Painting Experience in London

I had been given a voucher by my son and his family for a painting experience but because of COVID I was unable to redeem the voucher until September 2021. I had in mind what I wanted to attempt to paint and Minna was very helpful and offered good advice before my visit. I must admit I was quite nervous and apprehensive before meeting Minna and I thought I had taken on too much regarding my subject. However, to my great surprise when I met Minna she was so very welcoming and friendly…..immediately my fears were put at ease. After initial discussions about what I wanted to achieve from my painting, Minna offered some sound advice and she said I could start! I'm quite a slow, fiddly painter always doing a pre drawing before applying paint but this was the first time I actually started painting straight onto canvas with only a few guidelines. The whole experience was freeing and so enjoyable. Minna stood well back and let me get on with it. She prepared a lovely lunch and we had a well earned break. After lunch I continued with the painting and all the time Minna was encouraging and offered great tips and advice like stepping back and assessing your work from a distance - this was so helpful. At the end of the session I was exhausted but so happy. I managed to capture exactly what I wanted in my painting. Minna was pleased too. Minna is not just a great accomplished artist but she is a fantastic teacher. I learnt so much that day and I couldn’t have had a more pleasant person to inspire, guide and encourage me. I totally recommend this experience to anyone who is interested in art. Thank you Minna for everything.

I wanted to provide some feedback for the above day which I attended last year, a retirement gift from work. I’d been drawing and ‘colouring in’ for a while. What I did I did for my own amusement but people reflected kindly on it so I was thrilled with the opportunity to have someone else critique my work but more importantly to help me develop a broader sense of it and how I could develop it further. After a few e-mail exchanges with the delightful Minna we arranged our day at her studio in Clapham. We’d agreed to explore technique, use of colour, paper and materials and I took along some of my things like watercolours, brushes and pens. Can’t say I wasnt anxious. I was terrified but immediately welcomed and made at ease through easy discussion about my expectations and a review of some of my work. Minna had prepared a very detailed agenda for us which we walked through but Minnas approach here was one hat was very flexible and although well prepared for a structured day was happy to flex this as we moved through. I was quickly at work and under ‘pressure’ for some output. We worked through the morning up to lunch which was very informal and a perfect accompanianment to the day. We explored other artists work online that Minna had picked out for me to illustrate further how I can develop composition and approach. The afternoon was spent on a final piece, bringing together the learning for the morning. Minna worked tirelessly to make me feel at ease, to encourage and shape my output so that I really felt that I had accomplished something very positive and fullfiling from the day. I really had a super experience from this day. I enjoyed it enormously. Minna was a terrific host and had thought hard about what she could do with me and I felt had pitched the activity and learning to my level, bringing out my skills by developing a more structured approach to my drawing and more confident execution from it. I cant reccommend it highly enough.

Rare to see a real professional artist offering this type of package and it is completely one on one, not part of a big group which really is a waste of time. I did a course with Minna late in 2015 and it was the best money I have spent in years. Her personal attention and knowledge is incredible and to think I am taking lessons from a woman who's artwork has been at Sotheby's recently is something special. Now that I see she is on this website I will buy my wife as a gift to see her for her birthday!