Nine hardy members braved the cold evening to attend the first session of 2024. Creating a picture using the colour Peach Fuzz was the suggested idea, either as the only colour or as part of a painting.

It’s a year long colour project, so try and include Peach Fuzz in your paintings throughout 2024. Some members drew and painted to their own theme.

A great start to the year, well done!

The next session is on Saturday 27th January 10am-3pm.

Here are suggestions of what to paint at the sessions in January, but you are very welcome to come along and paint whatever you want to. 

Wednesday 10th 7-9pm –   Pantone Colour of the Year – Peach Fuzz / or bring new art supplies to try out

Worldwide colour company Pantone’s Colour of the Year 2024 is Peach Fuzz, a soft gentle peachy colour. Use any medium to paint or draw any subject using this colour alone, or make it the most used colour in a picture. Draw or paint flowers, animals, food, a landscape, abstract, Zentangle, a person wearing peach coloured clothing, a car, absolutely anything at all!

Remember this colour, Peach Fuzz, and try and use it in paintings throughout 2024.

Here’s a link to the Pantone website if you want more info… https://www.pantone.com/uk/en/color-of-the-year/2024

Or if you received new paints or paper as Christmas gifts bring them along to try them out. It’s always a pleasure unwrapping and using art supplies for the first time.

Saturday 27th  10am – 3pm  –  A winter walk in the snow

Imagine a wintry walk in snow either in the countryside or an urban landscape. Wrapped up in hat, coat and scarf include figures in your painting either close to or far away. Paint footprints leading to the people, giving a sense of depth of field, and a dog being taken for walkies if you want to add an animal to your picture.

Leave the white of a watercolour sheet of paper as snow or add white tissue paper for texture. With acrylics or oils use a palette knife to add depth to snow in the foreground.

Before you recycle your Christmas cards look through them all to see if there’s one or more that you can use for inspiration for your painting. Or if you have an Instagram account look at snowy winter photographs.

If you can’t make January’s sessions please pop in anyway for a chat and to pay your subs.

HAPPY NEW YEAR and THANK YOU to everyone for your continued support for M&C during 2023, attending sessions or painting along at home.

Membership

We will finance M&C this year with an annual subscription of £84 to cover the hall hire fees for 2024.

Alternatively, equal payments of £28 will be due 3 times this year in January, May and September. If you choose to pay in instalments you are committing to pay for the whole year. Without this support we will not be able to raise enough funds to hire the hall. Steve emailed everyone on 18th December with details of how to pay by bank transfer, cheque or cash, so look back to his email if you need to. Please pay promptly as this saves members being emailed and phoned to be reminded to pay!

If you no longer wish to be a member please email Steve asap so you don’t continue to receive emails from us.

Please pay your membership fee by the end of January to continue to be a member of the art group. Thank you! :o)

Sessions

Our sessions will continue to be on the second Wednesday and the fourth Saturday of the month, with session ideas being published on the 1st of that month.

You don’t have to paint the suggested ideas, you’re welcome to come along and paint anything you want to. Or if you come on a Wednesday and want to paint the Saturday idea or vice versa, that’s no problem at all.

Free tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided at all sessions, so if you just want to come and chat with your art friends then that’s fine too.

Workshops

If we have any workshops they will have the usual ‘first come, first served’ policy of putting your name down, with an additional amount to pay to cover the tutor’s fee. If more artists wish to attend the session than the tutor has room for, we’ll have a waiting list and you have a chance of getting a place as members sometimes pull out at the last minute. 

Even if you don’t want to attend a workshop you will have already paid for the hall hire in your subs. You are therefore welcome to sit and paint quietly at the kitchen end of the hall, whilst the workshop session takes place at the window end of the hall. 

Here are the session dates for 2024

Please print them out or write them in your diary or calendar. Some months have 5 Saturdays but we meet on the 4th one.

Please note that our Open Day is on Saturday 23rd November, with hanging the evening before.

2024	2nd Wednesday    7-9pm	4th Saturday   10am-3pm
January	10th	27th
February	14th	24th
March	13th	23rd
April	10th	27th
May	8th	25th
June	12th	22nd
July	10th	27th   (not at hall)
August	14th	24th (not at hall)
September	11th	28th
October	9th	26th
November	13th	FRI 22nd  – Hanging evening  SAT 23rd  – OPEN DAY
December	11th Christmas Party

Our Christmas Party was a most enjoyable evening, with 32 people coming along. Not just members but their partners and family too. A big get well wish for those unable to come along, we all hope you feel better asap!

We had a natter with each other, exchanged Christmas cards, ate lots of delicious savoury and sweet food, did very well in the two quizzes, had a lucky dip for painted wood slices to hang on our Christmas trees and ended the evening with a fun Pass the Parcel. There’s not a lot of photos as Tracy was too busy nattering :o)

Have a good Christmas and New Year and hope to see you at the first session next year on Wednesday 10th January 2024.

Patrick won 1st place in Swanley Art Group’s recent exhibition with his portrait of Australian actress Indiana Evans. He was presented with a trophy for his artwork.

That’s amazing news, Patrick, well done!

Our annual Open Day saw 23 members painting at the hall and welcoming about 80 visitors. It was a lovely sunny, bright day so visitors popped as they were passing. All artists were very happy to discuss their artwork and the hall was abuzz with chatter as we talked about our paintings.

Comments from visitors and the comments book included…

“Very impressed!” “The quality gets better and better!” “So interesting to see the artists painting while I can see their work on the walls” “Excellent!” “I’m very inspired. I’m going home to get out my pencils and paper!”

There were 67 framed paintings with 3 sold, 3 browsers full of 75 mounted pictures with 3 sold, Dot sold 8 of her greetings cards and there were 3 membership enquiries. A good response in only 4 hours, well done everyone!

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

Here are all of the framed paintings…

Our last session of 2023 will be our Christmas Party on Wednesday 13th December 7-9pm.

Twelve members attended the session and most painted or drew on black paper or canvas with acrylic paint, white pens, silver pens and coloured pencils.

There were many subjects chosen and all very effective on the black background. It was extremely difficult to photograph the pictures in the dim light, so please forgive the dull photos, the original artwork is much brighter.

Dot couldn’t attend the session but sent in three beautiful paintings she had previously done as it’s a subject she loves.

Some members painted to their own theme. We always like to see what you’re working on outside the group too.

Great work everyone. ‘On Black’ was an interesting theme and you rose to the challenge, well done!

The next time we meet is hanging evening on Friday 24th November from 7-9pm to hang our paintings for the Open Day on Saturday 25th November. On the Saturday the hall’s booked from 10am to 3pm, with visitors welcome for 4 hours from 10.30am to 2.30pm.

Angela D recently visited Avebury Manor in Wiltshire and spotted some fungi growing on a tree in the grounds. A gardener kindly unlocked a gate so she could get near enough to take some photos. Angela started her detailed drawing whilst away and finished it at home.

At the last Saturday session Lesley painted some oysterling mushrooms growing on wood. They grow in white, cream or grey colours and become pink as they mature. Brenda painted fly agaric toadstools and Tracy drew Zentangle-inspired mushrooms in black ink on a colourful watercolour background. Lovely work, well done all!

Please read all of this newsletter as there’s lots of info…

Here are the dates of our next meetings.

Wednesday 8th November – 7-9pm – On Black or finish paintings

Friday 24th November – 7-9pm – hanging evening

Saturday 25th November – 10am-3pm – Open Day (Visitors from 10.30am to 2.30pm)

Wednesday 13th December –  7-9pm – Christmas Party

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

If you aren’t showing your art please come along and enjoy a day of painting, along with friendly visitors. 

Wednesday 8th – 7-9pm –  On Black or finish paintings

Draw or paint on black paper or canvas. Think moonlight, fireworks, a bonfire or stage lighting. Any medium, any subject.

Last year Janet W and Tracy drew fireworks on black paper on a free zoom workshop organised by John Lewis. Here’s the link to last year’s post…www.medwayandchalk.art/2022/11/05/remember-remember/

Or come along and finish your paintings for Open Day, then mount or frame, string and label.

Friday 24th 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 price 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. All with D rings, strung across the back and 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 please 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 from someone else to bring your artwork.

Saturday 25th November – 10am-3pm –   Open Day

*** Please give all completed wood slices to Tracy by this date. If you can’t come for the whole of Open Day please pop in for a few minutes to drop them off. She needs them early to make sure everyone will have one at the Christmas Party and to wrap them all up. ***

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 and also washing and drying up the cups and saucers. 

Please wash up the teaspoons too, 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 M&C. 

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 13th December –  7-9pm –  Christmas Party

Come along in your natty Christmas jumpers, smart posh frocks or fancy festive hats and enjoy some quizzes, a lucky dip for a wood slice Christmas decoration to take home and Pass the Parcel, snow permitting this year!

We’ll go back to how we catered pre-covid. Bring along a plate of food to share 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 accordingly and place on the separate table.

Your partner/family are welcome to come along too. Please email Tracy asap if you’ll be coming, so we know how many tables and chairs to get out and to make sure there are enough wood slices for everyone. Tea, coffee and biscuits will be available as usual.

Another busy session with 21 members, which makes the day more enjoyable being able to chat to so many people and see their pictures progressing over the day.

The suggested subject was to use ink for any subject, coloured ink or black, or to use the Brusho powdered pigments. We found that ink was a quick way to create a picture so several members drew or painted more than one picture. Here are our inky efforts. (If you painted fungi then they’ll appear in another post at the end of the week.)

Some members did their own thing including painting wood slices for the Christmas party and Sue also painted two for her grandchildren. Lesley showed me a photo of how her glass angel is getting on and she now has to solder all the pieces together which will be a long process.

Well done everyone, you were very creative!

Our next session will be on Wednesday 8th November 7-9pm.