This beautiful little painting was completed in one hour, en plein air on Mawgan Porth Beach in Cornwall, at the end of a long school day.
She is nine years old and has now had eight art lessons with me.
The most important thing for me was seeing the joy on her face… that wonderful sense of discovery as she explored this fantastic world with her own eyes and began translating what she saw and felt into paint and imagery.
That is what art can do.
Yes, the finished painting is beautiful. It is fresh, full of movement, colour and life. Yet the real magic is in the understanding beginning to sit behind it.
She is learning how to choose colour, how to load her brush, how to create perspective, how to bring life into a painting, how to use focal points, and how to make a painting feel joyful and alive.
At this age, children often absorb far more than we realise. When you give them real information, speak to them properly, and help them understand what they are looking at, they begin to use that knowledge naturally. It starts to become part of the way they see.
That is why my art lessons are not about copying a teacher’s style. They are about learning how to see, how to understand, and how to make creative choices with confidence.
I taught art for 25 years in private and state schools across Britain and Australia before developing my own unique approach, which I have now been using and honing for over 20 years with individuals, groups and team development.
What I love most is seeing people of all ages and abilities become more confident, relaxed and excited by what they can create.
I’ll be on Mawgan Porth Beach teaching and painting through half term, with a few spaces still available. You may have seen me over the last 10 years as you enter the beach… I’m the lady with the easel, painting, teaching and chatting to people as they pass.
Art At The Beach offers fun, inspiring and highly informative art lessons in Mawgan Porth, Cornwall, helping children, adults, families and visitors learn the fundamentals of sketching, perspective and painting in a relaxed beach setting.
Find out more: www.artatthebeach.co.uk
