We returned to our seaside venue for the last day of my art course. Everyone was in high spirits as we began the day,as the sun was shining from the moment we set out. It was warm,but as we approached the site for our creative endeavours,we felt the cool notes of a sea breeze wafting past. I set up my painting boards,easel ,brushes and oil paints. I had promised Daedalus that I would carry out another "stone" painting,but this time with "real life " colours. I found a good spot beside the promenade,where I had the sun on my side and the wind seemed not have reached there.
The next two hours passed fairly quickly as I worked my board,and mixed sufficiently varied colours to delineate different stones. I was very pleased with the end result and so was Daedalus.
"This is marvellous", he commented."Well done".
There was an upbeat note to his voice,and inside my heart was doing loop-de-loop,so pleased was I to be praised by the magnificent painter ,Daedalus Cinqefoil.
Lunchtime was approaching,so I washed up my brushes, and my hands ,and headed with some of my coursemates to the local fish eaterie. We all sat outside,smelling the wonderful cooking aromas,and making each other laugh with tales of our morning ploys. Plates of steaming hot fish pie and trays of fat chips arrived to fill our tiny bellies and raise our energy levels for the afternoon fray. I had ordered a bowl of langoustines. They were huge,porky pink examples of delicious seafood ,and I savoured each and every one of them.I drank the remains of my second cup of redbush tea,and went back to my easel to think about my next subject.
It would have to be different from the others. I looked far across the water to see on the horizon three interesting huts next to a pile of fishermen's gear.The sky was pale blue with lilac shot through and the electric blue sea lay beneath. Herring baskets,heaped up tyres, creels and nets were scattered all around,a perfect picture of fishing life in this coastal village of Parr Skiban. I spent the next two hours working on these images,but when Daedalus called finishing time I still had much to do. It will be a pleasure to finish it later.
We all clambered back into the motor carriage and headed back to Cinquefoil's studio.I sat ,eyes half closing ,as the heat in the motor carriage was making me sleepy. I wanted to think about the day,the whole week,and Daedalus's comments to me,as we were packing up our materials. He was packing away our pictures for the day,when he picked up my piece from this morning,of the rocks ,shale and rockpools. He looked at it again and said,in my hearing, "Just excellent,just excellent. " I was so pleased.He does not hand out compliments lightly, although help and advice is a-plenty.
The Steam Engine brought me back to Dingley Dell. The village looked very sleepy,and it seemed I had not really been aware of my home surroundings for the past week,so all-consuming is the course in which we have been enrolled. I took in the garden,the front of the house, the flowers,my garden pals and the surrounding toadstools.It has been good to step out into the creative world,but very sweet to come home. Looking round there is much to do. Clearing dust from floors and surfaces,a mound of elven washing, clearing the unused food from our toadstool ice box, and generally tidying up the debris from my active week. I will rest this weekend,and have a quiet week next week. But I owe it to myself to keep my art work on the boil. Once every week I am going to practise my skills in various venues locally and abroad.I will be returning at some point later in the year to work with Daedalus Cinquefoil again,and further improve my techniques.

I have caught rather too much sun today,as me little red ears and sore neck do betray. I have red around my decolletage,and brown as a berry hands. I need to stay out of direct sunlight for a few days
and coat my sensitive spots with a special cream for sun soothing,supplied by the Alchemist.Hopefully these tender spots will cool down and my skin become tanned. Granny's Unction for snakebites, corn removal, itchy feet and delicate skin conditions works every time !

A thousand feelgood experiences for you ,my dear friends. May you find everlasting friendships and enduring love.May the monkey puzzle tree in your life be forever enigmatic,and fully branched.
From Amarantha Willow, artist and writer,designer and parchment entrepreneur,the Rainbow Faery.