Very cold today but keeping warm organising my studio and planning new work with mixed media and collage  in 2011. A new year- time to have creative fun - enjoy being alive - living life to the full - it will be over  before we know it - so to hell with recession -this too will pass ! 

Let the bird of inspiration fly free !

Best wishes 

Celebrate  Winter solstice , Christmas,/Yuletide 

 and  may 2011 be a time of peace and creativity ! 

A cock step longer !

We in Ireland are enduring the coldest early winter in living memory - the lowest temperatures in late November since records began and heavy snowfalls and minus 14degrees celsius in the first week of December There are icicles hanging from the eaves of houses and rural untreated roads are impassible .

Soon it will be the Winter Solstice, Yuletide, Christmas - the festival of the rebirth of the sun, when the sun begins to gain strength again and even in the depths of winter we are reminded that life will begin again.

After the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice, the days begin to lengthen, my mother taught me, by the time span of a cocks step. Even in the coldest winter hope of Spring returning keeps us going

"Frosted Forest "(watercolour )

Good morning beautiful world !

(A cock step longer !)"Fox Alert" Acrylic  

Icicles by my door 

Studio in Snow  -December

Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,

And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;

And sore must be the storm

That could abash the little bird

That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,

And on the strangest sea;

Yet, never, in extremity,

It asked a crumb of me

Poem by Emily Dickinson

Hedgehogs and poppies - the connection !

A field of wild scarlet poppies is an astonishing sight - seeds of these ephemeral beauties have the ability to lie dormant for decades since the time before modern chemicals were sprayed. When farmers desist from spraying everything in their path with pesticides they once again spring forth from underground . How sad that modern agricultural practices should have killed off these and many other wild flowers - The compulsory EU set aside policy of of the 1990's ( now no longer in place) a scheme which made it compulsory to take 10% of land out of production to reduce the "grain mountains" meant that farmers refrained from spraying these fields and were rewarded by the return of many arable wildflowers and the subsequent reappearance of birds, butterflies, hares, frogs, newts, hedgehogs and other wildlife that thrive on plants and seeds .

Art Sample day in July

TUSCAN HOLIDAY in August - 2 places still available
I am delighted that my holiday in Tuscany is almost booked out. There are 2 places still available - booking closes soon but you might still be in time to book the holiday of a lifetime ! Scroll down to see my Tuscan blog or visit www.trudidoyle.com for booking form and more info.


ART SAMPLE DAY
Sunday 25th with Trudi Doyle - 1 day €55

A chance to try Drawing & some Watercolours & Acrylics. Suitable for those who have always wanted to take up painting but haven’t got round to it.

This day will introduce you to basic drawing & painting techniques & skills on how to compose a painting and give you a taste of painting with watercolours & acrylics. All materials are supplied for the day and you will go home with a new insight and hopefully enough enthusiasm to continue painting.

You may bring your own materials if you prefer.

Materials supplied.



DRAWING DAYS - JULY 24th - Saturday tutor Trudi Doyle 1 day €55

Although ideal for someone taking their first steps in art , this basic drawing day will be enjoyed by painters who might have bypassed drawing and want to improve their draftmanship . Learn essential drawing techniques which will provide a solid foundation to build on & will develop good observational skills to enhance painting.

Exhibition June11th - 20th Carlow Ireland Seven Oaks Hotel

Photos of some new work in Watercolours Oils and Acrylics for my Summer exhibition in the fringe Eigse Festival Carlow

TURNER'S ART - 200 years old - still daring

JMW TURNER 1775 – 1851
The greatness of Turner was a reckless appreciation of natural wildness; -the glory of natural light produced by the sun with casual ease morning after morning, the many natural variations of light and atmosphere produced by climatic variations - Like the Irish weather the English climate cannot be relied upon -these elusive and inconsistent qualities elicited from Turner new improvisatory painting techniques.
Watercolour played a significant role in his artistic development and later became his means of private expression and experiment. He invented numerous devices ; colour piment was laid on wet paper; near finished work was scrubbed out or soaked in baths of water to diffuse paint, he scratched away the surface of the paper and manouvred wet watercolour with his fingertips.His repertoire of watercolour effects became phenomenal. He created a new artistic language.
Turner’s daring disregard for realism was unprecedented and was not matched again until the 20th century with the Abstract Expressionists Pollock, Rothko and De Kooning.

"Turner disturbed those who met him by conforming little to the accepted idea of a great artist - A cockney – not over scrupulous about cleanliness or correct pronunciation was passionately intent on the things that mattered to him.
He was recognised as great from the beginning –his innovative pourings and soakings of paint bore the stamp of genius."

ALL NEW -ART SAMPLE DAY with Trudi Doyle
1 day €55

A chance to try Drawing & some Watercolours & Acrylics. Suitable for those who have always wanted to take up painting but haven’t got round to it.

This day will introduce you to basic drawing & painting techniques & skills on how to compose a painting and give you a taste of painting with watercolours & acrylics. All materials are supplied for the day and you will go home with a new insight and hopefully enough enthusiasm to continue painting.

You may bring your own materials if you prefer.

Materials supplied.

MAY - Sunday 30th 5 places


DRAWING DAYS tutor Trudi Doyle €55

Although ideal for someone taking their first steps in art , this basic drawing day will be enjoyed by painters who might have bypassed drawing and want to improve their draftmanship . Learn essential drawing techniques which will provide a solid foundation to build on & will develop good observational skills to enhance painting.

MAY - Saturday 29th

JULY- Saturday 24th

The hare in the folk myths of our ancestors.

One of the largest fertility festivals of the ancient calendar, Eostra, falls on the spring equinox when day and night are in equal balance and life has returned in profusion.The Anglo-Saxon Goddess of sunrise and spring was known as Eostra or Eastre and her sacred month was called 'Eastremonath' - Moon of Eostre.
Like all the Christian church's moveable feasts, Easter shows it's pagan origin in a dating system based on the old lunar calendar.It is always the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox.The Christian festival wasn't called Easter until the Goddess's name was given to it in the late Middle Ages.
The Irish observed Easter on a different date from that of the Roman church, probably the original date of the festival of Eostre, until the Roman calendar was imposed in 632 A.D.
The most striking thing about the mythology of hares is the degree of commonality across the globe, there are long-spoken tales of hares from the Americas to the Far East, from Africa to Europe. The hare is embedded in the folk myths of our ancestors. It is associated in mythology with the Moon, the celestial skies and the Sun, with fertility, the dawn, cunning and bravery. There is evidence of hare mythology in ancient pottery, coins, seals, and hieroglyphics and in oral history. (In Egypt the hare symbolised the very essence of life itself: the hieroglyphic 'Wn', depicting a hare on top of a single blue-green ripple, means 'to exist'). Similar to the fact that most ancient cultures have a flood myth, most also seem to have hare mythology. What was it about the hare which led to this mythology? We will probably never know for sure, but the fact that wild hares lived in proximity to people, perform unique and uninhibited courtship dances, are extremely sexually active in the spring and are active at night, were all factors.

Further musings of a watercolourist

Even after many years of practice there is always an element of excitement and surprise for me when painting in watercolour. Unlike other painting techniques (oil painting , acrylic, chalk pastels and oil pastels etc.) in which the materials have an inertia of their own, watercolour painting is based on an elusive and moving substance which posesses its own metamorphic energy ( water).
An essential requirement for a watercolourist is patience -it has taken many years of working in watercolour to develop a working method that allows sufficient time for various techniques to produce the effects required .

No pool of water is like any other - Musings of a watercolourist

Watercolour paintings are not usually prey to forgers –the very difficulties of managing water, of imitating the instantaneous marks produced by the action of the artist in combination with pools of pigmented water ensures that each work is unique and almost impossible to recreate.

'Wet in wet’ is the most complex, but also the most basic of all the techniques of watercolour. When the water on the brush meets the water on the page something remarkable happens. It is this phenomena which makes the art of watercolour painting exciting and immensely satisfying .

Painting wet in wet requires a calm mind, spontaneous movements & focus - when I am painting in the flow I lose track of time; I am in the moment yet out of concious time - a seeming contradiction.

Gaining an understanding of watercolour takes patience and practice and many pools of colourful water both on & off the paper.

TUSCAN Art holiday

FLY TO PISA and I will organise the rest - Hotel - airport transfers, food, wine, painting excursions visits to Florence and the Uffitzi Gallery and much more - Italy will charm you!


Photos of the area in Italy where I am holding my art holiday in Montecatini , Tuscany from Wednesday 18th August to Weds 25th.2010.

PAINTING WEEKENDS with Trudi Doyle

This is my new 2010 list of ART WEEKENDS & CREATIVE WORKSHOPS at Bunbury Art Studio Ballyconnell Tullow Co Carlow Ireland

I have reduced fees to 2003 prices

1. WATERCOLOURS with Trudi Doyle

2 days €140 or 1 day €75

Whether you are an apprehensive beginner or have some experience but feel at sea in this medium of watercolours, this course will help you to develop a range of simple techniques; how to use & mix colour, lay washes and compose a painting. All will be demonstrated in Trudi's paint along method which will reinforce your understanding of how to handle this exciting and beautiful medium, giving you the confidence to produce paintings to be proud of. You should complete at least one finished painting and several sketches. SUITABLE FOR BEGINNERS & IMPROVERS

MAY - Sunday 2^nd & Mon 3^rd (bank holiday)
JULY– Sat 10^th & Sunday 11th
OCTOBER - Sat. 16th & Sun 17th

2.OIL PAINTING with Pat Maher 2 days €150

This weekend is tutored by award winning artist Pat Maher, a master at capturing the elusive effects of light and shade. He is a patient and experienced tutor who knows how to bring out the best in painters of all level of ability. He includes instruction on good composition, colour and tone with demonstrations and individual tuition. If you are starting out or want to develop a surer approach which can be adapted to suit your own personal style this course is for you. SUITABLE FOR BEGINNERS & IMPROVERS

MAY - Saturday 15^th & Sunday 16^th

SEPTEMBER— Saturday 4th & Sunday 5^th

3. ALL NEW -ART SAMPLE DAYS with Trudi Doyle 1 day €55

A chance to try Drawing & some Watercolours & Acrylics. Suitable for those who have always wanted to take up painting but haven’t got round to it.

This day will introduce you to basic drawing & painting techniques & skills on how to compose a painting and give you a taste of painting with watercolours & acrylics. All materials are supplied for the day and you will go home with a new insight and hopefully enough enthusiasm to continue painting.

You may bring your own materials if you prefer.

Materials supplied.

MAY - Sunday 30^th 10 places

JULY Sunday 25^th 10 places

OCTOBER Sunday 3rd 10 places

4.VIBRANT WATERCOLOURS with Trudi Doyle 2 days €140

For those who wish to loosen up and enliven their work and stretch their knowledge of watercolours beyond the usual. Learn to experiment with a variety of techniques and "tricks of the trade" e.g. sponging, masking, salt effects, cling film textures and the use of mixed media. Delight in the discovery of unexpected effects, keeping an open mind to happy accidents, finding ways of incorporating your new skills into your paintings whether abstract, figurative, landscape, still life, etc. Learn from Trudi the well kept secrets of transparent glowing watercolours and how to effortlessly achieve freshness and vibrancy in your paintings from now on.

JULY - Saturday 17th & Sunday 18th

AUGUST- Sunday 1^st & Mon 2^nd (bank holiday)

5. ACRYLICS with Trudi Doyle 2 days €140

Acrylics are an easy to use & versatile medium. Diluted with water they can be used like watercolour or used straight from the tube, they produce depth and colour similar to oil painting. Their quick drying nature allows the painter to build up layers of colour faster than oil paint and their opacity means that they are forgiving of mistakes. This workshop will include simple drawing skills and painting techniques, learning the basics while completing a simple painting

JUNE- Sunday 6^th & Mon 7^th (bank holiday)

SEPTEMBER - Saturday 25th & Sunday 26^th

6. DRAWING DAYS tutor Trudi Doyle €55

Although ideal for someone taking their first steps in art , this basic drawing day will be enjoyed by painters who might have bypassed drawing and want to improve their draftmanship . Learn essential drawing techniques which will provide a solid foundation to build on & will develop good observational skills to enhance painting.

MAY - Saturday 29^th

JULY- Saturday 24^th

7. ART & NATURE SUMMER SCHOOL

For boys and girls aged 4 to 11

Enjoy Art lessons in Painting , Drawing and Collage. Stimulate the imagination and encourage recycling by making wonderful creations from colourful textured papers, fabrics, found objects, beads & buttons in the studio. Also enjoy outdoor nature walks to encourage observation skills –weather permitting- and interactive fun and games in the garden. All Materials provided. Bring a packed lunch each day.

JULY -Tuesday 7th Wednesday 8th & Thursday 9th €55

€10 off all 2 day adult course bookings before April 1^st 2010

email for further details and bookings - trudiart@eircom.net