This weekend 28th-29th November will be my fourth Open Studio in Wiltshire.  We’ll be open form 11am to 5pm so come and join us for a drink and see my latest work and the new Jersey Pottery china and giftware.  Email for the address ann@annswan.co.uk

The new workshop dates for 2010 are booking up very rapidly, as are the holidays abroad.  Italy is full and there are a few spaces left to grab some winter sunshine in Spain Jan 30th – Feb 6th or to share the excitement of the vernissage and savour the excellent wines from the St Emillion region in September/October. Take a look at www.theplaceinswfrance.com

Another possible venture we are hoping to arrange for December 2010 is a couple of very small group trips to Sri Lanka.  An idyllic villa by a secluded beach with a day to unwind then four days tuition  and a day trip to the magnificent rainforest with an option for a further 12 days touring Sri Lanka.  This will not be a cheap trip but it does sound fantastic.  If you are at all interested let me know.  Their website is www.paintsrilanka.com

Look forward to seeing some of you next weekend.

We have just returned from a short trip to southwest France on the search for a suitable location for a painting holiday in September 2010.  We looked at two places, one a small hotel in a wonderful village and the other a purpose run art holiday location high on a hill near St Emilion.  I shall have to owrk out the sums as France is quite expensive these days so more of these later.

During this trip we stayed at several Alistair Sawday B & Bs and I have to mention one in particular as the welcome we received was so warm, the place a delight and the food exquisite. It’s called Le Bourg and is run by Vanessa and Ron Bennett-Dixon www.lebourg-charente.com and we can thoroughly recommend a stay there.  They are charming, fun and interesting  hosts and provide excellent value for money not to mention superb wine!!

Other news – the book has now completed it’s third proof read and is now being colour proofed prior to printing so as far as I know publication is still set for April 2010.

My Open Studio is scheduled for 28-29th November  11am – 5pm both days.  Do come and visit if you are in the area.  I will have some new work although not as much as i would like due to the book.  But also some lovel new designs from Jersy Pottery in the ‘Meditteranean’ range including a salt pig, new table mats and coasters, dinner plates and lovely large pizza plates and salad bowls.  All of which make lovely presents with Christmas in mind.

The October trip to Spain was only marred by rain again but it was a great group and everyone worked really hard and enthusiastically to produce some inspiring work.  We had a great trip out to a local bodega where we sampled their superb wines to the accompaniment of delicious tapas. Their sweet wine is served at Gordon Ramsey’s restaurant for £15 per glass! www.bodegasbentomiz.com

Relaxed lunch at Ill Collaccio

This summer has been an eventful time.  In June we held our first workshop at Ill Collaccio in Umbria, Italy.  It was a great success and most of those who came have rebooked for next year.  The place is idyllic with breathtaking views, delicious and plentiful Italian food and wine, comfortable and clean accommodation and extremely friendly and helpful staff.  Added to that the sun shone and temperatures soared so we couldn’t have wanted for more.

We worked during the mornings on the hotel veranda, shaded from the sun but gathering any breezes around and resting our eyes from time to time on the distance Sibillini mountains.  Most of us managed a trip to the mountains and the fabulous Piano Grande; a wide, sweeping plain stretching to the snow capped mountains with wall to wall wild flowers of every colour.  Amazing!

Needless to say next years trip is already nearly fully booked.

View of Preci from Ill Collaccio

Some of our motley crew enjoying refreshments in Assissi

At last ‘Botanical Painting with Coloured Pencils’ is finshed, all bar the final ammendments, and should be in the shops by next March.  I am sorry some of you have been waiting for so long and I can only hope that it will be worth waiting for!

Photo of the Cygnets (some of my beloved students) at the recent and wonderful Society of Botanical Artists’ annual exhibition at Westminster Hall. I am extremely proud of the fact that 11 of my students had work hung at the exhibition and superb work it is too.
At long last the book ‘Botanical Drawing with Coloured Pencil’, the writing of which has eaten up so much time of late that I haven’t posted any blogs since last year, is finally nearing completion. The picture editor plus a photographer visited the studio this week to take all the photographs for the book. Very painstaking and involved 2 days of pencil sharpening alone prior to their arrival.
In 2 weeks I am off to Italy for the first painting holiday up in the hills of Umbria. We have been promised wild orchids, truffles and all sorts of delights and I pray for warm weather.

The ‘Cygnets’ enjoying lunch at SBA exhibition

So much has happened recently.  In March I had my first experience as a judge on the RHS Picture Committee.  Some fabulous work was displayed but unfortunately no gold medals this time around.

Last week I did a one-day workshop for the South West Botanical Artists Groupd at their annual exhibition at the Arts Centre in Illminster.  Well worth a visit even if you only buy some of the lovely greetings cards on sale by the artists.  Although most of the group are watercolour artists they enjoyed having a bash at coloured pencil work and some of them really took to it like the proverbial duck to water.  I was nearly flattened in the stampede to buy pencils at lunch time.

This last weekend I was demonstrating at the National Botanic Gardens of Wales.  It was a lovely day, the sun shone and quite a few intrepid explorers managed to find me located down in the Aqua lab.  Afterwards we visited Aberglasney Gardens, what a joy, I can thoroughly recommend a visit.

Today I recevied a kind thank you card from someone on the SWSBA workshop at Illminister and she wrote and I quote ‘ It was worth a 3 hour drive just to see you lift a vein with a piece of sticky back plastic!!’ That brought a smile to my face after all the hard slog on the book.

It’s been a long time since my last post so hopefully this will bring you up to date.  The Open Studio was a great success and we met lots of local people, plus friends and supporters.  Thanks to all of you for your support and interest in my work and especially to those of you who travelled long distances to visit.  It was great to see you all.

Since then I have been tied to the computer, writing the text for the forthcoming book, ‘Botanical Painting with Coloured Pencils’ to be published by Harper Collins.  After many late nights, the ‘e’ on my keyboard is worn out as am I, the text has been submitted and now we go through the lengthy process of editing and correcting, re-writing and completing all the illustrations.  Hopefully the book will be out by summer 2009 – you can keep an eye on progress here and order on line with Amazon.

After all that hard work it is a great relief to find a venue in Italy for a workshop next year.  I have been looking for somewhere for some time and have finally found what I hope will be an ideal location up in the hills of Umbria, which in June, when I am planning to visit, is knee deep in wild orchids.  Anyone interested in coming to Umbria should register their interest asap as I expect it will get booked up quite quickly.

The new range  of china called ‘Berryfields’ is available now from Lakeland exclusively.

New dates for workshops in 2009 will be posted on the website within the next couple of weeks as will several new prints, including a lovely white Rhododendron fortunei and a large Aubergine drawing.  Other titles are Artichoke, Chinese Lanterns, American Corn, Prickly Pear and a rather contemporary take on the tomato.  Let me know what you think.

I shall be having my first Open Studio and Garden on 12-13 July from 11am – 5.30pm.  If you would like to visit we would love to see you so send me an email and I will post you an invitation.

The workshops at the new studio are booking up well and the first few have been very successful and luckily the weather has been kind so we have been able to lunch in the garden.

Good news - the new ‘Fat Pads’ with Fabriano Classico 5 paper are of much better quality than last year’s batch.  The paper is more robust and doesn’t give way when building up many layers.

Look out for me at Art In Action, Waterperry near Wheatley, Oxfordshire.  Thursday 17th July – Sunday 20th July. I shall be demonstrating with Nature in Art. www.artinaction.org.uk

It’s a long time since I last posted, not because I haven’t any news but more because I have had too much.  I recently had a very enjoyable trip to the Edinburgh Botanic Gardens to run a one-day workshop for the Botanical Illustration course there.  They were all very keen to learn about coloured pencils and all did excellent leaves.  I was only sorry it was such a short time.

This week you will find me at the Chelsea Flower Show on stand EA95 on Eastern Avenue.  I will be showing some of the new ‘Mediterranean’ range from Jersey Pottery which I am very excited about and my new prints for this year. The prints should be on the site any minute and I will post illustrations of the ‘Mediterranean’ range when I return.  If you are visiting the show to come and say hello.

The weekend of 31st May/1st June you will find me as artist in residence at The National Botanic Garden of Wales for their open weekend.

I shall be demonstrating at the Society of Botanical Artists Exhibition at Westminster Hall on Wednesday 23rd April from 11am-4pm.  Hope to see you then.

The new Meditteranean range of tableware from Jersey Pottery was launched at the Spring Trade Fair so hopefully I will have it available on the website soon.

Also available soon will be some new workshop dates for the new studio. The windows are going in on Friday so, fingers crossed, it will be ready for the first workshop in March and we can finally say good bye to the builders after 6 months!!!

Back from a great week in Spain.  The sun shone everyday and everyone did wonderful work inspired by the peaceful surroundings,good food, wine and excellent company.

Next January is now fully booked and the dates for October 2009 have changed to 26th September to the 3rd October.  There are still 2 spaces for October 2008 if anyone would like to join us.

Progress on the new studio is getting on a pace and it looks as if we will be up and running by end of February.  The two-day workshop at the end of February has been cancelled though to avoid any last minute disappointment.

Back to the drawing board now to finish 2 large pictures for the Southern Bulb Company – the Texas Star tulip and the Spider Lily plus the layout of the new book ‘Botanical Painting with Coloured Pencil’.

Just off to teach in the wonderful surroundings of the Finca el Cerillo in the foothills of Andalucia.  I have managed to sort out the dates for next years holidays so if anyone wants to book early to avoid disappointment the dates for 2009 are 31st Janaury to 7th February and 3rd – 10th October.  Prices haven’t been agreed yet but they will be similar to this years.