What a week!

Putting retirement to rest. Ronnie Channer has come up with a business venture that has targeted a niche market in the incoming travel sector. Interview by Zillah Bugeja

Malta Art is a small, family run business that was set up to offer sketching and watercolour holidays to UK visitors.

This business venture was in fact, a result of the art lessons my children set up for me as a 60th birthday present. My teacher happened to be Jeni Caruana. After chatting, it became obvious that not only was there no-one here specialising in watercolour lessons, but that this was something we could offer to holidaymakers.

Malta Art means that I can now practice my hobby in the company of others, I’ve learnt to draw, and at the same time earn some money.

My own connection with Malta actually began with the three years I spent in the army here, in the Royal Highland Fusiliers at St Patrick’s barracks. I actually met my wife Esme on her first day on the island, and we were married in Malta on 1 September 1962. She and I have been to-ing and fro-ing for years, and during my holidays here I’d do whatever sketching I could. While I enjoyed it, I never had the time to really get down to doing it properly.

So after having retired from the army, and having worked for ten years in a school in Shropshire, I finally came to Malta with the aim of retiring for good. That’s when the art lessons came about. I started a small limited company registered in England and we had our first guests in October 2000. That winter, Malta Art really took off. Over 100 people came over that first year, and it was great fun, with over 30% of those coming back for the second time. You could also say that 30% of guests are absolute beginners, picking up a pencil for the first time, and the mix seems to work well.

I had made contact with the Malta Tourism Authority in London, and they were most helpful, as are their people here. We had the BBC holiday programme come over, with Anneka Rice featuring us in her travel show. We had the director of art of the Daily Express magazine come over too, and a flood of enquiries followed.

All the time we have been based at Sundown Court in Kappara, which has been ideal. It’s central, yet overlooks a beautiful valley. Every day the guests are given an hour’s tutorial in the studio, then we take them out to paint somewhere different every day. It’s structured, but allows for a lot of freedom to paint whatever they wish.

Jeni is a wonderful tutor – during the holidays she doesn’t do any painting herself, but devotes all the time to her students, who are never more than twelve in a group.

While I look after the administration and transport and the rest of it, I try to sketch and do my bit with every course. On one day in every holiday, we sketch in Siggiewi so everyone comes home to lunch. This way the guests feel at home, and they get to see a typical Maltese farmhouse, which you wouldn’t normally get to see. You never know what’s behind the front door of a Maltese house, do you, not like houses in England?

Taking people out to the countryside elicits such a reaction. They say, ‘Good God, it’s not all buildings!’ On our holidays, they get to see more of the island than normal tourists do, whizzing round on those red minibuses, with only ten minutes to ‘see’ Buskett Gardens and the like.

The oldest guest we’ve had so far is an 88-year-old lady who came back for her second stay, but the youngest has been 18, so there’s quite a range.

We now have a permanent studio at The Sundown Court.

This allows us, for the first time, to run courses specifically for local people. We have a life drawing course which is gaining in numbers every week. Jeni is also running six-week drawing and watercolour classes. The social aspect of the lessons is very important – it becomes a chatting session as well as a painting session.

It is also possible for anyone local to join in the Malta Art holiday groups. Now that the weekly lessons with Jeni have started, her students are getting more in tune with how she works and look forward to taking the time off from work.

We’ve got a new course for children starting this summer, with Michelle Borg, which we are very excited about. It’s three times a week and promises to be a lot of fun. A minimum of six in each group will ensure that there is interaction between the children too.

Malta Art is definitely keeping me occupied in my retirement. What I’m doing is basically looking after people. The moment someone comes out of the arrivals lounge, I make sure they are looked after properly. Making guests feel at home and ensuring that everything is up to standard is what it’s all about. Jeni too, ensures that they feel they are a group as soon as possible, and that’s important. You learn so much from other people too, just by seeing them using different methods.

I’ve found that passers-by have a great fascination with painting, especially when you’re painting someone’s house. They often will come out and make you a cup of coffee. Lots of people come up to you and chat while you’re painting. The Maltese are all polite and complimentary about whatever you’d be sketching.

Watercolours are lovely, but you do have to concentrate. In Gozo recently I just produced rubbish, because I had to look after one of the guests who wasn’t well. One time I was sketching in the square in Victoria and this man parked his van right in front of me, but was extremely obliging when I asked him if he’d mind moving it.

Drawing undoubtedly makes you start looking instead of just using your peripheral vision. You start really seeing shadows and colours that people don’t normally pay attention to. For example at the temples, most people look at the stones and think they are just yellowy, but there’s a mass of different colours on them. They are wonderful things to draw and paint.

I do try and get out every week. Painting is peaceful, absorbing and relaxing. Spring and Autumn are lovely times of year here. It’s such a sudden change from the green and clover – once they cut the wheat, suddenly it starts going yellow. My favourite topics are buildings in the countryside. The Three Cities I like very much, I just hope they never damage the place. It’s wonderful to sit in Senglea and look across the water which I’ve done for hours till I realised I was burning.

You know, I never realised I’d be quite so busy in my retirement. But you have to keep busy, you just can’t sit around and do nothing. You have to do something positive and which gives you satisfaction. As a foreigner, it’s nice to do something to benefit the place where I’m a guest.