It was a quiet session with only eight members but what we lacked in numbers we made up for in creativity. Painting on a book page proved to be very satisfying with members painting on different types of paper, much thinner than our usual watercolour paper so we had to paint carefully. For those who didn’t bring their own paper there was a choice of books to choose from including a phone book, an RAC guide book, a couple of tatty old novels and a dictionary from eBay costing the huge sum of £1.79 including postage. No new or precious books were harmed during the session!

Removed from the dictionary were pages including the words married, wedding, sunflower and quokka. Words requested to paint another time include hare, lobster, crab, octopus and vulpine, so hopefully these pages can be shown when they’re finished.

Susan suggested this subject and we all agreed it was really interesting. She used a book about opera that had belonged to her late father. Watercolour was used to paint images from an opera on the page where that opera was listed and the paper absorbed the watercolours very well. A very clever idea, Susan.

Christine used an old map to paint a picture of Truro Cathedral on. The third photo shows the painting of Truro Cathedral in acrylics, just above the city’s name. An excellent way to use an old map as many of us have old maps just hanging around that we don’t look at any more.

Kay used the dictionary pages with the words marriage and wedding on to paint pictures of a bride and groom. They will be framed and given as a gift at a wedding she is attending later in the year. What a great idea for a unique present.

Wendy chose the dictionary page with the word sunflower on it and painted a bright and colourful sunflower in acrylics. The page accepted the acrylic paint really well.

Years ago Patrick typed a page about Zoroaster, the ancient Persian prophet. Instead of staying in a file the page has been used to paint an image of Zoroaster. In coloured pencil and pen the page has been repurposed.

Tracy chose the dictionary page with the work quokka on it. Look closely at the first photo for the definition of a quokka. She drew the animal in pencil and painted it in watercolours. Although the dictionary page is very thin, it accepted the watercolour paint well and the colours will be built up layer by layer, allowing drying time in between. There are other dictionary pages Tracy wants to paint but she may paint those in acrylics.

Angela gets a gold star for painting her two pages whilst on holiday in Devon. She had a National Trust magazine with her so used two pages to paint on. One she painted yesterday whilst chilling in the garden, the second today whilst 40mph winds blew outside. Typical British holiday weather! The first picture of a rose ties in nicely with our next session of ‘In an English Country Garden’.

Two members painted to their own theme. Denise repainted a friend’s garden plaque and Peta continued with her painting of a tram.

Well done everyone, there were some super ideas here.

The old books will be brought in to the next session, so if you missed painting on a book page you can cut out some pages to use. If there’s a particular word on the dictionary you want then email Tracy with that word and she’ll reserve the relevant page for you.

The next session is on Saturday 22nd June from 10am to 3pm.