10am to 3pm on Friday, 8th May 2026
@The Pavilion, Penn Street HP7 0FA
£95 per person
All materials included.
This class is suitable for absolute beginners, as well as more experienced painters.
Join us for a really wonderful day spent truly luxuriating in the world of flowers with local artist Zoe Duncan.
Using freshly picked seasonal blooms, you will have the opportunity to study their unique structures, forms and colours before learning to paint your own interpretations.
You will be taught how to choose a flower that appeals to you, (from images and also an abundance of real flowers in the studio), how to make a pleasing composition, and then how to tackle painting your chosen bloom.
As this is a longer workshop, we can really take our time to explore the structure of the flowers, learn how best to apply the paint, to make a convincing interpretation. You will learn the techniques of wet on wet to make a colour blush in soft transitions across a petal, as well as learning the wet on dry techniques needed to make convincing details such as stamens and anthers.
This will be a day to really slow down and immerse yourself in the beauty of flowers and painting. By the end of the session, not only will you have a deeper appreciation for the natural beauty of flowers, but you will also have created stunning pieces of art that reflect your personal vision and creativity.
All of the fresh flowers we will be using will have been grown locally at The Walled Garden on the neighbouring Penn Estate. Zoe will also have a wide selection of images as reference materials, or you are very welcome to bring flowers from your own garden.
It’s our absolute pleasure to welcome back much-loved local artist Zoe Duncan. Zoe has been running watercolour classes with us for the past couple of years and is always a hugely popular teacher, known for her relaxed, encouraging approach and her ability to help everyone feel at ease, whatever their level of experience.
Beyond learning new techniques, this workshop offers a chance to slow down, switch off and immerse yourself in the calming rhythm of watercolour painting. Working with fluid washes, gentle movement and natural forms can be deeply relaxing, helping to quiet the mind and ease everyday stresses. Many people find watercolour to be a wonderfully mindful practice — a space to focus, breathe and reconnect with creativity, leaving the session feeling refreshed, grounded and inspired.
This class is suitable for absolute beginners as well as more experienced painters, with plenty of individual guidance throughout. Everyone will leave with their own finished watercolour painting, along with new skills, renewed confidence and a sense of calm to carry with them beyond their time at The Pavilion.
Zoë trained at the City and Guilds London Art School, studying for a Post Grad Diploma in Sculpture and Drawing. She is a hugely experienced teacher, having taught art to adults and children for over 16 years, including as a tutor at Waterperry Gardens, at her own studio and at workshops within schools, and local art groups in both Bucks, and Oxfordshire.
As an artist, Zoë is drawn to the natural world and especially those whose movement is affected by the different elements of air and water. Zoë's work has been sold through galleries in Oxfordshire, London and Buckinghamshire and her commission work is in collections around the world, including in the UK, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Australia and the USA so we are in very capable hands.
At Where Inspiration Blooms, we’re big fans of delicious cake! In this class, you can enjoy a choice of traditional and herbal teas from Chesham-based tea connoisseurs, Two Spoons, as well as both caffeinated and decaf coffee. We have dairy and non-dairy milks to suit every preference, and our homemade cakes are always sourced from good local bakers. We also make sure those who need gluten-free options aren’t left out.
We would also recommend that you bring a packed lunch and enjoy the beautiful view of fields from our picnic benches at lunchtime.
Please note that we will only be able to run this class/course if we have a minimum of 5 guests. All of our teachers are highly skilled in their fields, but being an artist isn't always a well paid profession so we hope you understand why it's important that we ensure that our teachers can afford to run each of their classes. Should the class not be able to go ahead we will contact you no less than 2 weeks before it is due to start and we will of course, offer you a full refund.
If you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to contact us via our email julesandcaroline@whereinspirationblooms.co.uk
Thank you so much for booking onto one of our workshops — we’re really looking forward to welcoming you and hope you find your class to be a space where your inspiration can really bloom 😉
