Yet again, the SAA have put on a fantastic live art event – ‘Its All About Art’ this time held in Belfast. Thanks to my lovely hubby, who provided the air fare, I was lucky to attend the first of two days. As usual, there were a variety of professional artists offering demonstrations and workshops, and the SAA shop and product demonstrations were very tempting. However, as is the norm for me, I made a bee-line to Vic Bearcroft’s area and grabbed a front row seat for his first workshop – a Chimp in pastel on black velour. This is my resulting picture:

My version of Vic’s Chimp in Pastel on Black Velour.

Not wanting to be too greedy, I gave up my seat for his 2nd workshop, but as it began there was an empty seat at the back, so I sat down again and joined in…and painted chimp no 2!

My next venture, was to Jeremy Ford, in the area next to Vic…and to my shock, his workshop was ‘Portraiture in Charcoal’ Eeeeeeekkk!!!! Not what I’d expected to launch into (in previous Jeremy Ford workshops, I’ve done pastel landscapes, so this was a bit of a surprise) Anyhow, I took a deep breath and had a go…and this is my result: A slightly strange looking chap with a very long neck, but considering freehand portraits are ‘not my thing’ I don’t think I did too bad!

My portrait using Charcoal in Jeremy Ford’s workshop.

With lunch time approaching, I returned to Vic’s area and bagged myself a seat for the first of his afternoon workshops which was going to be a horse in pastel on velour. I was really looking forward to this, as I love painting horses and I’ve been keen to try a horse ‘a la Vic’. During the lunch break, it was good to chat to some of the other SAA members also waiting for the afternoon sessions to begin.

Colour selection of pastels we used.

After lunch, we all began the horse…

Vic Bearcroft Horse in Pastel Workshop

And here is one of my horse paintings I did throughout the afternoon (I managed 3 all together!):

My version of Vic B’s Pastel Horse

Here’s a pic of the man himself, Vic Bearcroft with one of his demonstration paintings:

Vic Bearcroft with his demonstration painting of a Horse in Pastel.

For those of you who have never been before, there are loads of artists demonstrating various media and techniques, including Matthew Palmer and Geoff Kersey who both happened to be painting water colour landscapes…

Matthew Palmer demonstration.

Geoff Kersey Demo

I had a really fab day and enjoyed every minute – well done to the SAA for putting on these live events…I really hope they come back to Bristol again next year…(much easier to get to than Belfast!) Having said that, my first trip to Ireland was a great one! Everyone was very friendly and welcoming, the bus service from the airport was super efficient and good old Easyjet did their funky thing! If I had the chance to go back again, I’d jump at it!! 🙂