Paints, pastels and putting pen to paper - 2012 courses at The Watermill at Posara, Tuscany

Sept. 21, 2011 - PRLog -- The Watermill’s ever-growing programme goes from strength to strength as new painting and writing courses are added for 2012. Located in the rural Tuscan countryside, The Watermill at Posara – a restored 17th century grain, chestnut and olive mill – is bound to get guests’ inspiration flowing with its relaxed pace of life, delicious home-cooked meals and secluded gardens filled with grapevines, roses and fragrant lavender.

The painting course tutors are a truly international line-up and include Milind Mulik – The Watermill’s first tutor from India and one of India’s leading watercolourists. Other new tutors for 2012 include American painter Chester Kasnowski (whose work can be seen in London’s Tate Gallery and the Guggenheim in New York), Georgia Mansur from Australia (who spends a month each year as an artist in residence on the Great Barrier Reef’s Hamilton Island), award-winning artist Margaret Ferraro from Canada and Roland Haas from Austria (who has been leading watercolour courses for the past 28 years). Many tutors from previous years will be back by popular demand. The diverse programme covers everything from watercolours and oils to acrylics, pastels and mixed media.

Three writing courses are lined up for 2012, including the new and highly-anticipated ‘How to write your life story’ course which will be run by Jo Parfitt, who herself attended a course run by The Watermill’s owners Bill and Lois a number of years ago. Furthermore, two romance writing weeks are scheduled; Sharon Kendrick will be coming back to The Watermill for the fourth time, while the popular Kate Walker – author of 60 romance titles – will be a new and welcome addition to the year’s calendar.

Whether painting or writing, all courses go hand in hand with delicious high-quality Italian food which is enjoyed both at The Watermill and at local restaurants. Regional dishes such as risotto with marjoram and zucchini, wild boar casserole, ‘hay and straw’ pasta with spinach, pine nuts and raisins and homemade tiramisu, are all served using local produce which include fresh vegetables and herbs from The Watermill’s own garden.

A week’s painting or creative writing course in 2012 costs from £1,149 pp based on two sharing. The price includes transfers (Pisa), all tuition, seven nights’ accommodation, pre-dinner aperitifs, all meals (including local restaurants), local travel and a mid-week visit to either the Cinque Terre or Lucca. £200 off for non-painting partners. Flights (Pisa) extra.

Contact The Watermill at Posara on 020 7193 6246; http://www.watermill.net/painting-holidays or http://www.watermill.net/writing-holidays.

For a full list of the 2012 courses, please see below:

2012 CREATIVE WRITING COURSES:

‘Writing romance’ (5-12 May 2012) with British author Sharon Kendrick – with over 80 Mills & Boon titles to her name, Sharon is an expert in writing romantic fiction.  

NEW: ‘How to write your life story’ (15-22 Sept 2012) with  British author Jo Parfitt (who lives in The Netherlands) - Jo’s course will show you how to write compelling stories based on your own experiences and turn them into a publishable memoir that has plot, pace and pizzazz.

NEW: ‘Writing romantic fiction: beyond the hearts and the flowers’ (6-13 Oct 2012) with British author Kate Walker - a prolific Mills & Boon writer, Kate will explore the world of writing romantic fiction and give lots of practical advice.

2012 PAINTING COURSES:

John Christian - watercolours (12-19 May 2012): fun-loving British painter John has a renowned ‘wet-into-wet’ technique and he works in ‘pure watercolour’ in a fast, spontaneous manner.

Jennifer Branch – watercolours, impasto acrylics and oils (19-26 May 2012): an American modern impressionist painter who uses ‘transparent’ and vibrant watercolours to bring her subjects to life and is happy to teach with oils and acrylics, too.

NEW: Georgia Mansur – watercolours, oils and acrylics (26 May-2 June 2012): a Californian but Australia-based artist who likes to paint en plein air and whose positive approach is ideal for artists of all abilities as she knows how to take the fear from painting.

Bob Henfrey – watercolours, oils, pastels and other media (2-9 June 2012): a British artist who likes to paint outdoors in watercolours and oils (often working from sketches) and who is accomplished at portraits.

Liz Seward – watercolours and mixed media (9-16 June 2012): British painter Liz is an inspiring teacher who is well known for her floral and landscape paintings using a combination of light and colour.  

Fábio Cembranelli – watercolours, oils and acrylics (16-23 June and 23-30 June 2012): an international artist from Brazil who is famous for his landscapes and luminous floral watercolours, Fábio also teaches in oils and acrylics.

NEW:  Chester Kasnowski - oil pastels, acrylic and watercolours (21-28 July 2012): an American painter with over 30 years’ experience, Chester aims to give students the confidence to ‘paint anything, any time’.

NEW:  Milind Mulick - watercolours (28 July-4 August 2012): Milind is an internationally acclaimed watercolour artist and is so well known in India that people substitute his name, ‘Milind’, for the word ‘watercolour’!

NEW: Margaret Ferraro - oils and soft pastel (18-25 August 2012): Canadian-born artist Margaret’s courses allow everyone, whatever their level, to develop at their own pace in a fun environment.

Annelise Pio Hansen - watercolours (25 August-1 Sept 2012): Annelise’s watermill painting holidays are always extremely popular.  She paints in soft but bright colours, influenced by the landscapes of her native Denmark.

Laraine Simpson – watercolours, oils, pastels and other media (1-8 Sept 2012): Laraine likes to encourage her students to appreciate the relationships between line, tone, shape and colour.

NEW: Doug Mays – watercolours (8–15 Sept 2012): Known for his loose, impressionistic painting style, Canadian Doug is a personable and effective watercolour instructor who has conducted workshops & painting with numerous art groups in Canada, USA, Mexico and Europe.

NEW: Roland Haas – watercolours (22-29 Sept 2012): based in Austria, Roland has been teaching popular watercolour courses throughout Europe for the past 28 years.

Charles Sluga – watercolours (29 Sept-6 Oct 2012): Australian artist Charles is a highly respected watercolour artist and teacher in both Australia and Europe.  

For further information contact The Watermill at Posara on (UK number)
020 7193 6246; http://www.watermill.net

ENDS
21 September 2011

For press enquiries, press trips or photography: Contact Julia Farish or Helena Hamlyn, Travel PR, tel: 020 8891 4440, email: j.farish@travelpr.co.uk or h.hamlyn@travelpr.co.uk

# # #

Travel PR is one of the leading travel PR agencies in the UK with over 30 clients covering trade associations, hotels, tour operators and tourist boards.