“It’s not just a brush, it’s an experience.
A ritual. It’s life changing and it’s your life.”
Joe Wong
Gouache; A Brief History and The Suitability of Rosemary & Co’s ‘Shiraz’ Brushes
Gouache paint has been around for centuries however not many casual artists have experience with them like they have with the more popular mediums of acrylic, watercolour or oil. I spoke to Murray Ince, an artist and tutor based on the Isle of Wight about Gouache and what best practices he implements. This is what he had to say; "Gouache is a lovely medium to work with and has a surprisingly long history. It is very similar in use to Egg Tempera and Casein. Egg tempera’s pigments are bound with egg as you may have guessed and Casein is precipitated from milk. The binder is made by dissolving the resulting ‘Casein’ in an alkaline, usually lime, ammonium carbonate or borax, which is then added to the pigments. There are very subtle differences in these three media, but probably the most important is…
ROYAL MAIL: STRIKES AND LAST POSTING DATES FOR CHRISTMAS 2022
Royal Mail have provided their last postage dates for a Christmas delivery. You can view the list in it's entirety by clicking here. Please note some countries may not apply to Rosemary & Co as we do not use Royal Mail for all countries. Many dates across November 2022 are planned for industrial action so please bear that in mind too. Click here for all Royal Mail's latest news regarding their planned strikes as customers should expect significant disruption. You can see all our delivery options here. We advise you order as soon as possible to avoid any disappointment!
Rosemary and Co Will Be Closed During The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee
This week sees the UK celebrate The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee with an extended public holiday that Rosemary and Co will be observing. As a result, our offices and production department will be closed as follows: Thursday 2nd June : Spring Bank Holiday Friday 3rd June : Platinum Jubilee bank holiday We will also be closed on the weekend, as normal, therefore we are back open on Monday 6th June. You can still place orders online throughout. Many of the UK’s cities, towns and villages will be busy organising events and street parties as we approach the celebration of the Queen’s coronation 70 years ago. At Rosemary and Co we are joining The Queen’s Green Canopy (QGC), a tree planting initiative created to mark Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee. Everyone across the UK is being invited to plant trees from October 2021, when the tree planting season begins, through to the end…
Wildlife art by George Davies
If you're anything like me then wildlife paintings will bring instant joy and a smile to your face. It was with great pleasure to come across George's work and I finally get to share his emotive and expressive paintings with you all. Here's what he had to say earlier this year; "I’m a 17-year-old oil painter from Chester, England and I’m currently going into year 13. I’ve loved drawing and painting from an early age and my particular interest is wildlife, although I do try other subjects as well. I dedicate most of my spare time to painting and creating ideas for new works, using my photos as well as some from friends for my reference. I have been inspired by many artists, but particularly painters such as David Shepherd, John Banovich and Andrew Tischler, who has been a great source of inspiration and…
Artist Spotlight: Robert Trent
We were approached by Rob some time ago, conveying his love for our brushes! We are lucky enough to receive lots of these lovely emails - but this one was particularly special to us. Rob was born disabled, and from a very early age was taught to write, draw and paint with the implement held between his teeth by his home tutor. I recently asked Rob if he would be happy to be featured on the blog and thankfully he obliged, as I know our readers would be inspired. This is what he had to say: "My tutor often told me about the Mouth and Foot Painting Artists (MFPA), and to encourage me they sent me a set of paints. Although I enjoyed painting, I left school and focussed on finding employment. In that time I got married and we had a daughter. It was…
The Beautiful Artwork of Phil Courtney
Phil Courtney is a long time user of Rosemary Brushes and it is about time we shared his absolutely stunning work with you all. Phil graduated from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine arts located in Philadelphia and has been in the industry ever since. Exquisite both in Oil and Water colour, Phil always manages to capture the beauty of his subject material. I am amazed how he gets his paintings to look so realistic, especially with the sheer size of the canvases, (some 41" x 57"!). To get the perspective and proportion so on point, I think you will agree it can be a challenge even on a smaller scale, but Phil does it with such precision and realism, and I can only imagine the patience he puts into them! The oil painting below -Magnolia Seed Pod 22" x 54" - oil on…
