You CAN draw and paint

with Angela Birchall

Incorporating

Art by Angela Birchall

and

Picture Perfect blog

Tel:
077 242 00 779
Email:
youcandrawandpaint@gmail.com

Inspired by terrific trio of artists

I’m both an artist and an art educator so I get the best of both worlds!

I get to draw and paint a myriad of subjects in any media that either my patrons or I desire. Having enjoyed creating those works of art I know that when they are sold they will give years of pleasure to their new owners. Then I also get to see my students blossom and progress as they learn how to create their own unique works of art.

Two of the three artists who have inspired me the most are Leonardo and Monet and I loved the years I lived within a few hours’ drive of both their last homes now opened in homage to their incredible works of art. As diverse as these artists are they both set out to capture the effects of light and shade in their artwork. Leonardo was a maestro of chiaroscuro and Monet thought that capturing light was more important than the subject of his paintings. The play of light and shade and how it creates a 3D quality to the images on a 2D surface as well as the changing colours at different times of day is something by which I, too, am fascinated.

My third inspirational artist was Peter Birch. He was the incredible artist and teacher behind the private art school where I studied as a teenager. He gave me the confidence that I could draw or paint anything and as a result I have never got pigeon-holed into using one medium or focusing on one subject area.

I’m just as happy painting landscapes in acrylics, or still life in watercolours, drawing pet portraits in pastel, or ballerinas in pencil . . . not forgetting people and portraits, cityscapes, seascapes, birds and wildlife. In other words, I draw and paint anything that inspires me or my patrons in whichever medium I think will depict it the best!

Thanks to that inspirational artist and teacher, I’m still drawing and painting, and still loving it 48 years later. I’m also still using his teaching methods to help my students to realise that they, too, really CAN draw and paint.

Discovering why those methods worked became my first degree dissertation topic and then a life-long interest.

In a nutshell, it is switching you from the logical, time-centred, stereotypical thinking processes of the left hemisphere of the brain across to the creative, individual, timelessness of the right hemisphere’s thinking processes. In this mode, time can fly or stand still, it is as relaxing as it is stimulating, and you become so much more aware of the colours, shapes and patterns of the world around you.

I love operating in right hemisphere mode, and I love seeing students switch from left to right – you can actually see it in the marks they are making in their art work. It is fascinating!!

I teach face-to-face painting classes and have a tutored class for more experienced artists in West Lancashire in north west England. You can also book private, one-to-one or small group, tutorial sessions with me, or I can design bespoke corporate events using art to de-stress your workforce.

So, welcome to my world! Have a look around and discover how art can change your life in so many wonderful ways

Art can change your life

Unique gifts for
special people
Learn to draw    and paint
Relax and de-stress
Inspirational surroundings

Discover how art CAN relieve stress in the workplace

Fun exercises enable participants to leave behind the stresses of thinking and working in the left hemisphere of the brain and access the creative, blue-sky, big-picture thinking processes of the right hemisphere.

Working in this changed perspective offers new and creative ways to look for solutions to problems, patterns or issues in working situations.

Contact me via the message block below to find out more about how 'The Art of Stress-busting' could help your workforce.

Art can help busy, stressed workforces come together to look for new ways to solve problems as well as find relaxation and build teamwork!

Ask any artist and they will tell you that art is one of the finest stress-busters because when we draw or paint we can switch off the stresses of everyday life and switch over to a relaxing, rejuvenating, creative reverie. 'The Art of Stress-busting' takes that switch over into a workplace setting designing bespoke corporate events to inspire creativity, problem-solving and teamwork.

Showcasing the colours of the changing seasons

Following on from my spring painting and Jan's autumnal scene to be featured in next year's Lancashire County Council calendar, the changing seasons have inspired more of our artwork currently on view in local exhibitions.

"RUsSeT" is the theme of the Autumn Open of Southport Contemporary Arts allowing artists to explore either the autumnal colours or take the word RUST out of russet to look at the beauty of the ageing process. As with the calendar, Janice and I are taking part, but we are joined by Val Walmsley, another member of the Wednesday tutored group.

As you can see in the photo, Jan has her atmospheric painting of Sycamore Gap in autumn hung alongside Val's meticulously painted collection of pumpkins and squashes to reflect the season.

We're Lancashire County Council calendar girls!

It's a double delight to announce that not only did one of my paintings get voted into the final list in the Lancashire Artist of the Year award, but so did one of my students' works.

As a result, anyone looking at April in Lancashire County Council's 2025 calendar will see my painting of Springtime in Wrea Green.

Then a few months later in September, they will be admiring Janice Hobson's painting of autumn in the Trough of Bowland.

Janice is one of the wonderful students in my tutored art group (you can see some of her work in the section on my "lessons" page) and she had worked on her painting during the classes so it was a delight that she was also successful.

I loved creating the image of Wrea Green because it’s a picturesque village all year round but when I’ve seen it in springtime its iconic duck pond on its equally iconic village green is ringed with a golden necklace of bobbing daffodils. But how did it come about? What were the thought and selection processes behind the painting, its composition, even the choice of medium? Find out all about it in my latest blog post: https://www.youcandrawandpaint.com/spring-2025-sees-my-artwork-in-thousands-of-homes

Don't forget, the calendars will be on sale in the county's libraries, museums and archives. Proceeds from the sale of the calendars will go towards activities to support Lancashire Care Leavers.

Hanging opposite them is my painting of "Autumnal Walk in Bagnoles De l'Orne, Normandy".

I used photos from walking through the French spa town, Bagnoles De l'Orne, when it was covered in autumnal shades as my inspiration.

I turned the long, thin canvas on its end to depict the full height of the trees. When you spot the three tiny figures in the scene you realise just how tall those trees actually are!

The Autumn Open exhibition "RUsSeT" is on at the ArtHouse Gallery in Eastbank Street, Southport until Saturday October 26 so you have plenty of time to pop along and see it. Most of the works, including our three, are on sale.

As autumn moves into winter, I come closer to home with this watercolour painting of “Rufford Old Hall in Winter”.

Most images of Rufford Old Hall with its magnificent Tudor section are taken in the warmer half of the year. However, I wanted to depict this National Trust property encased in a blanket of snow.

As I painted it I could imagine what it would have been like hundreds of years ago with blazing fires in the Great Hall.

I love painting or drawing snow as different media (watercolours, acrylics, oils or pencil) need a totally different approach to depicting things covered in a blanket of the white stuff.

With oils and acrylics I can put on great heaps of white paint to suggest deep snow piled up on tree branches, stone walls, wooden gates, roofs, etc. With either pencil or watercolours (which this painting is done in) you have to plan in advance where the snow is and how thick it is going to be because the snow in sunlight is white paper that hasn’t been drawn or painted on. Only the snow in shadow gets to be coloured in any way.

“Rufford Old Hall in Winter” is currently on display in the Southport Palette Club Invitation exhibition in the Landing Gallery at The Atkinson on Lord Street, Southport. The exhibition runs until November 23. Most of the works, including mine, are for sale.