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I can't believe the summer break is over already and we are back to school! How did that happen so fast?

With the new term comes a new schedule. I have changed things around a little and now run classes Monday to Friday for children, leaving my Saturdays free for Craft Fairs and Workshop days in the studio. I am also running classes for adult beginners now, Monday to Friday and absolutley love it! Are you allowed to have this much fun whilst working? If not, don't tell anyone!

This coming Friday, the 9th September is going to be a busy one for me. I will be running two classes in the 'Over 50's Day' taking place in The Atkins Building where very conveniently I have my studio. I will run a soft pastel class in the morning and a 'get in there and get messy' painting class in the afternoon. Well, you don't actually have to get messy, it isn't compulsary but trust me, you will get so immersed in creating that you will get messy and you won't even notice it! All good fun.

I am hoping that the day will encourage people to try out my morning classes for adult beginners which run from Monday to Friday. My aim is to fill all my classes to capacity to the point where I have to open up some afternoon classes too! I love it so much that I can't think of anything that would fill my day up quite as nicely.

My Panda club children's classes are filling up too and this term I have introduced a new 'Teens and Tweens' class which runs on a Tuesday after school. Pretty much got all ages covered now!

Life is very busy and I find myself thinking about the studio/classes/lesson plans/advertising etc ALL THE TIME! I do have to remind myself that the housework doesn't do itself (unfortunately) and with that in mind I had better get the hoover out and assuage the guilt a little.

Hope you are enjoying the slow change from summer to Autumn, the colours this time of year are wonderful.

Off to clean and spruce my house up. (Trying to say that enthusiastically!)

Take Care...x

 

To Whom It May Concern:

 

Since Mrs. Bev Morrant began her Panda Art sessions at St. Peter’s, they have proved to be enormously popular with our pupils and their parents and carers.

 

The learning has been fun and the skills learnt are very high level. The progress children have made in their art skills in school has been rapid, and the children’s outcomes from sessions are extremely impressive. Bev Morrant’s enthusiasm and expertise enables her to expertly guide and empower children to be creative and expressive with their art work. They achieve highly and love the subject.

 

Panda Art has had a huge impact on children’s competence and confidence in art and design, and has been the best such initiative I have seen in twenty years of teaching.

 

Yours truly,

 

Ralph Wood

Headteacher

Firstly I must tell you amazing news! Panda Club recently won first place in a National After School Art Competition. the prize was £1000!!!! Lots of lovely money to spend on things to do in classes. Already started spending!

The children are very excited and should rightly feel extremely proud of their achievement.

WELL DONE PANDAS!

 

We broke up from school yesterday for the summer break.

This is good! It gives me time to run summer sessions for both adults and children from my lovely new studio. (Different classes obviously!) 

I have posted new pages on the website with details if you are interested. Classes are filling up so book early. If necessary I can extend to further days.

I start my first adult classes on Monday (18th July) and have to say i am really looking forward to it and meeting new Pandas...even if they are a little older that my usual Pandas! I can't wait to show people how easy art can be if you know how to look at things and convert what you see onto a blank piece of paper and into a piece of work to be proud of.

I have also reduced my hours at work in order to run classes during the school term time and offer Batik Workshops not only from the studio for small groups but also in local Primary Schools.

It all feels very exciting. I have taken a huge risk giving up this time at work but I strongly feel that it is important to take a huge leap of faith occasionally if you want to move forward in life and grow as a person. No regrets right?

So, wish me luck in my endeavours and I hope that some of you might join me at the studio before very long!

Take care, hope to see you soon. xxx

Well! Big news for Panda Club. We have a change of venue. From now on i will be running Panda Club aswell as all things Panda Art based from my new studio at Creative Hinckley, a newly restored building which is specifically designed for all things creative.

It is a truly wonderful building and I count myself to be very lucky to have obtained a studio there. The studio is just perfect! Light, airy, clean and warm. Couldn't have asked for anything more perfect from which to run the classes. The new site means that I can also open the classes up to a much wider audience and will advertise in local press shortly. I have given all current and past Panda's the chance to book up classes first as we go back a long way and I would love to keep as many Panda's as possible to give them a chance to experience the class in an environment specifically made for creativity.

The Creative Hinckley building also has a lovley cafe for parents dropping off and picking up children. A little 'me' time should you wish to wait in the building. Nearby we also have a leisure centre, you could fit in a quick swim or a trip to the gym whilst the children are at Panda Club. Should you wish something less energetic (!) the shopping centre is within walking distance. So,something for everyone!

I will be running classes every afternoon from 4pm to 5.30pm for years 3,4,5 and 6. (mixed age group classes which I know from experience work very well) This should make things easier if you have children of different ages wanting to attend classes. For years 1 and 2 I will be running a class on a Saturday morning from 11am to 12.30.

Limited spaces are available as I have kept the class size to 8 per session. Book early to ensure you get the day that suits your schedule best.

Once classes are full I will begin a waiting list.

I will also start art classes for adults in a morning shortly. If you are interested please let me know by contacting me on the email address supplied on the contact page or of course by phone.

I am also using the studio space to show my own work and so the Gentle Faces Gallery (new paintings all the time) is available for viewing should you wish to see the paintings face to gentle face!(Ooh! by the way I have a table at the Crafted show to be held at the Atkins building, Creative Hinckley on Saturday June 18th so pop in and say hi!)

So! That's the exciting news. I cannot wait to get started! The studio looks amazing, all new furniture and lots of arty stuff to work with. I have lots of art ideas and can't wait to get the children back to creating works of art in their most excellent Panda way.

I hope to see many 'old' Panda's soon and look forward to meeting many 'new' Panda's.

Take care, xxx

I had a table at the craft show in Oakham yesterday and had the most wonderful day. The people on either side of me were so chatty and friendly and helped to pass the day and the visitors to the show were lovely too.

 I am finding at these events, that when people stop to look at the paintings, they either say nothing, just look and then move on or some will make a connection and talk about the work and then you get some people don't even notice I am there and head straight for the stalls with trinkets and 'stuff' which is fine. Not everyone is interested in art. 

When people do stop, look and then want to talk to me about the process of my work, I love that! I had a particularly lovely lady yesterday who bought 4 of my pictures and had to stop herself from buying them all. When someone really 'gets' your style, your passion for your work and understands your creative ideas and finds beauty in the paintings it makes the whole thing worth while. I didn't get the ladies' name but if you read this, I hope the paintings bring you much pleasure in your new home and thank you for your open enthusiasm for my work. It warmed my heart no end!

I have another show on 6th November in Hinckley at the Creative Arts Centre in the Atkins building and will work on some Christmas themed small pictures to take with me. I feel quite exticed about the idea and need to paint! Off now to do just that.

Just before I go, I will be uploading new paintings onto the site tonight which can be purchased in the usual way. Anyone wanting commissions to suit colour schemes or with words of their own choosing please contact me via the website, phone or email. These would make ideal Christmas presents and can be personalised to suit. TTFN.xxx 

Hi all,

We're into October now and the days are either stunningly beautiful or blustery and cold. I know which are my favourite!

I have a craft show on Saturday which I am looking forward to. After the last show, I packed my stuff away and haven't looked at it since... until that is last night. I decided to take a look and remind myself what I have to offer this weekend. It was a really nice surprise! I had forgotten how much I love the pictures. I'm not sure that it is politically correct to say out loud that you like your own work but I do! So many times when I have painted pictures, all I can see are the faults but with the 'Gentle Faces' paintings, I find that I absolutely love them. They have taken on a life of their own and each has a unique expression which is so gentle and beautiful and so I can stand (or sit) at my stall on Saturday knowing that I have done the best that I can do in creating thses paintings.

I hope the visitors to the show enjoy them and even more that people will love them enough to buy! I will let you know how it goes.

Take care for now.x

Have been a little bit poorly over the last few days so no new entries. Just a cold but enough to drain me completely!

The season is really settling in now with days changing from sunny and vaguely warm to rainy, blustery and cold. Yuck! Love the changing colours and enjoy wearing warmer clothes better than summer clothes but don't like icky weather.

I have a craft fair coming up soon based in Oakham. I will post details nearer the time. I started today putting together some new ideas. I love the 'Gentle Faces' collection, really love them. In fact they have been wrapped up and tucked away since my last craft fair and I decided to have a quick peek to see how I felt about them only to feel really proud of what I had done. When you re visit your own work after a break away from it, you can sometimes feel quite surprised at how they look. As every artist (I'm sure) is filled with critisism of their own work and can often get too close so that they only see the faults, it is good to come back to work after not seeing it for a while. It gives you a chance to look at it with fresh eyes which are hopefully not quite so critical!

I'm at the hyper critical phase with the new stuff. I'm liking the idea but feel I haven't quite pulled off the execution yet. Bit of fine tuning here and there and then I think I might have something new to offer. If I'm happy with it I will add a new gallery to show the work. 

Hoping you are all well and 'having a go' at something creative. It's a great way to get a bit of 'me' time and lose yourself for a small part of the day. Enjoy!

Well, I knew I would let myself down but I didn't think it would be quite so soon! Have missed a few days but in fairness I have been away for the weekend so forgive myself for the lapse.

Spent a wonderful weekend in Yorkshire (where my heart is happiest) with friends. So nice to be in the company of people you care for and can feel relaxed and at ease with. Used the time to soak up as much inspiration as I could from all kind of sources whether it was from nature itself (the changing colours of the leaves on the trees, oh my, that's so beautiful) to lots of 'pretties' in the lovely shops in Ilkley. That town is wonderful! Like stepping back in time to a more genteel period and of course you can't go to Ilkley without popping in to Betty's for something yummy. Love that place! Came home with Yorkshire curd cake and a Fat Rascal! (That's a huge scone...not my husband!)

Home again though to plan for this week's Panda Club lessons. Fully inspired by my trip to Betty's, we will be painting cupcakes this week so look out for those on the gallery page soon. I will talk the children through the basic drawing, talk about colours that work together and think about how to decorate the cakes. It's going to be pretty much free reign as far as that goes and knowing my Panda's they will rise to the challenge and knock my socks off as usual. These children have so much talent it is a joy to see it given a platform each week in the form of Panda Club, a piece of paper and a whole bunch of creativity. Watch this space!

Need to go and prep for today's lesson but will be back soon. Hope you are all enjoying the changing colours that this season brings. It's like living in a changing painting isn't it?