I am back. A new studio, new courses and a head full of ideas

Here I am again. After the summer, the holidays and a slightly different routine, I am fully back at work. And this year, returning is a little more interesting again. We now have a schoolchild and a preschooler at home, so September is certainly not a slow, gentle start for us. 😄

Mornings mean school, nursery, snacks, bags and all the usual responsibilities. Afternoons are filled with the children, after-school activities, homework and family life. In between all of that come my studio, courses, clients, paintings and ideas, which of course tend to arrive at precisely the moment when I should be thinking about something else entirely.

It is the usual whirlwind.

And do you know what? It is actually exactly the kind I love.

I was really looking forward to returning to the studio after the holidays. I missed the smell of paint, the canvases ready to work on, the brushes, the children sitting at the tables, their questions and their sometimes utterly unexpected ideas.

I was just as excited about the moments when I would have the place entirely to myself. I would put on some music, pick up a brush and spend a little time simply painting again.

This year, there is also another big change to come back to.

The studio has a new look

For a while, I had felt I needed a change. I did not want to look for a bigger space or a different location. I needed my existing studio to work a little differently.

Anyone who knows me can probably guess that once I get started on something, I rarely stop at moving a single table. 😄

So there was moving, rearranging, sorting, cleaning, planning… and then, of course, more rearranging.

The main aim was to create more room for making art. I need to be able to work comfortably here, while also making sure there is enough space for the children who come to my art courses.

And the result?

I love it here. ❤️

The studio now feels airier, cleaner and much more welcoming. Suddenly, I feel I can breathe more easily here. The children have their own space to work, everything makes more sense, and I feel comfortable here not only when teaching courses, but above all when creating my own work.

Yet it is still the same studio.

Just a little different.

I sit here, look around and think: Yes. This is exactly how I wanted it.

It might seem like nothing more than a change to the space, but the environment in which I create means an enormous amount to me. I need a space around me where I feel comfortable. Somewhere I can make a mess, spread out my paints, leave a canvas in progress and return to it the next day.

For me, the studio has never been just a room where I go to work.

It is part of my world.

And now I feel it reflects a little more closely where I am in my own life and where I want to take my work next.

A new school year, new children and new stories

With the start of the school year, my art courses for children have, of course, started up again too.

Some of the children I already know well, and they are coming back after the holidays. I really love that. I get to watch their gradual progress, see what has begun to interest them, where they have grown more confident and how their own artwork is changing.

Alongside familiar faces, this year I am also welcoming new young artists.

Every child arrives with a different personality.

Some dive straight into the paints and would happily try everything they can find in the studio during their very first lesson. Others need a little time to find their bearings and build their confidence.

It is precisely these differences that I enjoy so much about working with children.

I do not want children to come to an art course and all leave with identical pictures.

I teach them to work with colour, composition, different materials and artistic techniques. At the same time, I try to give each child enough room for their own ideas and individual style.

They can try things out, explore and experiment. It is perfectly all right if something goes wrong. Sometimes, what seems like a mistake becomes the best part of the whole painting.

Some lessons have a more specific brief; at other times, I give the children just a theme or a few guidelines and leave the rest to their imagination.

For me, a perfectly painted picture is not what matters most.

What brings me far more joy is the moment a child stops checking every two minutes whether they are doing something ‘right’ and simply starts creating.

Without being afraid of making a mistake.

Because, to me, that is exactly what art is about.

The children’s courses are currently FULL

I am delighted that every place on the regular children’s courses now has its own young artist. ❤️

When I first started running courses, I had no idea how big a part of my work they would one day become. Now there are children who return regularly, their siblings are joining, new faces are appearing and the remaining places are gradually filling up.

This brings me great joy, but also a sense of responsibility.

I do not want to keep making the groups bigger simply so that I can take more children.

It matters to me that I can give each child proper attention. I need to see what they are creating, have time to help them and gradually discover what suits them, what they enjoy and where they need a little support.

That is why the regular children’s courses are now FULL.

But that certainly does not mean the studio doors are closing to anyone else who would like to join me.

Quite the opposite. 😊

I am planning weekend courses and workshops

I know that a regular weekday course does not suit everyone. Some have other clubs to attend, others have to travel, and for some people there simply were no places left.

That is why I also want to announce one-off weekend art courses and workshops throughout the year.

And of course, my mind is already working at full speed again. 😄

I have several ideas for things I would like to organise. I am drawn to different techniques, themed sessions and courses where you create your own painting from start to finish.

I do not want it to be just two hours spent with paints.

I would like each workshop to have its own atmosphere, so that people leave not only with something they have made, but also with the experience of creating.

I will be adding dates here on the website as they are confirmed, and of course on my social media too.

So if you missed out on a place on a regular course, do keep following me. There will be plenty more opportunities to join me in the studio. 🎨

And somewhere in all of this, I am still a painter first and foremost

Courses are a large and lovely part of my work.

I enjoy working with children. I love their spontaneity, their imagination and the way they think about creating. Sometimes they come up with a solution that would never have occurred to me.

Yet alongside all of this, I am feeling a tremendous urge to stand in front of my own canvas again.

With no brief to follow.

With nothing to explain.

Just me, paints, music, brushes and a painting whose direction I may not even know myself at the start.

I already have new paintings in mind.

For some, I have a fairly clear vision. For others, there is only a colour, an atmosphere, a feeling or a small fragment of something I would like to put on canvas.

And others may emerge entirely spontaneously once I pick up a brush.

This is the time I am really looking forward to now.

Those moments when the studio falls quiet after the classes, I put some music on and once again have my own canvas in front of me.

Little by little, new paintings and new stories will begin to take shape here.

I am curious to see where my work takes me this time.

My work keeps changing too

When I look back a few years, I can see how far I have come.

I no longer feel the same way about some of the things I used to enjoy. Instead, I am beginning to feel drawn to subjects, colours and ways of working that I might never have explored a few years ago.

And I think that is a good thing.

I do not want to keep painting in the same way just because something worked or people liked it.

I need to explore.

To try things out.

To get things wrong sometimes and start again.

That is what I enjoy about painting. I never feel that I have learnt everything and will now simply repeat the same process over and over.

Every painting can surprise me in some way.

And I hope it stays that way.

So yes… I am back

With a schoolchild and a preschooler.

With a diary that is starting to look rather full again. 😄

Around me are new children in the classes and familiar faces who have returned after the holidays. Ahead of me are my own paintings, work for clients, weekend workshops and, of course, all those ideas that keep taking shape in my mind.

And there is my revamped studio too, which brings me enormous joy.

It is a bit chaotic.

But it is my chaos. ❤️

Sometimes I feel that, in a single day, I manage to be a mum, driver, tutor, organiser, cleaner, photographer, accountant and several other things I never even knew I could do. 😄

But somewhere amid all of this, I am still, above all, a painter.

When I come into the studio, pick up a brush and look around me, everything falls back into place.

The studio is ready for more creativity. The children are returning to the tables, our brushes and paints are within reach, and blank canvases are waiting for their new stories.

And I am genuinely curious to see what we will create over the coming months.

So welcome back to the studio with me. ❤️