Ron recently visited Chalk Church to take some reference photos and on his way home drove down Church Lane. As he passed Eastbrook Oast House he stopped and knocked on the door and asked to take some photos as he’d decided he would like to paint the oast house. The owner very kindly let Ron take photos from the garden. The reference photo on his iPad is below.
Ron has finished his painting in acrylics and he’s done a grand job, well done. What a great idea to have knocked on the owner’s door and it goes to prove there’s no harm in asking to take photos!
What a beautiful day it was for us to meet outside to paint. A hot, sunny day, peaking at 80°F but with a slight breeze to cool us down, just perfect! The old Monet-style bridge has been replaced with a new one in the same style, which should last for years to come. The pond has been filled in and levelled with earth and will be planted up in the future. Here’s a few photos of the church and grassed area, which is very dry at the moment.
Twelve members attended and we all set up our chairs and tables under the trees so we didn’t get sunburnt. As well as painting we all had a good chat, catching up with news and generally having a good day. We had a whip round for the church fund and gave £33 to the church warden.
Some members painted to their own theme whilst others drew and painted the scene in front of them.
Thank you for all who attended on a very hot stuffy evening. The air-conditioning wasn’t very efficient over the 2 hour session so in future we will have to rely on opening the windows and front door and using the ventilation system.
Here a some images of Flowers in vases or just flower studies. Most are ‘works in progress so do send the finished works to either myself or Tracy.
George was painting a lovely image of a horse and rider in a river and Peta brought her excellent finished painting of a roof top scene in Portugal
Well done everyone.
Our next meeting is at Chalk Church on Saturday 23rd July 10.15 am til 3.0 pm
Susan has finished the collage she started at Fiona Spiral’s collage workshop earlier this year. Look closely at the kingfisher and you’ll see it’s made up of tiny pieces of coloured paper, which stand out against the larger background pieces. It’s a beautiful collage, well done!
Susan also belongs to Maidstone Art Society and their annual exhibition has just opened in Fremlin Walk shopping centre in Maidstone until Friday 22nd July. She’s stewarding until 1pm on Monday 11th and Thursday 14th July so do pop in and say hello, or visit another day as MAS exhibitions are always worth going to see.
Here are details about our two sessions this month. It’s interesting to see what everyone is working on at the moment at home, at adult education classes and at other art groups too. If you would like photos taken of your recent artworks then bring your paintings along to a session so they can then appear in a blog post. Or you can send photos direct to Steve or Tracy with details about your pictures.
Wednesday 13th July – 7 to 9pm – Summer flowers in a ceramic or glass vase
There will hopefully be a lot of flowers in your garden (or local florist or supermarket) to draw or paint. Bring them to the session and put them in a ceramic or glass vase and include it in your picture. If it’s a ceramic vase try and get both sides even, it’s harder than you think. If you use a glass vase then paint how light reflects off the surface, how the water refracts the flower stems and try to give the see-through item solidity.
Saturday 23rd July – 10.15am to 3pm – ‘Do your own thing’ at Chalk church
There’s a slightly later start time of 10.15am.
Please don’t arrive before then and block the lane. Thankyou!
We return to our summer venue at St.Mary’s Church in Chalk. The church and ‘Monet’ bridge are popular subjects to paint, but you don’t have to. Many of us have painted these many times, so instead start any project for our Open Day(Saturday 26th November)or bring paintings you want to finish.
Nigel, the vicar, popped in to our last session at the hall to talk to Steve and Tracy about an art event to hopefully be held at the church in April 2023. It’s early planning days but we hope that members will be able to paint to a theme suggested by Nigel and our paintings exhibited inside the church. Take some photos of the church and grounds as reference photos and as soon as Nigel decides on a theme, we will let you know.
If it’s raining we still meet at the church as there’s an indoor room with tables and chairs for us to use. There’s a large, free car park, a toilet, and tea, coffee and biscuits as usual.
Please bring along a folding chair or stool if you intend to paint outside and a packed lunch too. If you can only make the morning or afternoon, please come along and join us for a couple of hours.
Any donation to the Church Fund is appreciated, thank you.
If you’re a new member and haven’t visited Chalk Church before, please have a look at this map to see where we’ll be meeting.
***** A date for your diary – Saturday 27th August *****
We usually return to Chalk Church for our August Saturday session, but we are instead going to be meeting at Rochester Cathedral! Kay works for the Dean of Rochester Cathedral and asked if M&C could meet there. Permission has been granted for us to use a private garden at the back of the cathedral, but you will be able to pop inside to sketch (not paint) too. More details will be given in August.
Numbers are needed in advance as we will be required to wear visitor lanyards. Please email Tracy (at her usual email address) if you are interested in visiting Rochester Cathedral on Saturday 27th August. Thank you :o)
Steve has now finished his portrait of Sir David Attenborough, painted in gouache on watercolour paper. Using gouache instead of watercolours has added a depth and solidity to David’s features.
Medway & Chalk Art Group 