Wednesday 9th – 7-9pm – Beatrix Potter

Beatrix Potter’s delightful books have enchanted children and adults alike since her first book, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, was published in 1902. Use her artwork to inspire your drawing or painting of a little animal, or if you have a pet, use them as your character. If that idea isn’t for you, paint her home, Hill Top Farm, in Near Sawrey in the Lake District, or one of the many other farms which she bought and gifted to the National Trust on her death in 1943.

Lots more info here… www.beatrixpottersociety.org.uk

Saturday 26th – from 10am-3pm – at the Fenland black oak table inside Rochester Cathedral

We return to Rochester Cathedral as Kay has gained permission for us to sit at the Fenland black oak table inside the cathedral. It’s currently in the central nave and hopefully still will be when we visit.

It will be a ‘dry’ session as no painting or water for brushes is allowed, for obvious reasons!

Bring a sketchbook or whatever you want to draw on and use normal graphite pencils, coloured pencils, water soluble pencils or Inktense pencils or blocks (to then paint at home). There are other dry mediums to use to get creative so bring them along too. The idea is that we sit at the table all day to sketch our surroundings, so please don’t wander off for ages because if we all did that there would be no one left at the table! If you want a different view then swap chairs with someone.

Please don’t arrive too early because the cathedral doesn’t open until 10am. The café in the crypt should be open on the day but bring a packed lunch if you prefer. I’m not sure if we can eat and drink at the table so expect an email a few days before the session with final details.

We’re not being charged to use the table but there will be a collection for cathedral funds during the day.

Twenty one members have put their names down for the day which is a fabulous number. If you want to come along, or now can’t make the day, please email Tracy asap. It looks to be a unique and interesting session for our art group.

Details of the table are here… www.rochestercathedral.org/fenland-black-oak-table

A year ago the church grounds were so parched the grass was yellow and the ground dusty, but this year the grounds were very green from all the rain we’ve been having! Thirteen members visited Chalk Church last Saturday with the weather looking unsettled, but it was dry for the first 3.5 hours. Once the rain began we adjourned to draw and paint either at tables inside the barn or sat on the benches under the covered area. As usual it was a busy session being creative and chatty. We donated just over £52 for the church fund.

Some members chose to paint the replaced ‘Monet’ bridge or draw plants found in the grounds.

Other members chose their own subject or finish pictures from previous sessions of the Coronation of King Charles III or Zentangles.

The next session will be back at the hall on Wednesday 9th August 7-9pm, then on Saturday 26th August will be inside Rochester Cathedral. Please email Tracy if you’re interested in a place at the Cathedral.

Eleven members came along on a warm, bright summer evening bringing an assortment of ‘Boots and Shoes’

Some of the following are works in progress.

Chris had time to work on another painting and Patrick went back to a sketch he started many years ago on a visit that the group made to Yorkshire.

Well done all. Please forward your finished work to Tracy or Steve

Our next meeting on Saturday the 22nd July is in the garden at Chalk Church at the usual time of 10am till 3 pm. The bridge has been totally replaced and the pond, complete with water, has been reinstated. If the weather should become rainy we can use the cover and facilities of the adjacent building. Do come along. You don’t have to paint the Church or stay for the whole day

Best wishes

Wednesday 12th July – 7 to 9pm –   Shoes

We haven’t drawn or painted what’s in front of us for a while, so bring along some shoes and set up your own still life, or bring one pair if you prefer. The lighting is rather dull in the hall so also bring along the little lamps you’ve been using on a Wednesday evening, to light your still life better. Use flip-flops, sandals, trainers, wellies, sparkly party shoes, works boots, DMs etc, the choice is yours. If you’re feeling inspired then be a designer to create your ideal or imagined shoe.

The Worshipful Company of Cordwainers dates back to 1272 and is number 27 in the order of preference of the City of London livery companies. Click on their website link for more info and photos… www.cordwainers.org

The V&A Museum in London has a collection of over 2000 pairs of shoes. There are photos on their website and you can click through for more info… www.vam.ac.uk/collections/shoes

Saturday 22nd July – 10am to 3pm –  ‘Do your own thing’ at Chalk Church

We return to our summer venue at St.Mary’s Church in Chalk. The church and ‘Monet’ bridge are popular subjects to paint, but you don’t have to. Many of us have painted these several times, so instead start any project for our Open Day (Saturday 25th November) or bring paintings you want to finish.

The area around the Monet bridge has apparently been planted, so that will hopefully look better than last year’s very dry clods of earth!

If it’s raining we still meet at the church as there’s an indoor room in the barn with tables and chairs for us to use. There’s a large car park, toilet, and tea, coffee and biscuits as usual.

Please bring along a folding chair or stool if you intend to paint outside and a packed lunch too. If you can only make the morning or afternoon, please come along and join us for a couple of hours.

The church doesn’t charge us to use the barn or gardens, so any donations to the Church Fund is appreciated, thank you.

If you’re a new member and haven’t visited Chalk Church before, please have a look at this map to see where we’ll be meeting.

Peta has been working hard when she visits London and has created more marvellous ink sketches on her travels. The sketches have been published on the website ‘Spitalfields Life’ and each one is accompanied by an informative description of the view.

There’s a lot to learn from each and every one and the details she has captured are amazing. Well done, Peta!

The following photos are screenshots from the website. If you click on the first one you’ll be able to read the description before clicking the right arrow to the next one.

If you want to see the sketches on the website then follow this link… www.spitalfieldslife.com/2023/06/20/petas-bridles-watery-london/ then scroll down past two photographs to the article.

If you’re interested in more articles on the website just click where it says ‘home’ and you’ll see the latest posts.

George has been very busy these past few months, painting portraits in oils of film stars from Westerns and other genres. Lovely work, George!

Can you guess who they all are?

The theme for Saturdays meeting was Fabulous Flowers and Tracy requested that perhaps members could wear something bright and floral, which many did even including Peter.

Here are the ‘fabulous’ paintings in various mediums that we produced.

Some members ‘Did their own thing’ all are ‘works in progress’

Well done all , 22 members attended, what a lovely day.

Ann Brooker, a member for many years, has let me know that as she is unable to drive any more and will not be able to attend meetings in the future. She sends her best wishes to everyone. We all hope that she continues painting and perhaps will send in some of her work to go on the website.

Meetings for next month are.

Wednesday 12th July 7pm till 9 pm. at Chalk hall

Saturday 22nd July 10 am till 3 pm in The garden at Chalk Church

On a beautiful, bright evening ten members met at the hall to create Zentangles. We cleared our minds, put pen to paper and produced pictures with black pen on white paper, white pen on black paper, adding colour and shading to give more interest. No one had tried Zentangles before but we agreed it’s something to continue doing, especially if you’ve only got 15 minutes spare. You don’t need much equipment, just a pencil, pen and paper, even a post-it note pad, enabling you to be creative.

Well done everyone, each and every Zentangle is fascinating to see!

Susan couldn’t make the session so she drew her Zentangle at home and sent in a photo. If you can’t come to a session please use the subject idea to paint at home and send a photo of your picture that day to Tracy, for inclusion in the relevant blog post.

The next session is on Saturday 24th June from 10am to 3pm.

Wednesday 14th 7-9pm – Zentangle Art

Using a pencil, pen, ruler and paper which is 3.5″ square (9cm x 9cm), form a series of repetitive patterns to create original abstract images. Use lines, dots, circles, curls, swirls and squiggles and watch as organic shapes morph into something new.

If you’d rather work in a bigger size and use more colours then that’s absolutely fine, bring more than the basics to draw with. Relax and concentrate your mind.

Try and incorporate the colour Viva Magenta into your picture too.

Google the word ‘Zentangle’ to see lots of images, or click on these links for more info… www.zentangle.com

www.reidinger.de

Saturday 24th June 10am-3pm – Fabulous Flowers

Flowers are always a popular subject to paint, so let’s have a whole session to get creative with fabulous, fecund florals and brilliant, beautiful blooms.

Wild flowers or garden, tropical or potted, a whole garden or a botanical painting of just one flower, it’s your choice. Use any medium but why not go as bright as you can? Use colourful inks, Inktense pencils and blocks, or pure, intense watercolours. Work large, fast and loose to create images with impact, like Georgia O’Keefe. Or paint more traditional flower paintings like Edouard Manet or Claude Monet.

This promises to be a very colourful, creative session!

It was a quiet day with only 16 members at the session, but there were 14 great paintings entered into the competition.

All the pictures looked very colourful on the presentation table, with Teddy Charles III keeping an eye on proceedings.

We all voted for our favourite picture and there was one clear winner. There was a three-way tie for the runner-up position so we voted again and had a two-way tie. A third round of voting saw a final split of votes with a runner-up painting decided. It was like voting at the Eurovision Song Contest all over again!

In third position was Mary, with her accomplished acrylic painting of the troops and horses of the Household Cavalry.

Susan was runner-up with her watercolour of the coronation ceremony inside Westminster Abbey, with many details and sublime colours.

In first place was Steve, with his amazing oil pastel portrait of Charles III. Well done, it was a worthy winner!

Steve couldn’t be there on the day so Tracy is holding his winning picture. Please note that the crown was borrowed especially from the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London for the day’s presentations ;o)

Some members painted to the coronation theme but did not enter their pictures, or they painted their own subjects.

The next session is on Wednesday 14th June from 7-9pm and please remember our visit to Rochester Cathedral will be on Saturday 26th August 2023, 10am-3pm.