An amazing night for charity art sales as many paintings were donated, and all artists were incredibly generous with their time and money on the evening. It was a great night, and not just for an art exhibition, there were musical recitals, choral singing, violin playing, as well as many paintings being sold. All this with food and drink, all exceptional.

This week I am dropping off paintings at The Biscuit Factory for a charity event for the Stroke Unit of the RVI Newcastle. The event is on 6th February from 6pm to 10pm and everyone is welcome. There is a request for a £10 donation to the charity as part of the entrance, and it promises to be an amazing night of fun with choir singing, possibly an art auction, art sale with very discounted prices and food and drink available at the venue. It is being held in the Biscuit Room, which sits at the back of The Biscuit Factory and is accessible from Bermondsey Street, where there is also parking. If you can make it, it would be fabulous to see you there, and its for such a great cause.

This week I am busy preparing for my Online drawing course titled Principles of Drawing. In this course we will cover the basics through to the experts in drawing, looking at the works of Leonardo Da Vinci, Tracey Emin and Ewan Uglow to name but a few of the great artists throughout time. Join me as I cover a range of dry and wet materials to draw with - including Oak Gall ink as used by the art masters as well as Jane Austin and the Magna Carta! All my courses are recorded so you can view them again and again - have a look on my website for more details www.helenalicejohnsonartist.com

I am delighted to have been selected as a winner for this prestigious art award and so happy to share that success with you here.

This week I prepare my paintings for an upcoming exhibition in February  at The Biscuit Factory in Newcastle. All the paintings have to be gallery ready, with smart frames as well as correct fittings for hanging in a gallery. They then all have to be labelled, a certificate of authenticity generated and I also write a letter accompanying each painting, which provides a little information on provenance for the collector.

I am back in France and loving having a painting on my easel once again. I am currently working on a painting commission as well as starting a diptych of my new painting series inspired by gardens. I recently visited Kew Gardens, in particular the Waterlily House and the Palm House and will be using this as the inspiration for my next four paintings at least. My underpaintings have taken their pattern from the roof of the Glass house that houses the giant waterlilies and echoes the circular shape of the waterlilies themselves.

In this video I show the making of my latest painting called The Footbridge. The artwork is a colourful large abstract painting and is inspired by Teddington Lock near Richmond in London. I used a hexagonal pattern to run through the painting as a connection to sacred geometry, as I am interested in the relationship between people and nature, as well as the power of nature and its spiritual mystery. I spent a morning sitting in the outside cafe alongside the footbridge of the lock working in my sketchbook and making preparatory studies to make into this painting. The painting is a show piece for the Landmark Arts centre Spring Art Fair at Teddington and I will be showing it on stand 67

As it was the first time we opened our doors over the Easter weekend, we didn’t know what to expect, but it didn’t disappoint. A huge thank you to those of you who called in and to all who wished me well for the weekend. We met so many lovely people over the weekend, Alston never ceases to amaze me with the range of people who come through. Artists, collectors and the curious!

But don’t worry if you didn’t make it - we are open again in less than a fortnight with the May Day bank holiday, where you can still see the bright and cheerful Primrose paintings shown here.

See below for opening times and dates, and check out this week’s video too.

And if you want to know about the process and thinking behind my work, I’d love to see you at my Artist’s talk at St Andrews Church in Corbridge on 20th May at 2pm.

Thanks again and hope to see you soon.