Nel and Rebecca, of The New Pastel School, do a first-class job of encouraging and developing the talents of their students. We spend an excellent (if exhausting!) three days learning about mark-making, colour, tone, atmosphere, and composition in pastel painting. There were some excellent and inspiring demonstrations but most of the time the trainers gave one-to-one advice and support to the delegates so that everyone was able to work on a subject of their choice and get the best out of the sessions. We were encouraged to move out of our comfort zones so I opted to work on a rendering of Tiverton Town Hall, adopting a looser style than usual. I’m pleased with the result.