painting using the source material that we had brought with us and she’d keep an eye on us. By now I was flagging, and fighting the same emotions as this morning, but chose to do an A3 size painting of the Scots Pines, on a dark paper with a dark sky. I used a dark blue-grey, purple, lilac and grey in the sky and swept in the foreground before starting on the trees. Liz said I should have filled in more of the grain of the paper before tackling detail, and I did try… After a while, tiredness and pain were really kicking in and I sat back, unable to work out what to do next. It was time for tea, so we toddled over to the Hall and I gave in to the appeal of a goodly chunk of Lemon Drizzle Cake that demanded to be eaten. I’d already had a home-made cookie this morning, but hey, I’m on holiday!!! We talked over tea, topics ranging from the ‘fade-tendency’ (lightfastness) of the paper we were using to copyright. [SIZE=1]I was not the only one who wanted to paint this.[/SIZE] Back at the Beech Hut I took some photos outside before the others arrived back and ended up being almost the last to return. Looking at my painting, I was still at a loss what else to do, especially as I rather liked it as it was. I sat looking at it and made a few disastrous strokes of pastel, then spent time taking it out and refreshing the original. Realising that I was absolutely whacked, I gave up, explained to Liz and tidied my workspace. After I’d cleared up, I saw that Liz was doing a demo for Mr D, and I turned my chair to watch. From upside down, the painting didn’t make sense, but when she had moved away, and I could see it right-side-up, it did - and it was very good. The session finished at 5.15, and after clearing up, Back at no 21, I put the kettle on and booted up the laptop. I typed this up and sorted out the photos. Meanwhile, it was getting dark outside and people were preparing for dinner. Dinner: It was amusing to see that people returned to the same seats they’d had at lunch, except that Liz and Gerry (her husband and helper) swapped tables. There was butternut, coriander and coconut soup, which five of our table had and there were five very clean bowls afterwards. Kate and I refused with regret. It looked delicious, but with a full main course to follow, I knew I wouldn’t manage it. A thick slice of roast pork with sausage meat, creamed potato with spring onions (on the menu as Champ, but I don’t think an Irish person would recognise it, as it was too well-creamed and not enough onion) with broccoli and carrots followed the soup, and the dessert choices were rice pudding, banoffee pie or fruit salad. Six of us opted for the fruit, and only one had cream. D had the rice pudding. Gerry talked as we ate. He’d told me during the afternoon about his cataract operation last week, and the joy he has now his colour sight has been restored is infectious. He told us a little about him, Liz and the family, and we talked a little about teaching art. After dinner, we trooped back to the Beech Room and Liz did a demonstration of moonlight on a dark sea, which was beautiful - then outlined the intentions for tomorrow, which include autumn, snow, mist and moonlight. Should be a busy day! By now we were all tired, and although it was only nine o’clock, I was ready for my bed. I went across to the main building for a glass of milk, and while we waited, talked briefly to K, who also wanted milk, for the same reason – to take her pills. Back at No 21, I let the laptop boot up while I prepared for bed, then finished typing this up to date. It’s now 9.45 and I am about ready to put the light out and go to sleep! Day two will follow ...