Maggie Cross

I have written two articles for The Artist Magazine. They will feature in the November and December 2012 issues. The first article covers The Four Gentlemen - plum blossom, bamboo, orchid and chrysanthemum. The second article looks at painting 'flamboyant flowers with a Chinese Brush'.

In April I travelled to Holland to the Flower Festival. The flowers were stunning and the weather was incredibly kind with 23 degrees and sunshine!!! Much better than England! Of course tulips were a major feature of the trip and I wasn't disappointed. There was a vast range of colours and shapes to wow the eyes and inspire one to paint. Enormous Amarylis were also a highlight of the trip and again, came in various shapes and sizes! There were also some stunning displays of orchids, hyacinths, iris's and lilies. For those of you who love flowers, these trips to Holland are a must as seeing the sheer scale of the displays and cacophony of colours are worth the journey.

There is an exhibition from Wednesday 30th May to Saturday 16th June at the Oxmarket, Chichester. I have been asked to demonstrate Chinese brush painting on Friday 1st June from between 11:00 - 13:00 and 14:00 - 16:00. It would be great to see you there. A full list of demonstrators and their subjects will be on the SFP web page here.

On November 5th 2011, I held a book launch and exhibition for my latest book 'The Art of Chinese Brush Painting'. For me it was an overwhelming success and I was so surprised at the number of people, some who travelled from afar, to support me on this day. I certainly did not expect the incredible response and was surprised to find myself demonstrating various painting techniques all day, such was the interest. I am extremely grateful for all the support I have received with this latest enterprise. To date I have sold over 1000 books and the demand does not seem to have diminished!