For the more jaundiced amongst us, the phrase Adult Education might conjure up images of a cheerless school classroom, repurposed for half-a-dozen lovelorn grown-ups with a feigned interest in lampshade-making. The last place they'd think of would be somewhere like Dillington House; a Somerset County Council-owned Adult…
Last weekend, Frome Sketchers visited Hauser & Wirth Somerset, a brave and bold addition to Iwan Wirth and Manuela Hauser's stable of international art galleries. What's different about this venture, however, is the breadth of the couple's vision. Not only is the…
I've just returned from seven fantastic days at Studio Paradiso in a secret location, beyond Carrara, where every town and village perches on its own wooded slope and Michelangelo's white marble gleams like snow on the mountains.
After a slow morning at the villa, sketching in the sunshine, we drove to Marsala to the Florio family winery, where we discovered that the legendary dessert wine comes in many other guises too. Besides wine, Florio's stylish shop also sells ceramics, preserves,…
With the exertions of Selinunte still fresh in our minds, we took the morning off to visit nearby Castelvetrano. After coffee and a highly restorative bout of shopping, followed by a magnificent lunch of last night's leftovers, (refreshed…
We had a wonderful second day on our Paccamora painting holiday in Sicily. The sun shot hotly all through the afternoon as we toured the monumental temples of ancient Selinunte and scrambled over the ruins, sketching as we went. Afterwards,…
My latest commission is both the biggest and the smallest I’ve ever undertaken! After my artwork for Yapp Brothers in nearby Mere was short-listed for the wine list of the year award in 2013