Watermill at Posara, Italy, Newsletter

..... Aussies shocked but safe

If you’ve been following our blog (watermill blog) you’ll know that we were very concerned about Terry Jarvis, the Australian watercolourist who is one of our painting tutors at the watermill. He lives in the town of Bendigo in Victoria, Australia, right in the centre of the horrible bush fires that raged there last month, killing 200 people and leaving thousands homeless.

We were able to report that Terry and his family are, thankfully, safe – and so too is Charles Sluga, another of our Australian tutors, who lives in the small town of Wodonga, also in Victoria. (So too, incidentally is our third Australian tutor Lyn Fraser-Roberts, who laughed at Bill’s knowledge of Australian geography when he called: “We’re thousands of miles away in Queensland,” she said, “but thank you for your concern.”)

Terry Jarvis and his family had a close shave: “It was a shocking time,” Terry told us, “the flames were only a kilometre away from our house and coming rapidly towards us, when the wind changed. The flames actually brushed the back door of my sister’s place, but that change in the wind direction saved her house, too.”

Terry told us that some 60 homes were lost in the town: “Some of them literally blew up in the heat,” Terry told us. There’s been a drought there for some time and everything was tinder-dry. The air temperature reached 48°C and the wind speed was up to 120 kilometres per hour.

We are sad that so many lives have been lost and that so many people have lost their homes, but relieved that Terry and his family – and Charles and Lyn – are all safe. We really do live in a global village and a tragedy on the other side of the world can quickly touch us all.

Here’s Terry’s painting of an early morning walk in downtown Bendigo, mercifully missed by the raging bush fires.

Treetrop trails and tea top tails

Try saying ‘treetop trail’ three times quickly, without pausing. If you’re anything like our family there’ll soon be plenty of tree trop trails and tee top tails. (We have similar problems with red lorry, yellow lorry: try it sometime!)

We used to practice our treetop trails (we called these efforts our treetop trail trials, in the manner of Dr Seuss) on the way to Landmark, a ‘forest theme park’ at Carrbridge in the wilds of Inverness-shire, where they have a great wooden elevated walk through the pine trees. Lydia and Lara enjoy the tree top trail at Landmark almost as much as the waterchutes (they are usually soaked through in the first ten minutes of their arrival) Treetop trail at Kew by Lara and were therefore looking forward to seeing the new Treetop Walkway at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew when we went there during our traditional half-term jaunt to London.

Slight disappointment was the first reaction when we saw the Kew walkway. First, that it didn’t wend its way through lots of trees, as at Landmark, but rather was an oval-shaped walk on stilts. And secondly, the trees around the Kew walkway being deciduous, their branches were bare, so there wasn’t really much to see when we had climbed up to the treetops. It’ll be better in the Spring and Summer, we decided.

We made up for it by revisiting the wonderful Palm House, one of Bill’s favourite buildings in England and the ideal place to be on a cold Winter’s day. We climbed the ornate white-painted cast-iron staircase to the upper gallery and enjoyed looking down on the palms and the people. In their film Bedazzled Peter Cook and Dudley Moore used the Palm House as the setting for heaven – and we agree.

Other highlights of our February half-term break in London included a visit to the musical Hairspray (enlivened at the start by a dash through the London crowds when the taxi driver dropped us at the wrong end of Shaftesbury Avenue ten minutes before the show was due to begin) and the now compulsory visit by the girls to Camden Market, during which Lara led us into just about every Goth shop and kiosk in the place, in search of black and skully merchandise for her best friend Claire and herself.

He had wanted to go to London Zoo, a plan thwarted by the discovery of a large queue at the gates. We don’t do queues, having got so used up here in rural Scotland to never having to wait in line or, indeed, battle through crowds or search for a place to park the car. (It’s a cause for comment if we have to park more than 10 metres from the shops or the bank in nearby Banff or Turriff.) So we abandoned the zoo idea and went for a walk though Regent’s Park instead.

We did manage to peer, like guttersnipes, through the railings into the Giraffe House (designed, like Kew’s Palm House, by Decimus Burton, whose parents had clearly run out of naming inspiration by the time they had their 10th child.) And three very charming giraffes obliged by putting in an appearance. So we got a good show and saved some money! Here’s Lara’s excellent picture of a London Zoo Giraffa camelopardalis taking the air.

Hubris indeed

In our February newsletter, you may recall, we couldn’t resist having a laugh at the expense of our ‘softy Sassenach’ friends whose life ground to a halt after the fall of a sliver or two of snow. We did worry about hubris in the form of monster Scottish snow drifts, blocked roads, closed schools, power cuts, a crippled economy and so on.

And hubris duly arrived. We were snowed in at Garden Cottage for a day or two (the dogs loved trekking though the drifty glen) and for a few days after that getting about was not so easy, especially from the Forglen Estate to the main roads. Lara's sledge and Mum The difficulty of getting the school buses to remote cottages and farmsteads meant that Lara’s primary school, where most of the pupils come by bus, was closed for a week, the longest period of closure in all the time we’ve been here. It just shows you: Don’t toy with the Gods, especially the weather Gods.

Lara, who’s turning into the Breckons’ official photographer enjoyed her enforced Winter break and took this 'remote' snap of packhorse Lois pulling her sledge in the glen.

No need to worry about the strong Euro

One of the worries in these difficult times has been the strength of the Euro compared with the pound. But this is not something that you have to worry about when you come on a Watermill at Posara painting holiday or creative writing course. You pay us in pounds sterling and we worry about the Euro. Since everything is included in the cost of your holiday, you really don’t have to spend many (if any) Euros when you are with us. (You’ll want an extra cup of coffee at the airport, perhaps, or some postcards.)

Tuition, accommodation (including all linen and towels), pre-dinner aperitifs, all meals (including dinner with wine at charming local restaurants) and local transportation (including transfers to Pisa airport; an excursion by train to Lucca) are all included in the price. As we say:“All you have to do is to get to Pisa and we do the rest.” And, of course, you can get excellent airline deals from all over the UK (and elsewhere to Pisa) and pay for your flight in sterling, too.

So don’t worry about the strong Euro, that’s our job.

Painting holidays: availability

Three of the first four courses this year are already full: Sharon Kendrick (writing romantic fiction; 9-16 May), David Bellamy & Jenny Keal (painting; 16-23 May) and g.a. Sheller (painting; 6-13 June). We have waiting lists for these courses and if you are keen we can put you on the list in case of a cancellation.

The first painting holiday for which there are currently spaces is Michael Kitchen’s course in watercolours, oils and pastels, with runs from 23-30 May. We have seven people on this course at present, so there’s room for three or four more.

Our two Australian guest tutors, Lyn Fraser-Roberts (all media) and Terry Jarvis (watercolours) are giving back-to-back courses at the begining of July. Lyn’s holiday runs from 4-11 July and Terry’s, from 11-18 July. You can go on either (Lyn’s is almost full; there are four or five places available on Terry’s course) or take our special two-week twinned courses deal. See Corsi gemelli below.

Pen and wash sketch by Annelise Pio Hansen

Our next course is painting with our lovely Danish tutor, Annelise Pio Hansen, whose watercolours course runs from 25 August to 5 September. We have eight guests booked in for this course, so again there is room for two or three more.

Laraine Simpson is paying another visit to the watermill, which she loves. Her painting holiday, with tuition in oils, pastels, watercolours and other media runs from 12-19 September. We have room for just one more person (or a couple).

Finally, Charles Sluga will be hosting a painting holiday from 3-10 October, in watercolours. We still have four or five places available on this course.

More details of all the painting holidays are given below.

Painting tutor of the month: Michael Kitchen

Since the first painting holiday on which we have any vacancies is being run by our friend Mike Kitchen, we thought we’d tell you a bit more about him. His course, with tuition in watercolours, oils and pastels, runs from 23-30 May.

Mike and his wife Mary are good friends of ours and live nearby in the North-east corner of Scotland. They have a lovely house overlooking the river Deveron, ideal for Michael, a keen fisherman. Here’s one of Mike’s watercolours of the Deveron estuary. Note the fly-fisher in the water.

This year is Mike’s fourth visit to Posara, so he’s an expert on the best locations for painting, as well as au fait with all the transportation arrangements and the cafes and restaurants where we enjoy our meals. There’ll be many fun-filled hours as well as plenty of genuine teaching, personal tuition and lots of encouragement.

Michael works in watercolours, oils and pastels and is skilled in portraiture and in country and coastal scenes.

Michael Kitchen’s painting holiday, with tuition in watercolours, oils and pastels, runs from 23-30 May. We have three or four places left on this course.

Our great Corsi gemelli deal: Australian twins

We’ve put together a special offer to entice you to enjoy the special charms of Posara and Lunigiana for two whole weeks, doubling the delights of the watermill – and saving hundreds of dollars ($US, AUD), Euros or pounds.

The Corsi gemelli deal is available for the painting holidays tutored by Lyn Fraser- Roberts and Terry Jarvis, whose courses run from Saturday 4 July to Saturday 11 July and Saturday 11 July to Saturday 18 July respectively. Lyn and Terry are the gurgling twins on the right!)

There are more details of each artist in the 2009 Painting holidays section below

Here’s the Corsi gemelli or twinned course deal: The normal price per person for two people sharing for two one-week courses would be £1,836. We’ll take £136 off, bringing the all-inclusive cost of a two-week twinned course package down to just £1,700. For a single room, the price for two one-week courses would be £1,968. We’ll take £168 off, bringing the all-inclusive cost of a two-week twinned course package down to just £1,800. At current exchange rates, you’ll save hundreds of US or Australian dollars, or Euros, or British pounds.

We’ll also choose one or two different painting locations in the second week (although you’ll probably be clamouring to revisit the lovely locations of your first week) and on our twinned courses the excursion on the first Wednesday will be to the beautiful walled city of Lucca, the quintessential Italian town, while on the second week we’ll take you to the stunning seaside scenery of the Cinque Terre.

Of course, you can come on either week separately if you want, but we think you’ll enjoy a double helping of our Australian twins!

The 2009 painting holidays

Some of our painting courses are already full, but there are still places left on several of the others. It’s time to forget your Winter blues and start thinking of the Tuscan sun. Sign up for your favourite 2009 Posara painting course and let eager anticipation warm your Winter days! There’s more about all the tutors on our website - see Painting holidays Programme.

This is the complete 2009 programme:

David Bellamy and Jenny Keal
Saturday 16 May to Saturday 13 May 2009
Watercolours and pastels
David and Jenny are a husband-and-wife team specialising in landscape painting, and they are particularly fascinated by the moods of nature. A full time artist and author, David has written 11 books illustrated with his paintings.
For more about David and Jenny, and their paintings, visit their Tutor's page
This course is fully booked, but we will take names from people wanting to be on a waiting list.

Michael Kitchen
Saturday 23 May to Saturday 30 May 2009
Watercolours, oils and pastels
Michael is a professional artist and international tutor with a lifetime's painting experience. A very popular and sensitive tutor, Michael ensures that guests receive plenty of genuine teaching, personal tuition and lots of encouragement. He is skilled in portraiture and in country and coastal scenes.
For more about Michael and his paintings, see our 'featured tutor' above, and visit his Tutor's page
A few places.

g.a. Sheller
Saturday 6 June to Saturday 13 June 2009
Watercolours
g.a. has received repeated recognition and awards for her unique work and inspirational teaching. She has been a teacher/instructor for more than 30 years, running successful painting workshops throughout the United States and Europe.
For more about g.a. and her paintings, visit her Tutor's page
This course is fully booked, but we will take names from people wanting to be on a waiting list.

Lyn Fraser-Roberts
Saturday 4 July to
Saturday 11 July 2009
All media
Lyn is an award-winning artist based in Australia, working full-time painting and teaching in a wide range of media and subject matter. She paints in the Impressionist Realist style and her work hangs in galleries all over Australia.
For more about Lyn and her paintings, visit her Tutor's page above.
One or two places .

Terry Jarvis
Saturday 11 July to Saturday 19 July 2009
Watercolours
Terry is one of Australia’s leading watercolour artists. He also works in oils, pastels and acrylics. He also loves drawing and helping his students to develop their drawing skills. His workshops at home and overseas are always in high demand and fill quickly.
For more about Terry and his paintings, visit his Tutor's page and our 'Tutor of the month' above.
Four or five places .

Annelise Pio Hansen
Saturday 29 August to
Saturday 5 September 2009
Watercolours
Annelise studied her watercolour technique in England but she has retained her Danish influence. Her colours are soft but bright, just like the light reaching the sandy beaches and the soft hills not far from where she lives just outside Copenhagen.
For more about Annelise and her paintings, visit her Tutor's page
A few places.

Laraine Simpson
Saturday 12 September to Saturday 19 September 2008
Watercolours, oils, acrylics, pastels
Laraine is a Fine Arts-Painting graduate of Central School of Art & Design (now Central St. Martins), London. She is highly regarded as a perceptive, patient and encouraging tutor working with beginners and advanced students alike.
For more about Laraine and her paintings, visit her Tutor's page
One or two places.

Charles Sluga
Saturday 3October to Saturday 10 October 2008
Watercolours
Charles is a highly respected and sought after artist and watercolour teacher in Australia. His friendly and enthusiastic approach, and eagerness to impart his wide knowledge, is reflected in his popularity as a tutor, and the waiting lists for his regular classes.
For more about Charles and his paintings, visit his Tutor's page
Four or five places .

Creative writing courses: availability

Sharon Kendrick
Saturday 9 May to
Saturday 16 May 2009
‘Writing romance’

Sharon has written nearly 70 books for Harlequin Mills & Boon. She regularly tops the Waldenbooks list in North America as well as selling well all over Europe, Asia and South America. Sharon regularly gives talks and workshops and loves interacting with other people ("writing is SUCH an isolated job"), in particular nurturing the passion and talent of new writers.

Sharon will pass on the benefits of her vast experience in writing romantic fiction and her intimate knowledge of what publishers like Harlequin Mills & Boon are looking for in a romantic novel. You can find out more about Sharon and her books on her Tutors Page.

This course is fully booked, but we will take names from people wanting to be on a waiting list.

Jessica Hart
Saturday 26 September to
Saturday 3 October 2009
‘Writing romance’

RITA* award-winner Jessica Hart has written more than 50 books for Harlequin Romance and has been published around the world in more than 20 different languages. (*The RITA is the US romance-publishing industry's highest award of distinction.) She is also a winner of the coveted Romance Prize, awarded by the Romantic Novelists’ Association in the UK.

The more she writes, the more interested Jessica has become in the process of creating a successful romance – and helping others to understand the process, too. She has put her ideas into action at a number of creative writing workshops in the UK, as well as at the Romance Writers of America conference.

Jessica’s first-ever course at The Watermill at Posara will focus on the emotional tension that is key to all romantic fiction and it will provide a practical approach to constructing a satisfying – and sellable – love story. There will be plenty of opportunity, too, to talk about writing romance with like-minded people: “The social side of writing is so often underestimated, especially when it comes to structuring a story,” says Jessica. You can read more about Jessica and her books on our Tutors Page.

We have places for a few more people on this course.

Painting holidays and creative writing courses: what’s included

We would like to reiterate that everything is included in the cost of your painting holiday or creative writing course: tuition, accommodation (including all linen and towels), pre-dinner aperitifs, all meals (including dinner with wine at charming local restaurants) and local transportation (including transfers to Pisa airport; an excursion by train to Lucca).

All you have to do is to get to Pisa and we do the rest.

Prices depend on which room you choose (see www.watermill.net for details). They start at £765+IVA (Italian VAT) per person per week (based on two people sharing), with a discount of £25 for a non-painting on non-writing partner. Single rooms start at £820+IVA (Italian VAT). Italian IVA is currently 20%.

What's available

We still have a number of weeks available for self-catering holidays in one of our five elegant self-contained apartments at the mill in Spring, Summer and Autumn.

Two of these bright, sunny apartments (Apts 1 & 2) are in the three-storey Tuscan house in the mill courtyard, with views over the gardens and the mountains beyond; two others (Apts 3 & 4) are set above the older watermill, with river and valley views; the fifth (Apt 5) is set beside the olive press and the artists’ studio and looks out over gardens and the river. All have comfortable living rooms, well furnished bedrooms, a well equipped kitchen and modern bathroom. There’s more information and plenty of pictures on our website www.watermill.net

We have availability for self-catering apartments as follows:

Easter (4-11 April and 11-18 April): We will probably be going to the mill ourselves, but call us if you are interested as one or two apartments might be available.
18-25 April, 25 April-2 May, 2-9 May: Apts 2, 3, 4 and 5 available.
30 May-6 June: Apts 2, 3 and 5 available.
13-20 June, 20-27 June: Apts 3, 4 and 5 available.
18-25 July, 25 July - 1 August, 1-8 August, 8-15 August : Apts 2, 3, 4 and 5 available..
15-22 August, 22-29 August: Apts 2 and 5 available.
5-12 September: Apts 2, 3, 4 and 5 available.
19-26 September: Apts 2, 4 and 5 available.

If you would like to book a self-catering apartment this year, please call us on the number below or use our secure Contact Form

Anything more you’d like to know?

If there is anything more we can tell you about our activities, and the true Italian lifestyle, please call us on +44 1888 568375 or use our secure Contact Form. And keep up with our website and blog at www.watermill.net.

In the meantime, with very best wishes,

Lois and Bill, Lydia and Lara, Bella and Rosa (the Labradogs)- and Blaze, the guineapig.

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