Click here to view it online ‍‍

EMILY BALL AT SEAWHITE‍

CONTEMPORARY DRAWING AND PAINTING COURSES‍

A Fistful of Flowers

from garden to paper

Image: A Fistful of Flowers - Painting detail, Emily Ball‍

Dear  ‍Visitor ‍

With summer spilling into our gardens, Emily and Katie have spent the last two weeks celebrating the abundance of the season through Summer in the Garden, both online and at Highdown Gardens. These courses are an artist's dream, bringing together two deeply creative pursuits: gardening and painting. Both ask us to look closely, to observe, to nurture and to respond.

As we spend more time outdoors enjoying our gardens and the richness of the summer landscape, we're delighted to share a new pre-recorded course that has just launched on the Studio website. 

Image: A Fistful of Flowers, Emily Ball‍‍

A Fistful of Flowers is an in-depth online course devised and delivered by Emily Ball. Developed alongside the exhibition “Extraordinary Flowers” and shaped by Emily’s many years of teaching flower-based painting, it offers an honest, thoughtful exploration of painting flowers, inviting you to develop a personal connection with your subject.

“Flowers are given at poignant times of our lives to mark a moment, a new chapter, to remember... but generally for love. However, Nature is on her own mission too and we are observing and marvelling at her invention and rhythm." ~ Emily 

Image: A Fistful of Flowers, Emily Ball‍‍

Painting flowers is a familiar theme in Emily's teaching. Her much-loved Floribunda course has been taught in the Seawhite Studio, online and even travelled to Florida as part of Emily’s “On Tour” offer. Floribunda celebrated abundance: sumptuous displays overflowing with flowers, fronds, stems and petals. It transformed the Studio into a glorious pop-up greenhouse—a joyful riot of colour, texture and exuberance.

A Fistful of Flowers takes a different path.

Rather than beginning with lavish arrangements, Emily invites you to gather a small selection of flowers from your own garden or local landscape. The process starts slowly and mindfully: selecting the stems that speak to you, choosing the vessel they'll sit in, and considering the memories, places and relationships they evoke before a brush ever touches the paper.‍

Image: A Fistful of Flowers - Painting in Progress, Emily Ball‍‍

"The flowers that will inspire your drawings and paintings could be gathered from your own garden or picked from the hedgerows. Memories of childhood or even present-day associations with family and place may influence the work too." ~ Emily

At the heart of the course lies a deeply personal story:

"The idea for this course came from painting flowers for my mum, as a homage and appreciation for her lifelong passion for her garden and nurturing the plants within it."

~ Emily‍

Image: A Fistful of Flowers - Painting in Progress, Emily Ball‍‍

As an online course, A Fistful of Flowers is designed to be experienced entirely at your own pace. You can pause to paint alongside Emily, revisit passages that particularly resonate, replay demonstrations as often as you need, and return to key moments long after you've completed the course. Whether you prefer to work in short bursts or immerse yourself for an afternoon in your own studio or kitchen table, the course is there whenever it suits you.‍

Images: A Fistful of Flowers, Emily Ball‍‍

Emily has approached these films with remarkable openness and generosity. Nothing is edited out or hurried through. Instead, she deliberately allows time for the painting to evolve, sharing the building, washing, layering, scraping, dragging and reshaping that gradually brings each piece into being.

Across nine films—almost six hours of teaching—Emily demonstrates not only how she uses her materials and tools, but also the thinking behind every decision. As the paintings develop, she talks through the choices she makes, revealing the moments of uncertainty, adjustment and discovery that are so often hidden from view.‍

"In these films I feel that I have shared my painting approach honestly and completely. I am excited to work in this in-depth way and hope that you find it inspiring and useful too."

~ Emily

‍

Image: A Fistful of Flowers, Emily Ball‍‍

While the course centres on flowers, its value reaches far beyond a single subject. The ways of looking, thinking and making that Emily shares can be returned to again and again, helping artists develop confidence, fluency and, ultimately, a more personal visual language.

 ‍

Click on the image below to watch a short film that gives a flavour of the course: 

To find out more and to download the course, please click on the button below:‍

Whether you're gathering flowers from your own garden, the hedgerow or a favourite walk, we hope this course encourages you to spend time looking closely, painting slowly, and discovering the extraordinary beauty in the everyday gifts of nature.

Image: A Fistful of Flowers, Emily Ball‍‍

www.emilyballatseawhite.co.uk‍ | Contact |  ‍ ‍Unsubscribe ‍