The Painting Course: Phil Speight

I went up to Stourbridge on a Roses and Castles painting course this weekend run by Phil Speight and Meg. Anyone that knows me will know I am more a skeletons and tomb stones girl, but as the delectable Wrigglefingers suggested we did the course together I couldn’t resist. It is fun doing things with friends and so, off I went.  I knew the weekend was going to go well as soon as I discovered that Wriggles house, where I was staying, has ensuite steam trains!

Saturday morning saw us practicing painting rose petals; mine looked more like decapitated slugs, but I got the hang of it eventually, albeit a hit and miss sort of hang.  By the end of the day we had all painted a bunch of flowers on a tray

– mine is in the middle:

On Sunday we started on Castles, and while we were waiting for paint to dry we added some twiddles to the trays –

The castles  all looked fantastic:

A closer look at mine:

It was a really enjoyable weekend messing about with paint!  Phil and Meg are excellent instructors and the course was so well managed that not even I lost my temper!

Everything is painted in layers, and it is only when it is finished that we could see that we had actually done quite a good job.

Before I went I wasn’t a fan of Roses and Castles but the course with its history and practical application has certainly made me appreciate it more.  I will only ever paint for relaxation rather than decoration and Roses and Castles is a jolly good thing to relax over. It is a stage at a time, simple and great fun!  I am looking forward to practicing what I have learnt.