We look forward each year to making new friends and seeing old ones, at the Living Crafts Festival of Art, Craft and Design, not only those amongst the artists and craftspeople, but also from the visitors who come to visit us during the four-day event.

Eight months after launching the A J Ludlow “All you need to paint..” range of Professional Watercolour painting sets, Andrew examines why they are still causing quite a stir!

In this tale of two books, Andrew turns back the pages of history and takes a glimpse at watercolours from the late-nineteenth century.

In this month’s ARTicle, our guest artist Jonathan Pullen describes a 5-step process on how he approaches and creates a watercolour painting in the “Realism” style.

It’s a little over a year since I began using A J Ludlow Professional Watercolours; it seems a good time to give an update to my first ARTicle in April 2023, on my experiences of using them and to tell you what I’ve done over the past year.

Making New Year’s Resolutions is traditional at this time of year, so why not start your list with taking up watercolour painting as a new hobby? Meiru explores all the aspects and benefits of starting the new year with watercolour painting as a new hobby.

In Emma Jessen’s ARTicle, she reflects on the importance to reconnect with our inner child in this fast-paced world. She argues that we spend too much time on activities that do little for us and suggests instead, redirect the time into invigorating ourselves through the playfulness of art.

Whether you are a seasoned artist or just starting out, painting the autumnal scenery can be a fun and rewarding experience. With a little practice and patience, you can create a stunning work of art that captures the beauty and magic of this special season.

One morning at breakfast, Meiru drew my attention to a Facebook post she had seen in her feed. It had been posted on a US watercolour group page by a watercolourist who had bought a “bargain-brand” 50 tube paint set to fill into pans and was alarmed by the results.