Chalk Art Group

Animals in Winter – January 2026 – Saturday

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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.

Back to Basics – January 2026 – Wednesday

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On a cold, dark Wednesday evening fifteen artists met for the first session of 2026. There were twelve members and three ladies who came along to experience drawing with the art group. We hope you enjoyed yourselves, Christina, Jackie and Isabelle, and want to come along again and join us!

The suggested session was ‘back to basics’ to draw in monochrome pencils and get used to drawing again after the Christmas and New Year break. Many pictures were produced including some drawn at home and at another art group. If you can’t come to a session you’re welcome to do the suggested subject at home and sent Tracy photos that day or the next for inclusion in the blog post.

Some references have been included so you can see the images and objects that we worked from.

Brenda was very productive sketching with ink and her subjects were other artists at the session. Can you see who she drew?

Good work everyone, it was great to see you being creative as we haven’t had an art session since last November.

Our next session is on Saturday 24th January from 10am to 3pm. This will be on the 4th Saturday of January not the 5th one. Hope to see you there!

January 2026

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Here are suggestions for the two sessions in January, but you’re welcome to come to draw and paint anything you’d like to.

Wednesday 14th – 7-9pm – Back to basics

Let’s start the year going back to basics, using only grades of graphite pencils to sketch and draw in monochrome. Don’t just use an HB pencil, get depth and shading by using several B grade pencils.

If you’re stuck for a subject bring some objects from home to draw or look at the Christmas cards you have to see if there any you are inspired by or start sketching an animal for the Saturday session.

Saturday 24th – 10am-3pm – Animals in Winter

Continue using pencils to draw your animal subjects in monochrome or add a little paint for a splash of colour. Look at your Christmas cards again before recycling as many have animals on the front. Think of…

  • animals that hibernate – bats, hedgehogs, dormice, bears, bees, ladybirds, butterflies and moths, frogs etc, draw them where they hibernate.
  • animals that don’t hibernate – squirrels, badgers, deer, foxes, moles, birds etc.
  • texture – prepare a surface before the session. Add texture medium to watercolour paper or an acrylic surface and paint over the top, or glue white tissue paper down for snowy texture.
  • draw or paint a winter landscape cold and grey in monochrome, then add an animal in colour.
  • use coloured soft or oil pastels to give animals a furry feel or white and light pastels for a landscape under a blanket of snow with, for example, deer or farm animals in a field.
  • If you’ve ever spent the winter in Australia or the Caribbean you may want to paint colourful animals in bright colours!

Hope to see you all in January.

Welcome to 2026

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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    7-9pm4th 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
      October       14th       24th
      November       11th  28th
      December      9th – Christmas Party  

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.

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.

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)

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.

Still Life – September 2025 – Saturday

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It was great that the session was well attended with 19 members coming along for a still life session, with plenty of time for a natter over a cuppa and a biscuit. Objects were set up by the artists in front of them, drawings were made and then painted with watercolours and acrylics or further details drawn.

Many of the photos include the still life objects and show the pictures as works in progress. A couple of paintings were done at home of the previous still life theme of fruit and vegetables.

Other artists chose their own subjects.

Super work, everyone, it was an enjoyable day of creativity with good company too!

The next session is on Wednesday 8th October from 7-9pm.