OCTOBER 20TH

It is just beginning to get a bit chilly here. The sky is still cloudless and quite warm in the sun but there is a slight nip in the air!

I take a walk by the sea every morning on my way to the Studio and this is the scene I see - a lovely sunrise.

We've become a bit of a "club"! - the same people every morning either walking their dogs or taking a brisk morning constitution! It's great!

OCTOBER 18TH

Well we had chosen another painting by Caroline for our Opening Party - but we just sold that one too!!

OCTOBER 9TH

Well teething problems (builders) are all over and our OPENING PARTY is 17th December at 8.30pm

There will be Spanish music, exhibition of paintings by our resident professional artists and our students. Plus a painting by Caroline Hulse - which we will raffle. We had chosen a great painting but we just sold it(!) - SO WE WILL CHOOSE ANOTHER!!

We have had a really fantastic couple of months - lots of people through the doors. Many students on our week day workshops and our teaching weekends.

We currently have students on a Painting Holiday (10 days) and they are having such fun!! Images are coming.

We are open every day of the year - including Christmas - so come on over - it's TOTALLY GREAT HERE!!

AUGUST 15TH

We are entering the 3rd week for building work to the new studio in Marbella, work which should have been 4 days.

Lovely glass door is in and our sign is up - now quite a bit of tidying up to do, hanging paintings etc and then we can have our Opening Party!!

AUGUST 10TH

The workmen were in the Studio - still fixing the door and collapsed floor - so we took to the beach and did some watercolours. The students and me. Very hot and very busy beach!

Got back - door still not fixed - getting ANGRY NOW!!!

AUGUST 9TH

Went to a bull fight in the Plaza de Toros in Marbella last night.

Price? 60 euros for about 1 hour and another 2 euros to pay for a cushion to sit on.! (The 60 euro seats were up high and on rows of concrete). If we had paid 65 euros we would have had a seat - so only a 3 euro difference in the end - with the price of the cushion! (Typically Spanish - you don´t know that though until you get in!)

(Big sign up YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO THROW THE CUSHIONS INTO THE BULL RING!!) - Hadn´t occured to me, to do so, until I saw the sign and then, of course, I WANTED TO!!

I went with a sense of dread - not quite sure if I wanted to see it. But it was fine!!

As you can see from the photo - it wasn´t exactly crowded!

Mainly tourists and some Spanish. I think they killed 4 bulls. (They all looked the same to me and I have to admit not being able to watch the actual kill.)

There was a lady bull fighter - who was very good, Alex was impressed because he´d seen her on television.

Very disappointed there was no "souvenir shop"!!!

I remember having a big Spanish bullfight poster in the 1960´s - the posters haven´t changed any - but look exactly the same! Bit of a time warp!!

Apparently the Spanish have banned bull fighting in Barcelona - so I guess it will be banned everywhere in Spain eventually.

We went to "Shiraz" afterwards - my friend Mimi runs it - great bar/restaurant on the port in Marbella - delicious food and stunning cocktails!!

AUGUST 8TH

Oh forgot to mention the good news

Telefonica has connected us to telephone & internet and WIFI (blimey that IS a record) and we´ve got a great telephone number 952773299 - apparently it´s a cherished "old Marbella no" - whoppeeeedo - pity we still keep getting phone calls looking for the abogada (solicitor) who used to have our number!!

The lights are in - looking very good and we´ve stopped the bl........ beeping of the old alarm system.

Happy days

JUST REMEMBERED THE BAD NEWS AGAIN - everything shuts down in Spain in August. Looks like we will be floorless and front door less for some time.

AUGUST 8TH

The saga continues.

The noise of the drilling as they excavate the area next to the (non existent) front door is unbelievable - even the neightbours are complaining.

It would appear the landlord of our locale in the centre of Marbella has now got to insert "ramps" for disabled. New legislation recently brought it.

So anyway, there is this man drilling - a neighbour yelling at him and no students because they can´t stand the noise.

AND THEN - disaster - the floor has collapsed!!!!!!!

AND THEN - an irrate couple complaining there is rubble, dust and cement all over their brand new, top of the range Mercedes. Yes! our floor has landed on their Mercedes - in the car park under our Studio!

NO WE DIDN´T FIND IT FUNNY!!!!!

SO STILL NO FLOOR AND NO FRONT DOOR. Getting SLIGHTLY irritated NOW. If ONLY I could speak Spanish!!

A delegation arrive from the Ayuntamiento, the estate agent arrives (no landlord) - they chat casually for a while whilst staring into the abyss.

An architect arrives, a technician arrives - they must be around 15 people outside the door and inside the Studio - none of us know what is going on - we get the word "rampa" then "no rampa" - we get the word "manyana" but unfortunately everything is MANYANA in Spain.

In the meantime we are "hopping" over the gaping hole in the floor- unavoidable as it leads into the Studio - Health and Safety - what Health and Safety??

AUGUST 3RD

It´s complete havoc in our new studio in the centre of Marbella and the lights aren´t in yet - the front door is being replaced and the air conditioning has to be installed BUT it´s great!!

Quite a few students on our 1st day and LOADS of enquiries - mainly from the Spanish - really great!!

We went for lunch in the restaurant opposite. The printers next door are doing all our printing for us and the Hotel Finlandia - across the road have already welcomed us to Marbella!!

so! If you are looking for a painting course or holiday check out our new web site www.estudio61.com - it´s not quite finished but it will be in a few days

We scrubbed and cleaned the old studio in Monda - to within an inch of its life.

JULY 27TH

Well - this is it!!

We leave Monda and open in Marbella on August 2nd!!

Pictures of the HUGE space we have - just 150 yards to the magnificent Marbella beaches will be here next week.

We are all very excited!!"

JULY 19TH

It´s MONDA Culture week.

Unfortunately we missed the display of flamenco dancing by children in the village, on Saturday night - but we did see the "renactment" of the "Story of Monda" as presented by the ladies of the WI.

In front of a packed church square the ladies, talked, sang and wiggled a bit to a Spanish dialogue - which I have to admit - I understood very little - but we seemed to laugh in the right places and more importantly, clapped in the right places.

Only got bitten three times by a mosquito (bit of a record) and was back in my apartment by 12.30am - excellent.

Culture in hot countries is very different to us.

Everything starts at around 9.0pm in the evening because it is too hot to do anything before that time. It´s all held outside of course - Great - except for the mosquitos

JULY 12TH

They did it!!

Well done Spain

The whole country has a MASSIVE hangover!!

JULY 4TH

Have you ever seen anything so delicious? they taste like nectar!!

I´ve never had figs fresh from the tree - so this is a real treat for me!

Have you tried them with cheese? Extra deliciious!!

Spain is a constant source of wonderment to me!! I walk past lemons, oranges, limes, figs and olives all growing on trees - from my apartment to the gate at Carolinas.

A great nature lesson - I always though figs just arrived in packets!!!!

JULY 3rd

Great night!! Went to "Golden Wok" for sensational chinese food - left about 11ish to horrendous noise!! Every car in Marbella was honking its horn. Spain had beaten Paraguay in the World Cup!!

I know nothing about football - but hey I´m rooting for Spain - the atmosphere in Marbella was fantastic - flags and people hanging from car windows - pedestrians screaming and shouting - even the police were smiling.

Took us about an hour to get through Marbella and back to Monda though!!

JULY 2ND

The new edition of that super slick and super "up market" glossy Marbella magazine - "Essential" is OUT NOW.

And guess whose in it?? US!!

Of the 80 tents they could have chosen to feature in their magazine about the Marbella Art Festival - they chose ours!!

Our tent is also featured on the magazine´s Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Essential-Marbella-Magazine/217909017651

JUNE 27th THANK YOU!!

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone back "home" in the UK who are doing a fantastic job, running the courses in the UK, running our new Guest House and keeping companies fed with sensational paintings!

Robin, Cat, Colin and Sara - I know you are run off your feet and I DO feel bad about having a great time here(!!!!) Here it is all play and no work - back in the UK it´s probably all work and no play - but I hear the weather is good!!

I know Cat did a sensational team event in Gleneagles for an 80 strong delegation - so thanks Guys - I will be back ONE DAY!!

JUNE 27th MONDA PAINTING COMPETITION

July 25th is the painting competition in our Spanish village.

Last year one of Caroline´s students won 3rd prize!! (250 euros)

So come on our Painting week - July 19th to the 26th and join in the fun.

We will provide all your materials and we can all register in the week and then paint that masterpiece on Sunday July 25th!!

IF YOU WANT A REALLY GOOD COURSE AND TIME IN SPAIN - check out the Intensive acrylic painting - click or the Summer School - click

A BIT OF A MOAN!!

Caroline is still "seething" about some visitors to the festival who said they wanted to buy the painting to the right - "Purple Trees" - they said they would come into the Studio to buy it - but they were allowed to take a photograph of the painting - so now doubtless someone is "recreating" the original painting by Caroline.

That was very annoying about the Art Festival - despite being told not to take photos - a lot of people did of Caroline´s original work.

COPYRIGHT should be better understood - anyone copying original paintings - their compositions and colours should understand they are infringing "copyright" of the original painter.

Caroline can prove all her paintings are original and if she finds someone has set out to make a direct copy of her paintings - she will SUE!!

DON´T DO IT

That´s the difference from being a PAINTER (someone who creates original paintings) to someone who PAINTS (someone who copies other people´s work or just recreates a photograph).

It´s not legal and it´s not clever!!

JUNE 21st - MARBELLA ART FESTIVAL

Well after a great start at the Art Festival - that was it!! The visitors were all tourists - so difficult for them to take large paintings back on a plane.

A lot of people said they would check out our web sites www.paintings-forsale.com and Carolines - www.caroline.hulse.com and buy from there - and we would courier the painting to them.

Fantastic feed back from everyone about our display and a lot of people said they felt we had the best tent and the most professional art works (which we knew already!! - sorry very big headed!).

THE MOST ADMIRED PAINTINGS

Were the "Every Little Cell" painting to the right and this wonderful oil by Alex Croxford of Monda church.

JUNE 18TH - MARBELLA ART FESTIVAL

MARBELLA ART FESTIVAL WOW - what a fantastic time we had on the 1st day. Sold 3 paintings and gave out tons of leaflets about the Studio in Spain.

There was an "opera show" in the evening on the stage by the sea. So as our tent is next to the sea we had massives of people coming to see us.

Marbella is just FAB - the atmosphere in the evening is sensational.

3 more days to go - so WATCH THIS SPACE FOR ANY EXCITING NEWS!!

JUNE 13TH

Steve, who has been with me all week, painting, is the perfect student!! He is SO competitive that he wants to be the best and the greatest at everything.

He took me to the Balcon de Haula for a last evening meal because he wanted to finish an enormous rib eye steak, that had beaten him every other night! He managed it although it was ENORMOUS - 9cm long, 4 cm wide and 2cm thick!!

Thanks for the meal Steve but not the HUGE hangover I had on Sunday - after the 3 bottles of red wine. Crikey!!

This goat herder shoos his goats past my balcony every night. It´s FAB!!

JUNE 12TH

Not quite sure what it is about me and dead things but this greeted me, this morning - as I opened my front door.

A dead sparrow. It looked quite happy though!!

Thought about being very controversial (but trite) and throw it into the Art Festival - or rather have it lying around on a gold plinth or something - but I couldn´t touch it!!

JUNE 11TH

Weather back to normal(ish) - not a cloud in the sky. Not as warm as it has been though.

Drove down with Carolina into Marbella in search of picture framers - for the paintings for the Marbella Art Festival

Not remembering it was the Feast of San Bernabe - so EVERYTHING was shut!!

Steve and Barbie in the Studio - Alex has a friend visiting from the UK - so he was entertaining.

There is an air of very concentrated painting in the Studio - great atmosphere - Elton John is our favourite artist on Steve´s ipod.

We all ´BOP´when Bennie and the Jets comes on.

Steve has also taught us a very nice ditty

"All the little cells in my body are........." - to be sung - so we don´t bother talking just sing "All the little cells in my body are .. and fill in the words - i.e happy, painting, tired, hungry, want a cup of tea, stoopid, just painted that wrong etc etc

Started out as VERY funny but now it´s getting so that "All the little cells in my body are bored with the ditty"!!

This is probably an indication of how crazy we are ...................!

Happy though and looking forward to the Art Festival

JUNE 9TH

Crikey already!! Sorry I´ve missed a few days with this blog but it has been FRANTIC!!

I was awake at 5.0am this morning (quite usual when I am in the UK - but in Spain, well you know, sun slows you down!!) anyway why was I awake so early? Because I was COLD!! Unbelievable and LOOK at the picture to the right - couldn´t remember what those white things in the sky were called - until a Spaniard told me - nubes - clouds.

WHAT? in Spain?? although summer doesn´t "officially" start until June 15th!

Anyway it has been a bit of shock - the weather - this year. The locals tell me it is usually a gradual climb from cold to hot but this year we´ve gone from winter to 38degrees - in a day - so a bit of cloud is actually very welcome!!

THE BIG NEWS IS

We are participating in the Marbella Art Festival - next week. June 17th-20th

I´m showing paintings from my Clown Fairy and Showgirl series. (I MAY have created that masterpiece - will let you know!!)

Alex, Cat, Carolyn and Guri are showing their paintings - and they are really fantastic - come and see us - it´s all very exciting.

Just head for the beach and the Festival is on the Avda del Mar. The wonderful ´promenade´ that displays sculptures by Salvador Dalí,

Each exhibitor has his or her own tent. The Festival is a brilliantly organised event by Pixie Glore and Caroline Bowley

View of last years Marbella Art Festival

JUNE 1ST 2010 - EVENING MARBELLA

Well, Carolina, Alex, Cat, Guri and I went to Marbella to visit the ´British Day´ - I think we must have got the wrong end of the stick - because we were hoping for pork pies and English cheeses and fish and chips and all good things British!!

The music was good and went on all night but no stalls - except for a hog roast.

So disappointed.

Yes, yes, yes I know we DO embrace Spain and we DO NOT behave like the British abroad(!!!) but sometimes the lure of home(!) and all those good things we are famous for just tempt you back!!

So anyway we sat in the Yacht club and had a beer or two and people watched.

Then we went to´Hong Kong´a great Chinese restaurant - which sadly we notice is up for rent - and watched the sun go down.

Amazing sky which changed from pink to yellow to green to pink to yellow to green again!!

Great night - then back to our wonderful real Spanish village - where the apartment was HOT - and it´s only JUNE!!

A beer or two in the yacht club

Watching the sun go down

JUNE 1ST 2010 - JOEDAISY STUDIO, MONDA

Cat clowning around on the balcony - with the curtain from the bedroom!!

Carmen Miranda???

Cat is painting sensationally. This is a portrait of Alex with two of Cat´s friend´s children.

It is incredibly hot today - 40degrees in Seville and it feels very hot here.

JUNE 1ST 2010 - JOEDAISY STUDIO, MONDA

Susie and I went on location to do some ´expressionistic´ painting.

We went to a location near the Monda sign - there is a wonderful panoramic view and we tried to be interpretive and paint fast. Just marks on canvas and very confident brush strokes. This is a great session to inspire confidence!!

Susie´s painting was great - mine was rubbish!!! I was too hot and I have a thorn in my finger (had it since 2 weeks) that is getting painful!! (any excuse!!)

The photo below Susie is the house we are staying in. My friend Carolina made her top floor into the most sensational apartment. The walls are eau de nil, with floorboards and streamlined furniture. Incredibly light and airy.

The situation is stupendous!!

MAY 31ST 2010 - JOEDAISY STUDIO, MONDA

Cat, Alex, Susie (from Majorca) , Guri (from Norway) & Carolina (resident in Spain) are in the Studio.

Alex has this adorable dog - he calls it ´Wiki´ - which is Mondanian for whisky. The poor thing had been dumped in a waste bin in Monda and had been wandering around Monda for 5 days before Alex took him in. He´s adorable but quite damaged (someone saw him being thrown from a car and then some boys put him in the bin). Now he hates cars and is violently sick whenever he gets into one.

We are all doing our best to reassure him and look after him.

The vet is not quite sure what he is - part Beagle - part something and part something else? He has very long legs and he stands in his back legs for ages sometimes. He is very obedient and easy to train.

Still a puppy.

We walked to our favourite bar for lunch ´Bar Del Sol´ It is very near the Studio and in one of the main squares.

There is a wonderful grape vine canopy over our heads.

When we came in April there was nothing - now the vine is quite large. We are quite convinced that the grapes had grown 5cm since arriving for lunch and leaving!!

Glorious weather again of course. Not a cloud in the sky.

I´m still looking to create that masterpiece.

It´s quite difficult to get ´motivated´ in Spain - much easier to enjoy the wine and sun and just THINK painting!!

I am still into ´expressionism´ but everytime I try to do an ´exciting´ landscape in Spain - I go back to my roots and create something quite realistic! Very frustrating!!

Anyway I did a painting of ´Dog Walking in Spain´!!

I´ve recently had a lot of success with my ´expressionistic´ paintings - selling lots to quite major public spaces in the UK.

MAY 30TH 2010 - MONDA, SPAIN

The village church chimed 8.0am, that was fine, I didn´t bother opening my eyes and then there were 10 loud booms - boom, boom, boom,boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Sounded like those alarming ´help me/save me´ flares but I knew it was Mondanians celebrating the feast of San Roque - the only Patron Saint to have a dog (Thought it worth mentioning!!). I still didn´t bother opening my eyes. Then as the village church chimed 8.30 - there were 8 more booms. Slightly annoying now! I knew the only way to discharge the irritation was to open my eyes and see what greets me every morning. This sensational view. This is what I see lying in bed - isn´t that WOW!!

More booms and then I had this irrational thought that the reason for the booms, was in fact, to celebrate my birthday(!!). One for every year and therefore a great many more ´booms´to follow - with a great deal more irritation!! (For everyone in the village!)

Anyway it was my birthday - so we (Cat, Alex, Trinni and Carolina) went to Da Bruno in Marbella - just by the Skol Hotel. On the sea front.

It was FAB!! We had the works - champagne, starters, main meal and postres - accompanied by a sweet wine.

Obviously not a cloud in the sky and just a perfect temperature.

The beach was crowded and there was plenty of ´people watching´ to do from our table.

This splendid car turned up and attracted a crowd. Many of whom took photos of their friends and family standing next to the car!!

Carolina organised my postre (pudding) to come with a candle and four waiters singing ´Happy Birthday´ - with whistles and hand clapping.

I think that brought in at least another 4 eaters into the restaurant!!

Well worth it - excellent restaurant!!

Then we drove back up to Monda - I think we have the best of both worlds.

Having Marbella on our door step but being able to get back to the ´real´ Spain of our beautiful white village of Monda.