Folk Art & Decorative Painting

From  2025 I will be concentrating mainly on teaching  Canal Art*, which is an art form now listed on the Heritage Crafts  site as 'in danger of dying out'.   When classes  are at other venues they will  be taught in acrylic   paints, however, for those interested in the traditional medium of  enamel paints, these classes will  be held in my home studio.​

 

This style of folk  art is very much about brush stroke techniques, which lends itself perfectly to being a teachable art, regardless of your experience. The style is more representative of a subject rather than an exact likeness and is not limited to being just floral.  ​Another term used for it is Tole Painting, which in the past used to mean decorating items of ironworks or utensils.  In the present day you can apply these styles to just about anything from furniture to fireplaces, cups to cupboards!

 

Here in the UK probably the most well known of this style of folk art would be Castles and Roses popular on canal boats. The one shown below was painted on a cast iron water pump as a commission.

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Styles from other countries include Rosemaling, Hinderloopen among others. The British Association of Decorative and Folk Arts (BADFA) have some basic explanations of them - click here to be taken to their site.

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*  Please get in touch if there  is  a particular technique  or design you would like  to learn to paint.

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