Happy 30th Birthday to us!

The art group was started in 1992 by Pat Dear and Ruth Thompsett, initially meeting at Pat’s house in Strood then in a local school as the group grew larger.  In the late 1990s Eric Stewart took over running the group and began meeting at the old village hall in Chalk.  When the old hall was demolished the group met at St.Aidan’s Church Hall in Gravesend until the new Chalk Parish Hall was opened in 2007. 

In 2008 Susan Ewing and Patrick Sebell took over from Eric, being joined by Tracy Quarrington-Page in 2015.  Susan took a step back in 2020 and Steve Goldson took over her roles within the group.  

Medway and Chalk Art Group still runs on the original ethos of an informal gathering of art friends, creating art together over a cuppa and a natter.   Many members are still friends after all these years and Ruth remained a member until last year. We hope that M&C remains a friendly group which welcomes artists of all abilities who enjoy painting together.

We will celebrate our 30^th Birthday at the Saturday session on 23^rd April when we will have Birthday Elevensies of tea, coffee and cake.  Coeliac/vegan cake will be provided so everyone can join in.

Wednesday 13th    7-9pm   –  Start painting for the competition

Our annual competition is a friendly affair and is NOT compulsory.  If you don’t want to enter a painting that’s fine, please just use the suggestion as inspiration for a drawing or painting.

Get your gold paint out because the theme is…TUTANKHAMUN

One hundred years ago in 1922 the tomb of Tutankhamun, the best-preserved pharaonic tomb ever found in the Valley of the Kings, was discovered by archaeologist Howard Carter.  Carter’s meticulous assessing and cataloguing of over 5000 of objects in the tomb took nearly ten years.

The objects were displayed at Cairo Museum and around the world at various times.  The exhibition in London due to run until May 2020 unfortunately closed two months early due to Covid.  Did you get a chance to visit and take photos?  All the objects from Tutankhamun’s tomb are now housed in the Grand Egyptian Museum and will never leave Egypt again.

Choose to draw or paint Tutankhamun’s death mask or jewellery, a model boat or guardian statue, canopic jars, chariot, chair or wall paintings. The choice is yours in any medium.

There’s no right or wrong way to paint this subject…just your way.

Saturday 23rd    10am-3pm   –   Competition continued

Continue with your Tutankhamun picture, or paint another. All pictures to be in by 2.15pm then we all cast one vote for our favourite painting. There will be small cash prizes for the winner and runner-up.

A maximum of three drawings/paintings per member.  If you paint a picture but can’t attend today please arrange with someone to take and collect your artwork.

If you feel uncomfortable entering a competition that’s fine, you don’t have to. Paint the Tutankhamun theme but leave your painting on your desk so it won’t be with the pictures submitted which will be on a separate table.  

We’ll stop at 11am to have Birthday Elevensies. 

Its been a very long 2 and a half years since our last workshop so we were delighted to welcome artist Fiona Spirals back to M&C for a hands-on, face-to-face workshop. Fiona brought along some of her own collaged artworks for us to see and explained the collage process, from tearing or cutting the paper pieces to enhancing the surfaces with tissue paper and paint.

Fiona suggested the subject of birds and butterflies but members were welcome to tackle any subject they wanted to. Some brought along their own pictures for reference whilst others used pictures from Fiona. She also supplied many magazines for us to tear from and helped all of us individually with our compositions throughout the day. One member had printed her own colourful papers at home to make her butterfly collage unique.

We all used a canvas or canvas board as the base or our collages as using paper or card would get too soggy. The glue used was PVA, watered down to the fluidity of milk.

You will see from the final photo in this section that creating a collage can be very, very messy! At the end of the session the floor was a total mess. Thank you very much to everyone who helped clear up by collecting all the rubbish and sweeping up the day’s detritus.

Everyone enjoyed the day with many expressing a new-found appreciation for collage. Here are all our pictures in a vibrant explosion of colour. Good work everyone!

The island of Rapa Nui, otherwise known as Easter Island, was sighted 300 years ago by its first recorded European visitor, Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen. The giant heads, known by their Polynesian name moai, number nearly 1000 and are carved from volcanic ash. We drew and painted the moai from different angles using pencils, watercolours and inks.

Some members finished work started at previous sessions or worked to their own theme. What a super variety of artwork in monochrome and vibrant colours, well done everyone!

The next session is Saturday 26th March when Fiona Spirals will be running a collage workshop. Please email Steve asap to book your place.

Wednesday 9th – 7-9pm – Easter Island

Easter Island was sighted 300 years ago by Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen on Easter Sunday 1722, hence the name. The island has been a territory of Chile since 1888 and is actually called Rapa Nui, its Polynesian name. The massive monolithic ‘heads’ on the island are called moai and have bodies which are buried in the ground. There are nearly 1000 moai on Rapa Nui, weighing up to 86 tons and standing up to 10m in height, though most are half this size and weight. It is not known when they were carved from volcanic ash and erected but it is thought between 1200-1600 CE and it’s suggested they represent chiefs and important people.

Here is a website with more information… www.imaginarapanui.com

Draw or paint any image of Rapa Nui and the moai in the landscape or close up with detail and texture.

Saturday 26th – 10am – 3pm – Collage workshop with Fiona Spirals

We welcome Fiona back to M&C for our first practical workshop since 2019. Fiona’s workshops are always good fun and we go home with a finished collage. She will bring magazines to tear up and all the glue, pots and brushes. Details of a theme will be sent nearer the time but Fiona has said that you can create any image you like but she will have pictures with her to inspire you.

Fiona’s website is here… www.fionaspirals.co.uk

You will need to bring…

• a canvas or canvas board is best (NOT PAPER OR CARD as it would get too soggy). You can reuse an old, already painted canvas or board as you’ll be covering the surface.

• lots of newspaper or a plastic sheet to cover your table

• an apron as all the glue can get messy

• The fee for today’s workshop will be £8. The hall hire is already covered by your membership fee.

Email Steve asap to reserve your place. His email address you know already from previous emails sent to you.

Please do not use the comments box to message Steve as messages can take days to come through. Sending him an email is the best way to contact him.

The Queen, Tigers & Lots More

We had a really good turn out with 24 members attending including five new members.

Welcome to Gloria Holden, Christine Copps, Joyce Plascott, Liz Bundock and Sue Bartholomew.

We had some great paintings of the Queen some are a work in progress so do send your finished paintings to Steve or Tracy.

Tigers. !!! Some were started on the day and others had been finished at home after the Wednesday meeting

Landscapes, Animals and Flower studies in a variety of mediums

Well done all, what a great mix of topics and mediums used

Next meeting Wednesday 9th March

Susan started her tiger painting at the last session and has finished it at home. Using watercolours she painted the picture loose and light to avoid overworking him. The Pantone ‘Very Peri’ colour has been cleverly used in the shadows on the tiger’s chest and in the background too.

All the colours go so well together and it’s beautifully painted, Susan, well done!

Kay made a pebble picture for her family for Christmas. She collected the pebbles from Upnor Beach late one winter’s afternoon just before it got dark, enlisting the help of a nice lady and her daughter who were walking their dog.

Kay glued the pebbles and some garden flora onto a background then added details with a black pen to indicate two parents, two daughters and their pets. The picture was mounted into a box frame to house the depth of the pebbles.

Isn’t it a lovely idea? If you have young ones in your family maybe they could help you collect pebbles to make your own family pebble picture.

Good to see seventeen members have a creative session last night for the first meeting held in the Chinese New Year of the Tiger. Two members who couldn’t come along finished their pictures at home and sent photos to be included.

Created in watercolours, acrylics, oils, pastels and pencils the suggested subject of tigers proved very popular. Most pictures are works in progress and will be finished at home or at the next session on Saturday 26th February. All the tigers were orange coloured apart from one Pantone ‘Very Peri’ purpley one!

Some members worked to their own subjects in various mediums, including a chrysanthemum which originate from China, in keeping with the Chinese New Year theme.

Well done to all artists, your pictures are very good. Do finish them off and bring them along to the next session so we can see them.

Susan painted her ‘A Winter’s Day’ picture at home using watercolours on SAA practice paper size 11” x 15”.

The red squirrel scampers through the snow with its fluffy ears and bushy tail showing how alert it is. It’s beautifully painted in rich colours. Super work, Susan.

Thank you everyone who has renewed or recently joined and paid their membership promptly for the first four months of 2022. This means we are able to look forward to meeting at Chalk Parish Hall for the foreseeable future.

Here are a couple of ideas for February but you’re welcome to draw and paint anything you want to. If you paint anything at home then please send photos of your pictures to Tracy or Steve by email, text or WhatsApp with some information about the paintings and they’ll get posted here on the blog.

Wednesday 9th – 7-9pm – Tigers

February 1st welcomes in the Chinese New Year of the Tiger. Draw or paint a stylised or real tiger in any setting and medium.

Saturday 26th – 10am-3pm – Queen Elizabeth II

Ascending to the throne 70 years ago on 6th February 1952, Queen Elizabeth II will become the first British monarch to celebrate her Platinum Jubilee. Draw or paint the Queen at any age in full ceremonial regalia, on tour around the world, at a family gathering or meeting the public. Any style, any medium, look back over her 70 years reign and choose to paint your favourite memory or event.

As a year-long project try and add the Pantone Colour of the Year 2022 ‘Very Peri’ to your paintings. Here is the colour swatch…