Hopefully the rules about meeting others indoors will be relaxed this month, but we just don’t know. We plan to meet on the second Wednesday and fourth Saturday as per usual, but as things could change at any time please do look out for emails nearer the time of the session.

Wednesday 14th July – Chalk Parish Hall – 7-9pm

This will still be under the ‘rule of six’ with tables and chairs cleaned, no mixing between groups, masks worn and no access to the kitchen for tea or coffee. The fee for this session will be £2.

Saturday 24th July – Chalk Church – after 10am-3pm

Please arrive after 10am so that we don’t block the road with cars before the car park gate is open.

This is our usual summer session at Chalk Church but as we meet there every year you don’t have to paint the church, come along and paint anything you want to!

The suggested subjects are below or start a picture for our Open Day which will hopefully take place in November. We may have access to the barn and refreshment facilities but we won’t know until nearer the time. Don’t forget your folding chair and lunch.

If you don’t want to paint why not join us at lunchtime with your own picnic? Bring along a chair and come for a natter with your art friends. If it rains we will still meet as there is shelter near the barn. No fee but a donation to church funds will be appreciated.

Here are some ideas to paint this month…

PORTRAIT ARTIST OF THE MONTH (PAOTM)

• Diana, Princess of Wales. Diana would have been 60 this month and there are many articles with photos of her in newspapers at the moment. Draw or paint Diana as a child or teenager before her marriage. Paint her on her wedding day, as a young mother, as a style icon in one of her many glamorous dresses or as an ambassador for one of her many charities. Any medium, any style, you have a whole month to create your picture.

JULY

• Named posthumously for the Roman Senator and General Julius Caesar as it was the month of his birth, previously it was called Quintilis. There are lots of images available online as many statues of him survive in museums.

THE TOKYO OLYMPICS

Due to open on 23rd July Tokyo will host what are called the 2020 Olympic Games, even though it’s now 2021. They may be quite different to watch with fewer people allowed to attend in stadiums but the Olympics are always great to view and be thrilled by the best athletes in the world. Draw or paint ideas connected with the Olympics and Japan…

• any athlete in any sport.
• any sport of the Olympic Games.
• look on the the official website for inspiration… www.olympics.com
• Tokyo – famous sites or quiet places.
• Japan – a country full of bustling cities and stunning mountains and countryside.
• Torii – a traditional entrance gate into a Shinto shrine.
• Haiku – print out or write your own haiku (3 lines of 5/7/5 syllables), illustrate it.
• Japanese traditional artists – Hokusai, Hiroshige and Hiroshige II. Look at their prints and copy a picture or draw/paint/print in the style of one of them.
• a famous Japanese actor/actress.
• a member of the royal family.
• Ikebana – flower arranging.
• Kintsugi – repaired broken pottery, embracing the flawed or imperfect.
• Zen garden – a miniature stylised landscape using rocks, raked gravel or sand, moss, pruned tress, plants and water features.
• any animal or plants/flowers found in Japan.

These are many ideas to get you painting this month, try just one or a few of them. As always these are just ideas if you’re feeling a bit stumped at the moment but you’re welcome to paint anything you want to and send photos of your pictures to Tracy for inclusion on the blog.