Half way through!

Time flies when you're painting...

I can’t believe its June already… How are we already 6 months into the year?! Where has the time gone?!? I honestly feel like I was just thinking about my ‘word for the year’ and I blinked and here we are, half way into 2023.

We are now officially in winter here in NZ, (and my kids are dropping like flies with sick bugs and colds to prove it!) I’m sat in front of the fire, and I keep seeing photos and videos of people enjoying a very sunny and warm UK. I’ll admit I am a tad jealous - but it’ll only be a few more weeks and the days will start to get longer here again, whoo-hoo! I have been wrapping up warm varnishing the finished artworks for a big project that I have been working on for months, and I will be able to share with you all about it in my next newsletter…eek!

I recently shared a post on Instagram saying how much I was enjoying using Substack as my newsletter platform and I had such a positive response from it. Thank you so much if you are here because of that post! One of the best things about it is that there is an app, where all the newsletters are ‘evergreen’ and can be easily found and read again. Another cool thing about it is that there is a ‘chat’ function that goes beyond the ‘ask me anything’ question box that I can put in Instagram. This allows for more interaction rather than just a one way dialogue. Keep an eye out for some of these coming up in the next couple of weeks. Do let me know if you have a Substack and I’ll make sure that I go and check it out!

Next Sunday the 11th I’m stepping out of my comfort zone and hosting my first ever local in-person art workshop! Its a ‘Sip and Paint’ where you are welcome to BYO alcohol/beverage of choice (I’ll also be providing soft drinks and tea) and we will be painting a still life. All materials are included, and no previous experience is necessary - I promise you’ll have fun and walk away with a canvas featuring your masterpiece. I’m a bit nervous, but also very excited as it is something that I have wanted to do for a long time… Tickets are limited and most have already sold, but if you’re quick you can buy tickets here:

For those of you who are artists and who have already subscribed to my paid Substack content - thank you so, so much, you will have received an email about my latest post “Tips for photographing artwork”, where I share everything I know about how to make the most out of using your mobile phone to take great photos. If you are interested in subscribing click on the link below, and you’ll automatically then be able to access all previous paid content too (I’ll be sharing more reference photos soon too).

I was recently sent these water-soluble oil paints by Winsor & Newton to try. I have been working on a still life of a watermelon, and so far I am really enjoying them, its very strange too be able to add water to oil paint and wash my brushes in water! I have to admit that it is nice not to need to use solvents, and the blending of oils really does seem much smoother than acrylics. The only downside is the drying time, I’m pretty impatient and even though they also sent some fast drying medium, I’ve still have to wait a few days before being able to do a second layer…

On that note I might go and check to see if I can finish it now. Hope you all have a great week, enjoy the long days of sun if you’re in the northern hemisphere and stay warm if you’re in the southern one!

Phoebe x