This summer has been really busy but extremely rewarding. In addition to some very enjoyable sketching days around Bedford, I was teaching on two cruises aboardThe Spirit of Adventure and had a fantastic week tutoring a lovely group in Murcia, Spain. 

The sketching days started in July with a trip to Kathy Brown's wonderful garden in Stevington. Kathy made us very welcome and despite the odd shower there were plenty of things to paint and we will definitely be arranging another day there next year. We then went to the Forest Centre at Marston Vale and painted a lovely view across the lake and then on to The Canal Centre at Stoke Bruerne. We were fortunate to have fabulous weather there and the constantly changing scenes on the canal provided inspiration for a large group to produce some excellent paintings and studies. The remaining two days at the watermill at Stotfold and The Natural History Museum at Tring, provided contrasting subject matter but once again very rewarding results for everyone that attended.

The first of my cruises started at Dover and then crossed the channel to the picturesque port of Honfleur, a real painter's paradise. The cruise continued south taking in such wonderful places as Bordeaux, Santiago de Compostella, Porto, Seville, Malaga and Barcelona. I was pleased with the sketches I produced en route and will be publishing some of them on the website. The classes on board were very popular with around 45 people attending each session. It is always very rewarding to hear afterwards that some people intend to continue with their new pastime once they get home, especially as many of them claim that they could not even draw a straight line before they came along.

A couple of weeks back home and then a flight down to Murcia in southern Spain. The week long holiday had been arranged by Jackie Martinique, a lovely lady who attends my Wednesday evening classes. This was her first venture in arranging painting holidays and it was a fantastic success. She owns a villa in the area so knows the locality and had always thought that it would be ideal to host such an event. I flew down with her a few days before the students arrived so we could check out the various locations and choose the most suitable. All the arrangements were superb and we could not have wished for a nicer group of people. As well as some excellent paintings there was a great deal of laughter, fantastic food and wonderful weather. Jackie and I are currently putting together details for the next year's holiday and details will be published very shortly. Judging from the reactions of the students, who all want to sign up for next year, it will sell out very quickly, so keep an eye open for details in the next couple of weeks.

One day at home and then I flew out to Spirit again for a cruise to Alexandria, through the Suez Canal and on to Jordan. Seeing the Pyramids and the Sphinx was incredible but for me the highlight of the cruise was the Rose Red city of Petra in Jordan. I didn't get much chance to sit and sketch but I have some wonderful photos and I am looking forward to working some up into paintings.

Classes start again next week and I am looking forward to meeting some new faces, especially at my new beginners class in Salford.