David Curtis is one of the UK’s best-known painters, with a number of prestigious art awards. His work is widely exhibited and is also published as fine-art cards and prints. He is the author of the bestselling ‘Light and Mood in Watercolours’ and ‘Capturing the Moment in Oils’.

We are delighted that David will be returning to the Festival in 2025 and you can join him here as he demonstrates how to capture the light and atmosphere in this beautiful private Cotswold Garden.

David will demonstrate looking at drawing, tonal values, structure and composition and you’ll see how he works with oils to create his lively and energetic paintings.

The gardens of Manor Farm include formal  and informal planting, orchards, sweeping views to the village church and Cotswold escarpment as well as a variety of attractive and interesting buildings.

Essentially a ‘plein air’ and figurative painter, working in both oils and watercolours, he observes transient lighting conditions and effects of atmosphere in his compositions.  David is the author of ‘A Light Touch, the Landscape in Oils’ and ‘The Landscape in Watercolour – A Personal View’ both published by David & Charles.  Two APV films of the same titles are on video format and form part of a television series. A third APV video ‘Light Effects in Watercolour’ was released in October ’97, and a fourth film – ‘Light in the Landscape’ was released in November 2003. David is also featured on a TV series – Connecticut Coast to Coast, USA ’96 broadcasting.  A third book and a fifth film, both entitled ‘Light and Mood in Watercolour’ were published by Pavilion Books and APV Films respectively during 2005.  A fourth book ‘Capture the Moment in Oils’ was published in 2007, with a film of the same title by APV Films.  A fifth book on both oils and watercolours and seventh film by APV Films, both titled ‘Painting with Impact’, were produced in 2010.  A sixth book and eighth film, both on ‘plein air’ works in oils and watercolours, entitled ‘Painting on Location’ from Pavilion Books and APV Films were produced in 2013.

Learn more about David Curtis

Stay & Paint:

You have the option of staying on after the demonstration and spending the rest of the afternoon painting in the gardens at Manor Farm. If you would like to do this, please select the ticket option ‘Stay & Paint’.

If you are just interested in the demonstration, please select the ticket option ‘Demo Only’.

Tickets: (20 Places)

• Demo Only £25  
• Demo and Stay & Paint £50 

Tickets go on sale through the website at 10am on 17th March.

You can become a Benefactor for as little as £60 to qualify for priority booking and support our Outreach Projects in doing so, applications are now open.

What to bring:

If you are coming to the demonstration only, please bring a folding chair to sit on.

If you are planning to ‘Stay & Paint’, please bring a chair, lunch and all your own art supplies for your afternoon painting.

Manor Farm Childswickham