Saturday saw 19 members painting at the hall for our annual Open Day, welcoming about 40 visitors during the day. It was quieter than previous years but we all enjoyed talking to the visitors about our paintings and making sure they were well filled with tea, coffee and biscuits. All members showed great enthusiasm talking about art as their hobby and this really came across well.

Several visitors said how good it was to view an exhibition and see the artists painting too, instead of just looking at paintings on the wall. Other comments from the visitor book included…

“Beautiful work. Lovely talking to everyone.” “Beautiful displays. Love looking at wintry scenes.” “great little exhibition and nice to see people painting and drawing too.”

In total there were 72 framed paintings with 3 sold and 4 browsers full with 77 mounted artworks and 4 were sold. One commission was taken and there have been 3 memberships enquiries. Not bad for 4 hours!

Thank you to everyone who helped with hanging evening on Friday and getting their husbands to lend a hand too. A HUGE thank you to everyone on the day who pulled together and made endless cuppas, made sure the biscuits never ran out and washed and dried up all day. We couldn’t have this Open Day without all of you helping!

It’s our Open Day next Saturday, so please tell your family and friends to pop in and see us from 10.30am to 2.30pm!

Peta has been busy over the last year visiting London several times to sketch various views then complete them in ink. They’ve been published on the Spitalfields Life website. Click or tap on the link to view them here… https://spitalfieldslife.com/2022/11/11/peta-bridles-london-viewpoints/

Peta’s illustrations are always awesome to see as she has the skill and ability to sketch scenes the rest of us would walk past. She then uses ink to highlight more details and bring depth to the sketches. You can leave a comment on the original post on the Spitalfields site without having to register.

Well done, Peta!

On a mild November evening 16 members met to finish off paintings, create new ones for our Open Day in a couple of weeks and have a good natter as usual. Some members painted the wood slices ready for the Christmas Party in December and there’s been a super selection already handed in…thank you!

If you won’t be at the Open Day on 26th November please get your decorated wood slices to Tracy by that date, at her address already emailed to you.

Three members continued with their pansy/viola pictures after the recent coloured pencil botanical workshop with Amber Halsall.

Dot’s picture shows her deep magenta pansies and the tumble of leaves around them. Isn’t it amazing to see all the many different colours Dot saw in the leaves?

Steve’s deep purple and yellow pansies look dramatic against the leaves. The leaves look real with the shadows and highlights carefully placed, making the image look 3D.

Tracy found the green leaves a bit challenging as her green coloured pencils were a bit bright and unnatural. She enjoyed creating the colours of the different violas, especially the magenta and orange ones, which were really unusual.

It’s been interesting to see the finished images after we didn’t manage to complete them at the workshop. Well done all!

That’s a little reminder of why we celebrate November 5th with fireworks, of the apprehending of Guy Fawkes before he blew up James I and Parliament in 1605.

Janet W and Tracy recently took part in a free online Zoom session with artist Helen Carter. It was a one hour coloured pencil workshop sponsored by Derwent and offered by John Lewis as part of their rewards. The subject of the workshop was fireworks in London behind the Elizabeth Tower of the Palace of Westminster.

Black paper was the dark sky of the picture and a white coloured pencil used the most as the base layer for the tower and all the fireworks. Drawing with a graphite pencil around different sized glasses and overlapping the circles made the outlines of the fireworks. Different coloured pencils were put on top of the white coloured pencil base to become the coloured fireworks.

Both Janet and Tracy enjoyed the session and will use the technique again.

Janet W drew two fireworks and aims to finish her picture, along with trying the picture again with her grandchildren.

Tracy carried on drawing after the session and got a bit carried away doing five fireworks in different colours!

Details about the session were emailed the next day but unfortunately can’t be shared on the blog as the link is encrypted. Tracy will forward the email so hopefully you will be able to see all the stages of the workshop and give it a go yourself. It was fun to do!

Please note the dates of our next meetings…

Wednesday 9th November – 7-9pm – DYOT

Friday 25th November – 7-9pm – hanging evening

Saturday 26th November – 10am-3pm – Open Day

Wednesday 14th December – 6.30pm-9pm – Christmas Party

With the Open Day, if you don’t want to have your paintings on the walls or in the browsers then that’s absolutely fine, it’s not compulsory. We call it an Open Day and not an exhibition as a way to open the hall for a day so that others can see what we do at our sessions. It’s also a good way of showing the group to people who are looking for a local art group to join. If you aren’t showing your art then come along and enjoy a day of painting, along with friendly visitors.

Wednesday 9th – 7-9pm – DYOT (Do Your Own Thing)

Towards the end of the year it’s good to finish off any drawings or paintings you’ve done that you haven’t got around to completing yet. Bring along one or more pictures to finish them.

If you’ve already finished your paintings for Open Day, bring them along to mount and/or frame, string and label.

Friday 25th 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 price or NFS (Not For Sale).

You can have up to 6 framed paintings as long as they’re not in clip frames and not too big to hang from the hooks. All with D rings, strung across the back and a label hanging down below the frame or on the front with your name, name of the picture, medium and the price or NFS.

You can also have unlimited mounted pictures for the browsers, but they must be for sale, all labelled front or back. There won’t be a list of the mounted work, so please 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.

On hanging evening come along from 7pm and drop off your paintings or stay and help hang them all up. 

Saturday 26th November – 10am-3pm – Open Day

***** Please give all your completed wood slices to Tracy by this date. If you can’t come for the whole of Open Day please pop in for a few minutes to drop them off. Tracy needs them early to make sure everyone will have one at the Christmas Party. *****

Visitors welcome 10.30am to 2.30pm.

The day that 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 just 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 and also washing and drying up the cups and saucers.

*If any visitors want information about becoming a member please take them to Steve, who can tell them about joining M&C.

*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 14th December – 6.30pm – 9pm – Christmas Party

An earlier start from 6.30pm, come along in your Christmas jumpers, posh frocks or fancy festive hats and enjoy some quizzes (not as hard as last year’s!), a lucky dip for a wood slice Christmas decoration to take home, and either Pass the Parcel or Tombola. Bring along your own plate of food and your drinks.

Your partner/family are welcome to come along too and nearer the time Tracy will ask for numbers so we know how many tables and chairs to get out. Tea, coffee and biscuits will be available as usual.