Nineteen members were present today, a good attendance for a chilly bright morning, the bright blue sky complementing Sandra’s bright blue beret.
On the still life table was an arrangement of spring flowers and foliage interspersed with interesting pieces of twisted wood, and Sandra struck some challenging poses - in some challenging outfits!

This third pose just shows you how exhausting posing is for the model!


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First three charcoal drawings from Frances ( tap on image to get full view)


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A selection from Avril’s sketch book, the first two in pencil meeting the challenge of that draped scarf/ shawl,  and the last in gouache which was more difficult to work with.


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Three wistful delicate charcoal drawings from Elizabeth.

and in contrast three very strong pastels on coloured paper from Ian .J .

and a companion piece, three, also on coloured backgrounds from Jill, with an effective contrasting hat brim.

Finally from Angela, a lovely depiction of Sandra’s boots, a difficult foreshortened pose, but the soles of those boots! Perfect in every detail.The second and third pictures were drawn without looking at the paper, something I find nearly impossible, and a really useful exercise ( I tell myself)

Still life.
First Sally T’s delicate pen and ink drawing

Harriet -left, Diana -middle and Sally P,-right, all tackled the beautiful spotted Moth Orchid. Three very different interpretations in different mediums.
​Sally P also painted the vase of Hellebores, a lovely delicate watercolour.There was  some discussion about adding a background in contrast to the flowers, or whether to add a coloured mount before framing. -watch this space…

Maggie Ann also painted the Hellebores for an Easter card, a very effective subject.

Penny -left, and Bea-right, both chose daffodils Penny in Watercolours and Bea in pastels,  a difficult medium for a small picture

​Josie - left, and Lesley -right, both tackled the tulips, in a really difficult ‘tulip vase’ .

and Jackie painted in beautifully observed detail some complicated background pieces of timber and fabric, I’m sure we’ll see the rest of  this picture completed at sometime in the future.

​and this is my watercolour, pen and wash, and maybe a little bit of Neocolour crayon …in an attempt to capture a very full vase of assorted foliage.

​Carolyn has sent two images, the first of daffodils just coming into bloom in her garden, and the second a fresh look at last week’s autumn crocuses adding a dark background making the crocuses stand out.
​Telepathy Carolyn! This was a hot topic this week in our plenary session, whether and when to add a background.

 Ian C and Barry were both working on their own projects. Ian continuing with a pastel painting from the workshop day, adding foreground detail, which really stands out, my photograph doesn’t do it justice.
Barry is working into previous Lino prints adding colour with Posca pens to define the shapes, and working in a completely different style on a pointillist picture, a lovely atmospheric painting.

That’s it! Next week’s blogger is Avril, so please send pictures to her.

​Sally

11 members came today for the workshop, all ready and eager for the challenge. Lesley demonstrated the use of the Gellie plate and gave instructions on how to use it and things to do with the prints. Here are her crib notes  

The first one is Lesley's when she cleared her roller on a scrap of paper, the second one is Sandra's who enjoyed the technique and is thinking of getting a Gelli plate. The third one is Hannah's experiments using a very interesting roller that can change shapes by moving the wheels in different orders. 

Lesley made a very striking picture using special paper given to her as a present and Harriet's tiger looked good with the sage leaves breaking up the background and shinny leaves concealing him.  Sally L made some impressive marks using deli paper.

Ian and Josie were very adventurous and used charcoal to make an impression on the plate and then add colour, the top row is Ian's, he enjoyed discovering new and easy ways to create, sorry they are a bit blurred (do not what happened to my photo Ian).
​Josies are the two at the bottom. I think  the technique works well.

Jackie was kind enough to show me the notes of a previous workshop

Jackie used deli paper effectively and incorporated the home made stencils 

Sally T sent these as she had to leave earlier today but said she enjoyed the session

Avril's attempts for today, on the photo the light looks like cloth instead of a light haze

The blogger next week is Sally and we can look forward to Sandra's session

thank you to Penny, our newest member, for stepping in to 'host' this morning's session. She kindly took over what should have been my turn [Hannah], when it wasn't clear when I would be able to do it.  As you can see she provided an interesting still life, with different views and varied subjects from each aspect.  She was an excellent model, I didn't see her nod off once!  Sorry I cut off the top of her head in the last photo; I mostly took it to have a better look at her hands.

Diana was one of those working on her own compositions this morning, along with Lesley and Ian C.  She was brightening old paintings that looked rather dull since she has new glasses - very vibrant.  Lesley's pastel show a Scottish landscape, with a brilliant sky and river reflecting the blue above.  She is going to work on it further at home.  Ian's imagined landscape is also a pastel work, following the recent workshop, but he said (as did Lesley) that the colour was much darker following spray to fix the work.

Frances worked from the still life, Penny and something of her own.
First quick ink sketch.
Second… watercolour loosely applied first then ink equally loosely applied afterwards.
Third… few minutes ink sketch of Penny.
Third… a watercolour Murmuration which had been lying under a pile of stuff unfinished . Now possibly finished with ink added.

These are the still life works from, respectively, Harriet, Jane, Maggie-Anne and Angela.  Maggie-Anne regretted that she had run out of time to finish the blue jug, and Angela, who had also used pastel following the workshop, was unsure about her treatment of the background of her drawing.  The consensus wwas that the composition worked. There was some discussion of the difficulty of isolating the subject from the general background in the Bowls Club.

Sally and Avril both tackled the still life and the portraiture.  They each produced a number of works this morning.  Avril's comment on one of her pictures can be seen written on the second from the right.  Sally 'took a line for a walk' around the pineapple in the still life, and she was pleased with the likeness of Penny she achieved in a few minutes at the end of the morning. Judith tackled the trug and its contents twice - adding ink for definition the second time...

And now to the portraits - first the Joneses, who had been watching a tutorial, and both worked in charcoal.  Ian enjoyed the process of applying and smudging the charcoal and also used pastels to good effect.  Josie was most pleased with her first attempt, which was cut short by a change of pose.

Next, Jill and Jackie.  Jill said she was most concerned with getting the proportions right. Jackie was best pleased with her pencil version, the third of her portraits,

I used my iPad, and the still life was achieved using its layering effect and different brushes: pencils and charcoal.  I then attempted to draw Penny, starting with the charcoal and adding pencil.  I decided her hands looked like a bunch of bananas, so I finally did a study just of her hands.

Don't forget that next week is Monoprinting,  run by Avril and Lesley, with the option to stay all day for £6. Details are on the Stop Press section. Bring lots of paper, copy paper is fine and old failed watercolours etc to collage onto if you want. Some glue to collage prints together too.  The subject is 'Jungle', so if you want go with that,  bring some leaves with you. Lesley says she has found Susan Clifton’s  gelliplate printing videos on YouTube really helpful.  They can be found here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaiXikyqzm2LV7PXVmqAoXg

Next week Avril will also be the blogger ( a busy week!), so send any contributions to her.

Hannah here, after a long absence. First I would just like to say 'Thank you!' for the warmth of the welcome I received this morning.  What a lovely lot you are!
As you can see, numbers this morning were quite low, I think there were about 13 of us, including Ian, who provided us with an interesting collection of very varied objects for our still life this morning.  I don't know how he managed it, but he was able to maintain a smile for most of his poses for the portraitists - a very difficult thing to do, and it made for some interesting portraits.

So here are those portraits:  First, three from Judith and two from Sally T, both of which capture something of Ian...

And next, one each from Frances (a ten minute sketch!) and Avril, and two from Elizabeth

Now to the still life.
First two from Sally P of the machinery on the table, two different treatments.  Then the same subject by Josie, followed by her preparation for another work, using ink which didn't dry enough by the end for her to work over the top of it.  There appear to be all sorts of things in this image...

Next some treatments of the flowers... First Maggie-Anne, and then Angela tackle the orchid as their central subject, both in pastel, but on different backgrounds, then Bea and Jackie with different versions of the vase of flowers.  Bea's work has the delicacy of a botanical study and Jackie has decided to remove the succulent at the back of her composition, there was some discussion of methods of removing watercolour paint - Jackie will fill you in, and hopefully we will see the finished version.

Frances worked on different images inspired by the vase of flowers.  She said, 'First scribbling with Art Graf and ink.  The second playing… this time watercolour and ink. Decided to be neat with flowers!  Ink and  watercolour pencil.'
At the end, my effort at depicting the succulent in a pot.

Finally, Carolyn has a particularly fine display of snowdrops this year, and has sent two drawings of them.  As she used InkTense, she has added blending to the second drawing.

In two weeks time, 6 March, Lesley and Avril will be leading a session using gelli printing. You will find the information needed to participate in this session on the Stop Press page, along with a photo of the examples Avril brought in today. Check there for info on who will be doing the Blog next week as well.  Have a good week - hopefully it's going to warm up a bit!

11 of us had a wonderful day with Andrew and his able assistant Ollie. We were greeted with a smiling face full of enthusiasm and he told us how he kept his interest in art due to his father being an artist. He  was a graphic designer and  now exhibits 9 - 10 times a year and still has a unique style full of energy. 

There was a vast array of artwork on display, plus pastels, pencils and amusing sketches. 

We had three handouts, one explaining the drawing process a light sketch, form and then texture and the other one was a line drawing with dots, when we coloured in the shapes it showed how the shadows worked, negative space, a different approach.

​

The first thing on the agenda was a dandelion, the background was done first using loose colour  and blending the green using a finger in figure of eight  movements. Then dots of light were added and blurred at the edges and the surround of the flower spiked out. Light green from the background or mixing paper were placed in the centre which made it tonal  and the edge sharpened with soft posca pens or pencils. Darker areas were put in the middle to represent the seed heads and spikes arranged afterwards.

Pictures of the finished dandelion heads, great efforts all-around

Sorry about the reverse order but the computer, he said no.  We placed masking tape on the Canson paper in the shape of the trees and then the background was randomly applied in patches of pastel  colour. It was blended by lifting the finger dabbing up and down and using figure of eight movements.
When the tape was removed stark grey shapes were revealed which were covered in white pastel  and grey/blue for shaded areas. Finally black ink, felt pen, charcoal, or pastel used to make the marks on the trunk. Crisp edges can be done by scraping away  the background with a scalpel.

The final pastels in order from left to right

Row 1
Avril, Barry and Lesley
Row 2
Sandra, Angela and Sally
Row 3
Gill, Ian and Harriet
Row4
Penny and Maggie Anne

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Interesting photos taken on the day
left to right
Row 1
Actual drawing of trees, Sea picture for us to copy at home, Andrew demonstrating
Row 2
Tree pastel showing negative space, laminated bookmark double-sided given to us by Andrew
Row 3
People at work, Pencils and business given to us by Andrew, Ollie having a well earned rest
Row 4
​Cartoon, Copy of pastel given to the art group, sketchbook ideas
Row 5
Another page of Sketchbook.

I am sure that everyone is very grateful to Andrew for his open generosity and marvelous session.

​Sally is the blogger for next week.

15 members were present at the Bowls Club this morning. Maggie Ann was our model, and she had provided us with some very challenging pieces on the still life table too.
​so while Maggie Ann put her feet up and generally loafed about we cracked on.

portraits first, some good likenesses too.
from Judith
​

from Ian J two pencil portraits, again a good likeness.   And from Harriet a two full body poses including a very successful  Pencil drawing of the pose with foreshortened legs .

portraits from Elizabeth in pastel and charcoal,                and from Barry  in Neocolour 

from Jill portraits of Maggie Ann, and  Ian C drew portraits of the rest of us as we innocently went about our business 

​from the still life table, Jane and Jackie both tackled the thorny subject of roses, in their own inimitable style- guess which is which…

jenny painted the very densely packed and difficult pot of Fuchsias, Lesley also drew the fuchsias in pastel, and  also the basket of ivy, again a very difficult and intricate subject

​Sally P was also firing up her pastels with a selection of very shiny sweets, and a netted glass ball.
i’m also including Carolyn’s picture of the week here, because of the similarly netted oranges, a companion piece.

 Josie used charcoal and pastels, but felt that the medium had rather taken over in this complex composition. And I battled with two Staffordshire china dogs who seem to be plotting against me, or am I just being paranoid?

​The ‘full works’ sketchbook from Avril, some good likenesses again

​and from Frances, wash and ink sketches, again another good likeness. Maggie Ann obviously makes a good subject.

Sandra was going back to basics, and enjoyed making up samples of pastel blending by mark making, and put it into practise with her drawing of a pear against a coloured background on Pastelmat paper
​

I went to a pastel demonstration yesterday which referred to pastel pictures as paintings, not drawings, because pastels were used in a painterly technique, so I will remember to refer to them as paintings in the future!

• and finally…
• Next Week is a pastel workshop session only. - if you were prevented from attending due to limited space please let Lesley know,  as there is a possibility of arranging another session if enough interest is shown.
• The committee are arranging venues for summer sketching, and would like suggestions for venues, particularly for private gardens.
• if you are not coming to the workshop grasp this golden opportunity to crack on with the chairman’s project ‘On the Edge’

Next week’s blogger is Avril​

Sally

On a frosty morning that cleared out to be bright blue sky's there were 16 members who appeared all ready and eager to get down to their art.

​

Ian provided  an interesting table full of woodworking equipment 

He also sat  in a reading pose and one sitting on a bar stool with a bottle of bear and glasses but did not partake

Jenny, Barry, Maggie Anne, Lesley, Josie and Angela tackled their own projects

Barry thought he would use his mark making bits to incorporate with his flower painting, he intends to fade the background and then paste in butterflies. Maggie-Anne's acrylic painting of a dog was a good exercise and members thought it had attitude and it was endearing. 
Lesley's is the third one, top row an atmospheric rendering of Galloway.

Josie arrived late so did quick experiments, wet doodles and Angela also put down her thoughts in her sketchbook. Jenny left early so had just had time to layout the scene.

There were some wonderful still life drawings today, Harriet's charcoal was done after break and she said it was done quickly but it looks very detailed to me. Sally P's  is in the middle an excellent use of shading and she was pleased with the kitchen roll. Penny said her's was not dark enough and found it challenging but members thought the perspective was good and that it was delicate. 

Harriet's figure had good proportions and Gil'ls last two has her own individual style, she said it would be better to have an easel and view the subject further back.

Sent from Frances -   We have had some wet days in Brittany so I am sending three sketches done through windscreen wipers in the car! 2nd, 3rd and forth sketches

last one dry hydrangea sketched inside using the lovely Duke pen I bought following advice from Sally L.
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​The first painting is based on a lovely goldfinch we saw on a walk, nibbling seed heads

sally is the blogger next week

​Hi Sally I have some equipment details for you. I have given suggestions on where to purchase things if it helps.

Paper: 
Any dark grey, (but not black)
I found this good online company, they offer Dark grey or Anthracite grey ( both canson make)
12 sheets about £30 this included delivery  I think 2 sheets each would be OK, depends on whether people have bought their own to paint from their pictures, as you mentioned, if not 2 sheets each would be good even if we didn't use it all its handy to have! (BEING PROVIDED BY THE EAG)

greatart.co.uk

Board:
It's important to have a solid surface as this enables  better techniques . This company offers A2 board perfect for working with pastel.

cutmy.co.uk

594mm x 420mm @ 3mm thickness .These are between £3.70-£5.00 each, there may be offers on that reduce this price, a great board to have for future work!

Pastels:
Any pastels you have, I do recommend  this basic set too relatively  inexpensive  I often use a mixture of pastels/ multi media including this suggested set.

Inscribe 32 colours half stick can be found online between £7 - £10  (easiest option) The cheapest I found were from 
 Roys of Thetford £5.70 or so.
They sometimes run out as they are so popular so a visit to the store is worthwile.
Pen
Notepad 
Straight edge or ruler

I will provide 
Pics to work from
A charcoal white pencil
Tape to fix paper down
Blu tac

I will also give out sheets of info, A simple drawing frame and pen and plenty of fun!
I think if people did 1-2 pieces where we can learn techniques it would be good, this is only a suggestion  as you mentioned  some would like to do their own thing at some point of the day, which I am happy to incorporate. Apron is probably a good idea

Twenty of us at the Bowls Club this morning, a good turnout for a dull grey day.
Judith was our model in a cheerful and very intricate bright yellow jacket, fur hat/no hat, glasses/ no glasses, so you can see we were kept on our toes.
On the still life table a selection of objects and dried flower heads, and also several members working independently.

First the portraits, and some good likenesses.
​From Angela a pencil portrait,  Ian J worked in pencil and oil pastel.   And Elizabeth’s work in charcoal

​some of Avril’s portraits. -sorry Avril, I didn’t catch them all.    

​and from Sally P using a very thick pencil.              And from Jane three full figures and a portrait.   

​From Jackie   Four delicate pencil sketches     And from Jill a clearly defined full figure pencil drawing

​from Harriet two portraits he first in pencil and the second using pencil and chalk.

And to finish off, Jackie’s lovely watercolour portrait of Bea. Started a few weeks ago, she finished it over Christmas, perfectly capturing not only a good likeness, but her calm gentle demeanour 

on the still life table…
Barry “just drew what was I front of him” two quirky ducks using neo colour crayons.

Harriet’s composition in charcoal,                               And Jenny’s in pencil

Sally Tyley -L and i both attempted mixed media,Sally used pencil, for the glass and kettle and then pen and ink. I used charcoal for the large drawing, and pen with water soluble ink for the smaller piece

​jackie painted the seed heads in watercolour.          And penny the statuette of a fairy/nymph

working independently…
Ian C produced a very delicate chalk pastel drawing in preparation for the workshop
​on February 13th. The colours are typical of this time of year, lovely misty pastel shades…it maybe Wyken Fen

Josie worked on a dramatic picture of a sunflower head.

​Maggie Ann was inspired by the view from the window across the bowling green.

Diana is re-visiting some past ‘treasures’, ( just visible on the iPad screen) inspiring new work, and reworking others.

Lesley has finished her pointillist landscape from Frances’s workshop, but regretted  painting in the sky as a flat colour as it had taken the lively  contrast away from the leaves.

​Eileen is working on a vibrant acrylic landscape

​and Carolyn has sent in a pencil drawing of a newly refurbished pouffe. It looks almost edible!

Angela is trying out various compositions for a larger piece of work using cut out figures on a dark background. ( try to blot out the carpet pattern !) -a useful tip to aid composition.

 20 members were present at the Bowls club today, a good turnout on a dull  grey day.
Josie had organised a very stimulating session, as our model dressed in an interesting  combination of colour and pattern.
The still life table was also a challenge with an array of interesting objects and fruit including a ……..
( insert expletive ) writing box a lovely piece, but an enormous challenge. 

First from Carolyn following on at home from last week’s pointillism session using only the three primary colours. She was a bit disappointed not to see more green orange and violet emerging. As always when studying different techniques there is more to it than meets the eye. ( notice the cunning artistic punning reference there)

​Here are today’s life studies, in completely different styles, from Jane, R , and John , centre and L

From Sally P, top row, using watercolour over pencil, and Frances below, using ink, and effectively hatching in the background to add emphasis to the outline.
​

​A selection from Avril’s sketch book, just the 9 images this week, I think it’s really useful to draw several versions of the same thing, you to become really familiar and more confident with the subject.

​next Harriet working in Charcoal, L, and Ian J,  Centre &R, a youthful  Josie a very carefully drawn scarf

​Gill, L, using a 4b pencil a lively drawing, and Sandra, channelling her inner Toulouse Lautrec, produced a striking colourful study. ( sorry about the portrait Sandra, I did turn it round, but the website knows best!)

Working on the still life table, Frances using Art Graf, chalks and wash to add movement to the peppers and again with the lamp using background colour to emphasise shape.
​Jenny’s delicately painted feather looses no detail, even rendered sideways! -sorry Jenny, and Maggie Ann’s lamp carefully observed in every detail, even those tricky reflections.

A carefully detailed painting from Judith - L,  finding as we all did the perspective difficult on such a complex subject.
​Angela, centre, again , apologies Angela, ‘computer knows best’ for your image on its side. Drawn first and then watercolour added and finally me, charcoal ‘refined’ i.e. re-drawn with ink. The second little sketch book image was much easier after I’d worked through the first.

​Fruit from Jackie-L, and Sally P-centre, almost exactly the same view rendered completely differently. Jackie’s firmly placed on the table with judicious use of shadow, and Sally’s similarly anchored by strong background colour.
Bea was pleased today with her picture of the beetle.
​

and on the independent table Diana working on a still life composition again starting from scratch and adding the elements as she works, this time she had some magazine photos as inspiration.

and Ian C taking inspiration from the beautiful sunsets that he has seen lately on his journey home, used his own photos to make a composite landscape in watercolour.

And finally…

• subscriptions are now due, £25.00, Ian can be paid in the usual ways, and to make things even easier he now has a snazzy new card reader, so you can pay in person using your bank card!
• Harriet mentioned an  excellent exhibition currently at Diss Corn Hall in, last few days, but well worth a look.
• Sally P has organised a whole day pastel workshop with Andrew Harrington on February 13th. £30.00. A different format, combining several quick studies and exercises.
• Unfortunately there are limited places, only 12, already filled, but Sally has a waiting list Incase of cancellations, and there is a possibility that we could run this again if there was enough interest.
• Hannah is in charge of the blog next week, so please send contributions to her.

​sally

Frances explaining procedure and showing examples while we listen intently

 Sally L practice pieces, leaf and apple and Jane's samples and pepper, followed by Maggie Anne's super apple and Jenny's neat work.

Sally made samples and was pleased with the apple but thought the sky needed more work 

Ian made a coloured background on which to work his view of the Derbyshire downs. Angela was interested in the technique and was pleased she finished the leaf and everyone thought the sky worked well.

Barry tried the technique with felt tipped pens which gave a very neat clean look. Harriet's picture  in the middle had a wash first to unite it and she thinks the foreground needs more detail. Jo's sunflower showed lots of texture.
​

Avril enjoyed the sessions today and learnt a lot

Ian made an inexpressive picture of a boat capturing Sizewell's atmosphere

The blogger next week is Sally Ladbrooke

Eleven members were at the Bowls Club this morning, a beautiful crisp sunny day.
Harriet had provided us with a wide variety of winter soup making vegetables, but being the eager beavers that we are we drew them instead.

​and David prepared himself for the gruelling task of modelling.

​First an appetiser from Carolyn, an Avocado pear, which looks certainly good enough to eat, the outer  skin has such a lovely texture, perfectly captured.

​And now for the vegetables…Josie’s  vibrant composition I think has a touch of Cezanne, strong shapes picked out effectively against the varied background colours.

​Jane’s drawings of part of the still life display, and almost ‘vegetable portraits’ of the separate elements

Sally P tackled the tricky shiny metal pot, with almost too good to eat luscious vegetables

 Frances ( left)                            And Avril (right) drew almost the same section of the still life table.

Jenny painted the delicate trailing leaves of the Tradescanthia and some edible looking tomatoes, and Frances also drew a striking version of the Jade plant.

and here are the portraits of David.

From Avril, some striking likenesses.

​From Harriet, very delicately drawn, and beautifully observed hands always a tricky subject.

​From Ian, a portrait in pencil.

​and from Jackie a lovely figure study. Especially  effective against the coloured background,
​, and part of the still life.

And from Frances, a strong graphic image.

Meanwhile on the side table Maggie Ann drew this charming portrait of her dog Mollie in Pastel pencil.

I worked on versions in  tone and composition of a landscape that I might get round to painting…

​Jenny brought in this finished version of a boat started at a workshop session a few weeks ago, to remind us of summer days ahead.

• And finally…
• Don’t forget to update your gallery pictures and send them to Hannah.
• Next week’s session is a workshop led by Frances - see below
• Avril is in charge of next week’s blog.

​
Sally

A full house at The Bowls Club today for our Christmas party. We were welcomed with mulled wine and mince pies, and then the fun started! 
First a quiz organised by Frances and Sally T, quite a challenge for the little grey cells, some of us were even reduced to writing down the answers afterwards!
Next Jackie and Maggie Ann devised a drawing challenge for us to produce group pictures containing various Christmas elements each group drawn in the style of an art movement. The challenge was that we had to guess which art movement had been  reproduced- more fizzing of grey cells!

Then on to The Chairman’s Project.
The topic this year was ‘On Reflection’ and as always it produced some varied and interesting interpretations, and the stories behind the artworks I think are one of the strengths of this project it makes us think.

Jill introduced  Elaine’s picture, produced for as part of work towards her degree, of herself as a child in the foreground reflecting on the image through the window, and her children in the photograph looking back at her.

​Jill’s own picture a very definite and clear reflection in water, a generic landscape, clearly reflected, but definitely not Suffolk.

Ian C gave us Geldeston Lock, a strong oil painting of the river Waveney, beautifully capturing the light dancing on the water as it flows downstream.

​And from Ian J some colourful Christmas baubles reflecting the dancing Christmas lights.

from Harriet a very strong graphic image of the strange and beautiful light from a large Harvest Moon , and herself looking through the window reflecting on a familiar landscape in Wales

Penny brought a picture of a favourite walk in Ashdown Forest, a lovely tranquil scene perfectly reflected.

and Frances starting with the poem The Lady of Shallot, but moved on from her grisly end in the river to a quote from Julius Caesar,’ The eye sees not itself but a reflection’ , and a large eye surrounded by shards of mirror glass.

Richard treated us to his thoughts on the Beatles Song ‘she’s Leaving Home’ his picture depicting a young girl severing her family ties as she says goodbye to her past,( complete with musical accompaniment) 
​Richard I’m really sorry, but I haven’t got your image, if you bring it in January we can include it then.

Judith brought a peaceful scene of moored yachts on still calm water, perfect reflections. - which I’m afraid I’ve added to in the photograph with reflections on the glass!

Avril had an interesting story to accompany her picture, of initially disliking the ceiling fan and Artex
 ceiling in her bedroom. But over time has come to see all sorts of ‘cloud images’ in the swirls of Artex and become fond of it, and realised that on hot summer days the ceiling fan is a good idea. 
So on reflection they both got a reprieve!
She has painted the reflections on the metal base of the ceiling fan, a very striking picture from an unusual angle.

​jane showed a picture of light highlighting fruit on her iPad, and also this beautiful pencil drawing of a glass vase and a bauble, which eloquently speaks for itself.

A cluster of baubles from Josie, glittering with reflected light, and two single baubles using metallic paint not quite in the way Josie intended!

​Jackie read the poem which inspired her pictures, a path through the woods dividing to offer the traveller a choice,(in life) and the second picture the traveller now older, reflecting on the path that they took .

Maggie Ann gave us an Owl, reflecting on the mouse he’s just eaten, and what wise owl wouldn’t do that?

​Hannah was prompted by her granddaughter gleefully discovering her reflection in a spoon. She has given us two reflections of herself in the concave and convex faces of the spoon. And at no extra charge the scientific explanation for the difference in size between the two.(see H for details)

Barry has painted this shimmering seaside scene , the strong reflected light has almost broken up the image/mirage and lends  itself ideally  to this impressionist technique, he has very effectively added the little red kite.

John brought this image of what must have been complete chaos, the aftermath of a hurricane in Barbados, we are all reflecting on the cause of these increasingly common extreme weather events.
john, I am really sorry I don’t have an image, if you send one to Hannah we can publish it on the next blog.

​Sally P gave us this image of her Kettle, a great subject for reflections which she drew on her iPad.

​and from Angela a beautiful festive Christmas baubles, almost abstract, with liberal use of festive gold!

and finally…our completed patchwork pictures of fruit by Van Gogh.

Next Chairman’s Project.  On the Edge 
This needs to be completed by the last session in the Bowls Club on April 24th, plenty of time…

• If you are taking part in Suffolk Open Studios with the guild please send images to Hannah as soon as possible.
• if you would like to send members a Christmas greeting send to Hannah for inclusion on that part of the website
• the next session is on January 2nd !

If any images in today’s blog are reduced, tap on them for the full version
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Hannah will be in charge of the blog next time.

We wish you all a Happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year 
and….
NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION FOR ALL MEMBERS …UPDATE YOUR PICTURES IN THE MEMBERS GALLERY! Sorry to sound bossy, but you’ll thank me for it.
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Sally 

 20 members made it today on this dismal day, luckily we were all in  a cheery mood, Jane provided a colourful floral display and sat patiently for us. Lesley asked about the new timings and whether we should stay as we are or revert back to the old system and 7 said they did not mind, 2 for the new system and 10 for the old way.
An Open Studios form was there for members to sign if they wanted to take part. Frances said that she would give us information about her Pointillism workshop in January. There was also a form to sign about the Christmas party regarding how many would like to come and what they could provide towards the meal.

Ian said about different viewpoints and that he thinks it is hard with perspective and he thought the oranges were too small, Bea's palm in blue vase was done in watercolour and she said the vase needs working on. Sally P's portrait had a good face but the baggy jumper did not look right so Sally said she would cut off below the shoulders. The still life was done with neo wax crayons which is a learning curve how to mix and a  pen outline.

Judith has been following a magazine  for guidance and has painted this beautiful scene. Elizabeth concentrated on the eyes as the lids hide them, Jane said these were the image of her  Nanna - praise indeed. Lesley did painting not drawing and I thought  she coped well with the angle of the leaves

Maggie Anne's vase was good but she was not so sure about the flowers but I think they are very effective, the next two drawings are from Harriet, she was glad that she got the feet in and had fun doing the jumper.  Barry had trouble doing the nose with the first one he went back and then lost it, he also tried watercolour brush pens, used pink and when he wet it it went bright red like she had a hot sauna.

Sally T's is the first one where she experimented with graphite and pencil and then pen and ink and watercolour, Sal thought the vase looked weird. Penny is very delicate and shows negative shapes.
Jo's mixed media baubles are colourful. the last two are from Gill who thought it was a challenge for perspective but liked the charcoal sticks. 

Hannah cropped her flowers and said she still had a long way to go, the white gel pen complimented the piece which looked Japanese. Jackie's portraits are lovely as usual, she said it is hard to make the arms to lean over.

Sally L had a vase morning and also enjoyed the flow of the leaves. The first one was a tonal study with soluble pencil and the last was achieved by using the brillo on a stick with paynes grey and then wiping it off with tissue paper.

Here are some of my efforts 

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Looking forward to seeing you next week with your 'On Reflection' and jigsaw pieces ready . Sally will be recording the fun in the blog.  If you have said you will take part in the Open Studios exhibition next year, please send a picture to Hannah, for inclusion in the publicity.

I finally made it back to the Bowling Club this morning.  What a treat to be with real people after what seems like, and on reflection actually is, weeks of seclusion.  It was great to see everyone today, and experience the wonderful atmosphere of concentration that descends as the members settle to work. 
Angela brought a clever still life, with varied textures, shapes and colours, and proved a very good model for the portrait painters.  there were about 18 of us in attendance.
There were at least three sheets to sign this morning, involving the Christmas party and Open Studios, more below...

First here are some pieces done by members who brought their own work in, rather than using the still life or the model.  You are always free to come and enjoy the companionship of the morning, while working on a project of your own. 

Josie produced a mixture of her own work and the still life.  An abstract, a very plumptious pumpkin, and the third, she said she wasn't sure what it was going to be!

Here are the still life offerings...

First, Jane, with two very detailed drawings, the still life, and a tree study. (Sorry about the shadow across the tree, Jane, I think that's my camera)

Next, Lesley, with two watercolours.  She had tried not to go over the same ground twice (something that I gather came out of the recent workshop), but had succoumbed anyway.  Very difficult to achieve the right depth of colour without revisiting the subject in this case, I think.  The composition of the group works very well

Frances decided to challenge herself today using a simple pen, having found at home a drawing she had done in the same manner some years ago.  She drew elements of the still life, a cup from among the club's trophies, and Angela.  Again, the reflections are good practice for the project, and she has captured the shapes very well.  She said the challenge is that you cannot erase, so you have to consider what you do very carefully.

Frances' sketch of Angela leads us nicely into the portraits.

First, Avril filled several pages of her sketchbook and also made a larger portrait with more colour added to it.

Elizabeth also sketched a number of portraits. A number of the artists said the standing portrait had been challenging because of the angle of Angela's body.

Here is Ian J's work from this morning.

And here are Sally T's portraits.

Several notices were given out this morning, and the sheets for sign up were many!
1.  The collages have been put into the frames in Thornham Magna village hall, and Mick reports they are looking very good.
2.  There are only two weeks to the Christmas party on 12th December.  If you are coming next week, please sign up to let us know if you will be coming to the party, whether you are bringing a guest, and what food you will contribute to the feast.
3.  Don't forget, if you are doing something for the Chairman's project, 'On Reflection', you will need to bring it with you for presentation at the party.
4.   There are two pieces of the patchwork picture still available for collection next week, if you are interested.

Next week's blogger is Avril.