Melanie Williams Encaustic & Mixed Media Artist reviews

20 Aug 18'

Melanie Chalk reviewed: Encaustic Art - What do you want to learn?

"I combined a 2 day workshop with Mel, with a holiday, even staying in her adjoining self catering accommodation. It was great to just walk across the grass to her well equipped studio leaving my husband to potter around in the cabin while I played with wax. Mel was welcoming, enthusiastic and knowledgeable and was free with her advice, sharing her skills and extensive know how gained during her professional work. She is very talented and I came away with enough ideas to set me off when I get home. The days were jam packed with activity and Mick produced lovely lunch. Would thoroughly recommend Mel and her courses."

25 Mar 18'

constantine reviewed: Encaustic Art - What do you want to learn?

"Just had two great days working and learning with Mel. We chatted a lot at first and worked out areas of encaustic which suited my needs. Mel is agreat teacher and opened doors to experimention which I am sure will help me evolve my style and work."

7 Jul 17'

Georgina Aitken reviewed: Encaustic Art - What do you want to learn?

"Spent the day with Mel on a recent holiday to Wales. As a mixed media artist with a little experience with encaustic techniques I was looking forward to spending the day playing. Mel was great, she was able to pitch the course to the level of my experience and my interests to ensure that I came away having enjoyed the day and having gained a lot of techniques and ideas to use in my own art. Thanks Mel for a great day"

26 Sep 16'

Rhiannon reviewed: Encaustic Art - What do you want to learn?

"What a fantastic day?! My friend and I booked the workshop as we are both creative and outdoorsy so wanted to embrace the creative side of our personalities whilst on an outdoorsy visit to Wales. Mel was fantastic and extremely passionate about her work and the techniques. She was patient and guiding and allowed us to explore the materials as we wanted with support for some of the techniques we could incorporate or at least try to. I had terrible reception and Mel was extremely accommodating throughout. We learnt so much during the day and had a real giggle under Mel's instruction: I would definitely recommend this if you are in the area. My friend and I have very different styles and Mel made sure the course worked for both of us and that questions were answered in terms of 'but I want to do this here... how do I make it do...'. It is everything you are told not to do as a child: melt wax, play with it, create patterns and use an iron for fun! Brilliant: An absolute blast."

6 Apr 16'

Suzy Devey reviewed: Encaustic Art - What do you want to learn?

"I spent a full day course with Mel on Thurs 31st March 2016. Melanie is nothing short of excellence, her knowledge and experience through her own experimental practice shines through. What a delightful day! I travelled from Scotland thinking what will this be like? I was met by a friend, it seemed uncannily as if we had met before:). I didn't know how to make the most out of the new tools I had purchased, but I loved the medium. Melanie took me through some fabulous basic techniques and then continued to tailor the day through experimentation, which answered my questions about encaustic media. The day also fully left me feeling confident in my work and how important playing and experimentation really is. We both ended up learning from this day in a relaxed and beautiful location. I can't wait to do more and see more of Melanie's work emerge. Huge Thank you Melanie. I would have no hesitation to do it again straight away."

15 Nov 15'

Collette Malone reviewed: Encaustic Art - What do you want to learn?

"What could be a better way than to spend a Saturday with a friend and Mel and learn a fantastic new hobby. She takes you through all the basics ,techniques, and has brilliant ideas and encouragement for you to create a wonderful picture."

8 Nov 15'

Pamela Perkins reviewed: Encaustic Art - What do you want to learn?

"What a wonderful day. I arrived as a complete beginner and came away with a good grasp of the basic skills plus how I could link this work to my silk painting and ceramics. We (I attended with a friend) were also able to view some of Mel's own wonderful work which was inspirational. As if that wasn't enough we had a lovely lunch provided by Mel's husband and a constant flow of tea and coffee!! Mel is an extremely friendly and helpful person who is more than willing to adapt the day to meet your needs...... you would be hard pressed to find anyone better."

13 Aug 15'

Nerys Jones and Pat Bean reviewed: Encaustic Art - What do you want to learn?

"A fantastic day taking us through the basics of encaustic art right through to some interesting challenges. Mel was a very patient and enthusiastic tutor who was willing to share her wealth of knowledge. A very varied programme had been planned and gave us the opportunity to try out a range of techniques. The encaustic art is a very multi-faceted medium which we look forward to mastering. Practice make perfect! We have several pieces of art which we are looking forward to framing. Fabulous setting and a lovely lunch prepared by Mel's husband. Many thanks."

8 Aug 15'

Philippa Neal reviewed: Encaustic Art - What do you want to learn?

"I had a lovely day with Mel. I was a complete novice so she took me through the basics of working with wax and iron and stylus, and using different papers and techniques to get different effects. I wanted to learn something new and completely different so Mel taylored it and it was a fantastic beginners introduction. A very relaxed day in lovely surroundings. The possibilities with encaustic art seem endless and so varied and it was great fun. I came away with some pictures that i felt very pleased with considering it was my first time. I would recommend the course to anyone wanting to try something different. You will definitely enjoy it!"

26 Feb 15'

Julie Rogers reviewed: Encaustic Art - What do you want to learn?

"Although I knew what encaustic art was I didn't realise how much was involved in making a work of Art. Mel's work is fabulous and I can now appreciate what goes into each of her pieces. We had a really pleasant day with Mel introducing us to the basics and we had great fun experimenting with the many different techniques. It was very relaxing and therapeutic and by the end of the day I had created something to be quite proud of! It was very enjoyable and different and would highly recommend you give a try! Mel's home made soup was rather delicious too!"

25 Feb 15'

Hazel Price reviewed: Encaustic Art - What do you want to learn?

"I was familiar with Mel's own fabulous Encaustic Artwork, so I arrived thinking that I would achieve very little of artistic merit after just a few hours - after all, Mel has been at it for some time. Mel patiently took us through some basic techniques, then moved on to some special techniques that were relevant to each participants' background and experience. It felt like we were all experimenting together and it was not only great fun, but very therapeutic too. Amazingly, we each achieved a unique style and widely differing pieces of work to take home. Mel was wonderful, her workshop brilliant and I came away with a piece of encaustic art to treasure! Thank you so much."

4 Feb 15'

Gill Jones reviewed: Encaustic Art - What do you want to learn?

"Really lovely time spent with Mel at her beautiful studio. I appreciated that Mel had carried out her own research and experimentation in order that I got closer to reaching my goals with the encaustic medium; incorporating wax with photographs. I was a little apprehensive about the tools needed, what reading I had done made it all quite involved and scary; fumes and blow torches but Mel took all that fear away and made me realise that this is an accessible craft and I now feel able to explore this lovely medium with confidence."

14 Jan 15'

LINDA EDWARDS reviewed: Encaustic Art - What do you want to learn?

"Having never tried this craft before, it was an engrossing and thoroughly enjoyable experience!! Mel was enthusiastic and so generous with her knowledge and sharing of skills!!! Nothing was too much trouble and I was able to experiment with many different aspects of the encaustic craft. Mel enabled me to create work that I would have thought impossible to achieve at the beginning of the day and has definitely started a hobby that I want to continue. Try it!! You'll be amazed at what you can do and Mel is a joy to be around!!!"

24 Aug 14'

Manon Gatehouse reviewed: Encaustic Art - What do you want to learn?

"A great day covering numerous different ways of using the wax, iron & stylus. All done in a very relaxed atmosphere but ensuring lots of new techniques learnt as the day progressed. Mel is excellent at what she does and ran the day perfectly tailored to my needs (ie I had a smattering of experience only when we started) and I came away with work of which I could be proud."