Author: tracyqp

Christmas Party – December 2025 – Wednesday

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Our Christmas Party was an enjoyable evening with members, partners and family members coming along in Christmassy jumpers, hats and glasses. For those too poorly to join us, we hope you get better very soon.

With a tasty selection of sweet and savoury food, Christmas music, quizzes and Pass the Parcel we all had a fun evening together. A special mention to Cynthia whose ham and cheese flower wraps and Nutella flowers were much admired!

Thank you to Angela, Myrna, Neil, Ron and Tracy for contributing time and effort for Pass the Parcel, the music and the quizzes. And thank you to everyone who helped set up and tidy everything away.

Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and hope to see you on Wednesday 14th January 7-9pm for our first session of 2026.

Susan’s paintings

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A couple of months ago Kay asked us to send her images of paintings and drawings done at Rochester Cathedral. A few members emailed their artwork and one painting was chosen for the front cover of the brochure for Rochester Cathedral Trust’s annual dinner.

Susan’s beautiful, softly coloured watercolour of Rochester Cathedral was chosen.

The painting looks fantastic as the front cover and she has been given a brochure to keep.

Here’s the whole brochure if you want to see all of it. Susan is named on page 10.

file:///var/mobile/Library/SMS/Attachments/ac/12/D796A57B-3EA9-466B-942B-326C24304E06/Final%20Nave%20Dinner%20Brochure%20-%2020.11.25.pdf

Here’s Rochester Cathedral’s website if you want to visit… https://www.rochestercathedral.org

Susan has also finished her painting of Jane Austen, from a watercolour done by Jane’s sister Cassandra.

Super paintings as usual, Susan, well done!

Open Day – Saturday 22nd November 2025

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Our annual Open Day had 23 artists painting at the hall, 22 members and a young friend of one member being creative with us to see if she’d like to join the group. We welcomed about 40 friends, family, local residents and people who had seen the Open Day advertised on social media.

We all enjoyed the day painting and chatting to visitors and several commented that it’s really interesting to see artists at work whilst they enjoyed walking around the exhibition.

Words from visitors in the comments book included…

“Amazing artwork!” “Really enjoyed the exhibition!” “Wonderful work – so many good artists with different styles.” “Brilliant work, very good standard.” “Well done all of you.”

84 framed paintings were on the walls with 4 sold, one each by Sandra and Tracy and two by Patrick. Well done, Patrick, that’s brilliant!

There were browsers with 70 mounted pictures, with 2 sold by Peta and Angela and Dot sold 3 of her greetings cards. Two enquiries about membership were made. The 4 hours seemed to go past very quickly.

Thank you to everyone who helped with hanging on Friday evening and a HUGE thank you to all members who kept tea, coffee and biscuits constantly supplied to visitors on the day. Also for washing up and drying so many cups, saucers and teaspoons. We couldn’t run the day without your help and enthusiasm!

Here are all the paintings from Friday evening’s hanging session. (Apologies for the yellow cast on the photos, that’s the dull lighting at the hall, but the photos have been brightened.)

Our last session of 2025 will be the Christmas Party on Wednesday 10th December from 7-9pm.

Please email Tracy asap if you’d like to come to the party.

Vikki’s picture

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Vikki asked her grandson what picture he’d like her to create for him and he said he’d like a gorilla. So Vikki used coloured pencils to draw this amazing picture of a gorilla.

Beautiful artwork with lots of details, well done!

Jane Austen – November 2025 – Wednesday

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Ten members came along to Wednesday evening’s session and enjoyed painting together and having a chat over biscuits and a cuppa.

The suggested subject was Jane Austen as this year is the 250th anniversary of her birth. Unfortunately it was not a popular subject with only one member having a go. The picture took a long time to draw out so only a little watercolour paint was added at the session and it will be finished at home.

Other artists drew and painting to their own subjects with many themes started or continued in watercolours, acrylics and coloured pencils.

Our next meeting is on Friday 21st November 7-9pm when we hang all the paintings for our Open Day on Saturday 22nd November. It’s a normal timed session from 10am to 3pm, with visitors from 10.30am to 2.30pm.

Please email Steve asap with details of all your paintings! Thank you :o)

Tracy’s pictures

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Tracy took part in Inktober 2025 by drawing an image every day using a 4-coloured ball point pen. By dividing up 2 pages of a sketchbook each box was only 5cm x 7cm. Each small picture took less than 5 minutes, including a quick sketch in pencil.

Every day was suggested by a list of prompts. Tracy’s favourite days were the 4th – ‘murky’, the 20th – ‘rivals’ and the 26th – ‘puzzling’. The 30th – ‘vacant’ was the easiest!

Tracy also finished her ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ picture, now called ‘Zentangle Girl with a Holographic Earring’. Drawn using a black waterproof pen, a Faber Castell Polychromos coloured pencil in Cold Grey III and some holographic nail varnish.

November and December 2025

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Please read everything as there’s lots of info!

Here are the dates of our next meetings-

Wednesday 12th November – 7-9pm – Jane Austen or finish paintings

Friday 21st November – 7-9pm – hanging evening

Saturday 22nd November – 10am-3pm – Open Day  (Visitors from 10.30am to 2.30pm)

Wednesday 10th December –  7-9pm – Christmas Party.

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When the poster for Open Day is emailed to everyone please print some out or screenshot it and pass the info to friends and family and pop a poster in your local library and shops. If you’re a member of a sports group, U3A, WI etc, please send the poster to your secretary and ask them to forward it to all members. Passing on details of the Open Day this way gets the day heard about. Local Facebook and Instagram groups will also be contacted.

On Open Day you don’t have to hang your paintings on the walls or in the browsers if you’d prefer not to, it’s not compulsory. We call it Open Day, not an exhibition, to open the hall for a day so visitors can see what we paint at our sessions. It’s also a good way of showing the group to people looking for a local art group to join. If you have interested friends or family please ask them along. 

If you aren’t showing your paintings please come along and enjoy a day of painting. 

Wednesday 12th – 7-9pm –   Jane Austen or finish paintings

Jane Austen was born 250 years ago and her books are classics today, with films and tv series popular to new generations. There’s only one pencil portrait of Jane Austen and one watercolour of her wearing a dress but facing away, both by her sister Cassandra.

Draw or paint a lady wearing Georgian or Regency clothes, in a place that Jane lived. Or take a scene from a book or film and paint the characters. Use any media or mixed media.

Wiki info… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Austen

The Jane Austen Society… https://janeaustensociety.org.uk

About where she lived… https://janeaustens.house/jane-austen/jane-austen-a-life/

Portraits… https://jasna.org/austen/more-on-jane-austens-life/portraits/

Or if you have any paintings to complete before Open Day, finish them tonight.

Friday 21st November – 7-9pm    – Hanging Evening

Please email Steve ASAP with how many framed paintings you will be hanging for our Open Day, along with their names and prices or NFS (Not For Sale). 

Framed paintings – up to 6 and not too big to hang from the hooks. No clip frames as they easily break. Use D rings and cord across the back with a label hanging down below the frame or on the front with your name, name of the picture, medium and the price or NFS. 

Mounted pictures – any number for the browsers but they must be for sale, all labelled front or back. There won’t be a list of mounted work, so keep a record yourself of which ones you bring along. 

If you need insurance for your artwork then please make sure it’s in place for today and tomorrow.

From 7pm drop off your paintings or stay and help hang them all up. Please bring scissors to cut the hanging cord.

If you can’t come on hanging evening then please arrange for someone else to bring your artwork. 

Saturday 22nd November – 10am-3pm –   Open Day

*****Visitors welcome 10.30am to 2.30pm*****

We open our doors and invite friends, family and Chalk locals to come and see what we paint. Please don’t be upset if you don’t sell anything. It’s lovely to welcome people into the hall to talk about art and painting. 

There’s no set subject, just bring along something to paint during the day. 

So no one gets stuck in the kitchen for hours please take your turn making teas and coffees for visitors, even if you don’t know them, and also wash and dry up the cups and saucers. Please wash up the teaspoons too as they don’t wash themselves ;o)

Membership – If any visitors want information about becoming a member please take them to Steve who can tell them about joining the group. 

Sales – If anyone is interested in buying a framed or mounted picture please take them to Tracy for payment. We don’t have a card reader for debit or credit cards, it’s cash only.

Wednesday 10th December –  7-9pm –    Christmas Party

Come along in your Christmas jumpers, sparkly outfits or fancy festive hats and enjoy some quizzes and Pass the Parcel. Bring along a plate of food to share, savoury or sweet, and pop it on the side tables. Also bring your own plates, cups and drinks. 

If your food is for vegans or coeliacs please label everything clearly and place on the separate table.

Your partner is welcome to come along too. Please email Tracy asap if you’ll be coming so we know numbers for Pass the Parcel and the quizzes. Tea, coffee and biscuits will be available as usual.

Johannes Vermeer – October 2025 – Saturday

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Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) lived over 350 years ago and his beautiful paintings of people and places are still popular today. Sixteen members met on Saturday and the suggested subject was to paint in the style of Vermeer or to bring your own style to any of his paintings, particularly the Girl with a Pearl Earring from 1665.

Members rose to the challenge with gusto and all the paintings showed imagination of Girl with a Pearl Earring, with bright colours, a ruby earring instead of a pearl, as an elderly lady, as Claudia Winkleman, in Zentangle patterns, with glasses and other interpretations. Special mention to Cynthia who painted her little dog, Mollie, as Vermeer’s Lacemaker, and Mary who painted her granddaughter standing by a window, lit from the side, like so many people in Vermeer’s paintings. Some paintings are finished and others are works in progress to be finished at home.

Two watercolour paintings from the last session about trains have been finished.

Some members painted their own subjects. Sandra’s portrait of her sister’s dog is amazing and Doreen’s pencil portraits are beautifully detailed.

Super work everyone!

Next newsletter is on 1st November with details of hanging evening on Friday 21st November and our annual Open Day on Saturday 22nd November. Please note that there are 5 Saturdays in November but we meet on the fourth one.

Railway 200 – October 2025 – Wednesday

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Eleven members met on Wednesday evening to draw and paint together over a cuppa and biscuits. The suggested subject was the 200th anniversary of the first passenger railway journey on the Stockton and Darlington Railway, with artists invited to paint historical or any age locomotives up to modern times.

Some paintings have been photographed with the reference image, to see how the artist was inspired.

Some members created pictures to their own theme or continued artworks from previous sessions.

The next session is on Saturday 25th October from 10am to 3pm. Check the newsletter from 1st October for the subject idea.