Another satisfying and enjoyable morning.  We had some unusual and interesting objects for the still life from Angela, and she gave us a full length pose - although most settled for just her head.  These mornings are an excellent opportunity to experiment with different media and techniques, without any pressure to do a finished work.

By the way, I hope you all keep an eye on the Stop Press page, as this is where we draw attention to anything new on the website, such as programme changes or a new event.​

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We had a splendid day with John Patchett, who was informative, entertaining and an excellent demonstrator.  We learnt about hard pastels and soft pastels and why we shouldn't try to use hard over soft;  about the 'difference between chalk and cheese' - how some so-called 'pastels' are really only chalk, or contain some wax;   about starting 'thin' and working up to 'fat', using pastel lightly in the early stages and more thickly or opaquely in the later stages;  and about reserving the darkest darks, lightest lights and sharpest marks till last.  He uses patstelcard himself, which allows a superior finish to the cheaper, thinner pastel papers. 
Finally, he reviewed our work of the day, had high praise for some and gave all of us helpful advice and suggestions, motivating us to work further on our efforts.
Many thanks to John for a very enjoyable and worthwhile day.  You can see a few examples of his work (right) and various stages (below) of the demonstration he did for us. See also his website at  http://www.john-patchett.co.uk/

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Hilary challenged us with still two life set-ups, one red and one white, with lots of opportunities for doing textures and tones.  However, the majority went for the flowers, with some interesting results.  Hilary also persuaded our John to sit for us with his banjo (or guitar?) and he proved an excellent model - but we are unable to pronounce on his musicianship!
​We were reminded by Sally L of John Patchett's workshop on the 15th, about which further details in "Messages from Members".

And Angela Hall told us about developments with tutors and new classes at The Bank.

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