Painting outdoors with The National Trust.

I took a painting group of 9 out for two days last week as part of a National Trust working holiday.We were meant to have our first day on Tuesday, but it chucked it down. Thankfully, Wed. came up trumps with a lovely sunny day, but with a strong Westerly wind. So, we headed for the shelter of Lee Bay, tucked away on the North Coast, just a few miles away. It was beautiful, crisp clear light and a small tide, made for a great day's outdoor "plein-air painting".

The following day, Thursday,  we camped out on Marine Drive above the two mile stretch of Woolacombe Beach., which treated us to glorious views across the bay towards Woolacombe, Mortehoe and Morte Point.

These guys threw themselves into the painting challenges in front of them, with enthusiasm and good humour really surprising themselves with their finished oil painting studies. We had a great laugh, and the painter's all enjoyed the creative break after a working week on the coast with the National Trust.

If you fancy taking part in a holiday of this kind give Jonathan at The National Trust here in Woolacombe an email. We are going to run this working week / painting course holiday again next September, do you think that this is the kind of holiday that you would like?