A great art break in June '14 at Rydal Hall
I’ve been back from Rydal Hall teaching a full class of students for only a short while now (as I write this) and already I’m missing it all. We all had a wonderful experience throughout the week drawing and painting outdoors around the beautiful inspirational grounds at Rydal Hall, lakeside at Rydal Water and in the ‘old kitchen’ art studio cooking up some creativity!
On Monday afternoon after settling in, we headed for the tumbling waterfall and The Grot’ - a fantastic idyllic setting in the heart of the grounds. “The Grot” at Rydal Falls is described in William Wordsworth’s early poem, ‘An Evening Walk’, published in 1793. (The Grot was once a summerhouse designed for viewing the waterfall and became a major attraction for a succession of visiting artists and writers in the 18th and 19th century and for us on our first day too!
Viewing the idyllic scene from the bridge spanning the flowing waters in front of the fall soon after my initial pastel demonstration everyone working with the medium soon began to create some stunning paintings with many students using pastels for the very first time.
The afternoon passed quickly but everyone really excelled and deserved their first of many sumptuous even Dinners in a relaxed setting in the prestigious dining room in the hall as we relaxed in each others company.
The following morning after a lovely breakfast we headed for the waterfall again. The weather was still kind to us and the finishing touches to everyone’s pastels completed some super work! En plein Air painting proving that outdoor work really sharpens everyone’s visual perception and drawing and painting abilities.
After a wonderful lunch (with a break mid morning for fresh coffee and home made cakes at the Hall by the way) everyone was eager and ready for the afternoon mixed media painting to begin!
The exciting interchange between pastels, watercolour and gouache kept everyone’s on their toes with excitement as they watched their mixed media paintings of the waterfall develop through the afternoon. With memories still fresh and their finished on site pastels as perfect colourful reference and lots of creative techniques explored the finished paintings looked great!
Rydal Water beckoned so the following day we strolled down to the bottom of the hill just outside the grounds of Rydal Hall and set up position lakeside. We were all greeted with the most magnificent still waters of this idyllic little lake - the reflections were quite superb! With one to one and group tuition throughout the day everyone once again created some exceptional work.
The 5 day creative break at Rydal Hall was just fantastic and with such great feedback we are set to have more creative fun at Rydal Hall June '15.
Return again 1-5 June 2015 and for Autumn colours on 12 - 16 October 2015.
Two more exciting art holidays at Rydal Hall to look forward to in 2015!
With limited places to just 10 students for each art holiday planned it’s a good idea to register your interest or book your place as soon as you can or you may miss out!
Rydal Hall, Rydal, Ambleside, Cumbria, LA22 9LX.
See you there!
