Here are a few ideas of what to paint this month. Please send any paintings you do to me (Tracy) by email, WhatsApp, Messenger or text, on the mobile number I have emailed to you previously. Do tell me the medium, paper used, the inspiration, how long it took etc.

If none of these ideas take your fancy, then please paint something else and send it to me, we’d love to see what you’re painting at the mo.

Charles Dickens – This month marks 150 years since Charles Dickens died. Gravesham Council was planning an exhibition of amateur artists’ paintings in the market, but unfortunately that has not gone ahead.

Paint a portrait of Charles Dickens himself from a known painting or print. Paint one of his many book characters, or a place associated with him or his books. Gad’s Hill is an obvious choice, either how it looked when he lived there or in its current form. Paint the Swiss Chalet that was at Gad’s Hill but is now in Rochester, one of the houses in Chalk that he stayed in, or Fort House in Broadstairs, now called Bleak House. If you want a short drive then visit St.James’ Church in Cooling and sketch the gravestones known as Pip’s Graves. They are the tiny, stone, lozenge-shaped graves for 13 babies and they inspired the chapter in Great Expectations where Pip meets the convict Magwhich.

Roses – The rose is the flower for June and they are rather magnificent and fragrant at the moment. If you have roses in your garden then paint en plein air, enjoying the warm weather and the roses at the same time. You could also paint roses in a vase, by themselves or with other flowers. Or in a wedding bouquet, as a buttonhole or in someone’s hair. Lots of choices and so much rich colour you could use. Many artists online paint roses but one artist, Jean Haines, popped up on Facebook, showing her students’ paintings. Soft but bold at the same time..

Pearls – associated with June, pearls aren’t just white and round, they come in many colours and shapes. Paint a pearl or pearls in situ in an oyster shell, as a stringed necklace or maybe as a ring or pendant. If you have any pearl jewellery then paint a small still life with them in it. The lustrous nacre that covers pearls can be beautiful to paint in any medium.