NEWTON St Cyres Art Club members enjoyed a demonstration in mixed media by Anna Brewster, on Friday, June 27.

Anna is experienced in helping others to create art, working with numerous groups and in her community in Colyton/Seaton, and generous with her time and her materials.

Watercolour is her main passion, which she discovered after training in photography.

She enjoys experimenting with other media such as crayon, gouache, pastel and pencil added to a watercolour painting.

The demonstration of a seascape (Lyme Regis) started with loose washes for sky and land, using a photo, upside down, to help with abstraction.

She painted on Bockingford NOT 140lb, with a limited palette and only a couple of brushes.

She prefers Winsor and Newton paints, as well as some Daniel Smith colours. Her advice was to let the paint do what it wants, and not tinker.

The second demonstration was pebbles on a beach, painted loosely, leaving white areas for highlights, with pencil and crayon added afterwards to define the shapes.

The results were pleasing, lively paintings which allowed the viewer’s imagination to wander over them, with just enough detail to suggest plants, buildings, etc.

We hope to be able to organise a workshop with Anna soon.

Jenny Hallam