Twenty two artists met at the hall last Saturday, whilst one poorly artist painted at home then sent in photos of her pictures. It was a lovely relaxing day with arty friends catching up with each other over a cuppa and biscuits. To all members ill with this sore throat/cough bug, get better soon!
The suggested subject of ‘Animals in Winter’ was a popular one and several artists produced two pictures during the day. There were squirrels, highland cattle, foxes, squirrels, deer, birds, puffins, a snow leopard, hares, butterflies, a rabbit, ladybirds, a dormouse and robins. Several different mediums were used, such as watercolours, soft pastels, graphite pencils, acrylics, coloured pencils and inks. Some pictures are finished and others are works in progress, such as a landscape waiting for the animal to be added. The last 5 pictures were created at another art group but are of the same subject.
Some artists chose their own themes to draw and paint with pencils, pastels and watercolours.
Well done, everyone, it was a very productive day!
Ideas for next month will be published on 1st February and the next session will be on Wednesday 11th February from 7-9pm.
HAPPY NEW YEAR and THANK YOU to everyone for your continued support for Chalk Art Group during 2025, attending sessions at the hall, Chalk Church and Rochester Cathedral and painting along at home.
Membership
We will finance Chalk Art Group in 2026 with an annual subscription of £90, to cover the hall hire fees for the year.
Alternatively, equal payments of £30 will be due 3 times during the year in January, May and September. If you choose to pay in instalments you are committing to pay for the whole year, not coming for a few months then stopping then starting again. Without this support we will not be able to raise enough funds to hire the hall. Steve emailed everyone on 31st December with details of how to pay by bank transfer, cheque or cash. Please check his email as there is important info about the art group’s name at the bank. If you pay promptly this saves members being emailed and phoned to be reminded to pay.
Please pay your membership fee by the end of January to continue to be a member of the art group. Thank you!
Sessions
Our sessions will continue to be on the second Wednesday evening 7-9pm and the fourth Saturday of the month 10am to 3pm, 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 that’s okay!
Workshops
Any workshops 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.
If you don’t want to attend a workshop you 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 towards the window end of the hall.
Session dates for 2026
Please print them out or write them in your diary or calendar. Some months have 5 Saturdays but we meet on the 4th one.
Open Day is on Saturday 26th September, with hanging the Friday evening before from 7pm.
2026
2nd Wednesday 7-9pm
4th Saturday 10am-3pm
January (subs)
14th
24th
February
11th
28th
March
11th
28th
April
8th
25th
May (subs)
13th
23rd
June
10th
27th
July
8th
25th (not at hall)
August
12th
22nd (not at hall)
September (subs)
9th
FRIDAY 25th – hanging evening SATURDAY 26th – OPEN DAY
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
In addition to our usual two sessions this month, why not give Inktober 2025 a go?
Started in 2009 Inktober is now a worldwide event for artists to draw a picture in ink daily (you can use pencil underneath) and share their work or just for the pleasure of being creative every day.
Use a sketchbook for your images or any surface. If you don’t have much time, use a Post-it note pad for a small picture every day.
Chalk Art Group 