David Sawyer – Beddington Park in the snow.
We had a snow day! Suddenly Instagram was filled with images of grown-ups going outdoors with childish glee to revel in the crisp whiteness of it all. Us painters of course grasped it with both gloved hands. The compositional possibilities of having so many light shapes down where we’d usually find the darks cannot be allowed to pass unrecorded. This painting by David Sawyer was painted even as the alarmingly quick thaw was setting in, you can feel the fleeting nature of it.
Charles Patey, living in Norway, is used to snow but confinement, not so much. Whilst stuck indoors he has created this excellent tableau as a paean to his dormant life drawing group, The details are exquisite, do have a close look, the easels are Charles’ own design, we have twenty of them for our pop-up events but I also love the crud on the floor, probably the sort of things artists don’t notice in the way that organisers do! Charles goes back to the early days of this group and now runs a similar organisation in his native Norway.
And founder Alison Packer, who many of you will know from our IRL sessions, is now down in the South of France settling into her space there, which because of quarantine has to be indoors for seven days. She has dug out her watercolours and is beginning to become excited with what she sees around her. Here are some mimosas that caught her eye, and nose. She sends her love.
Confinement can cause reflection and re-evaluation, it’s like we’ve all been put on sabbatical. If all goes well we will find that out of the inactivity, we discover the urgency of new projects to carry us through to the new, clean, fully vaccinated, post Covid world – indoors or outdoors.
Free Masterclass with Erin Raedeke
Free Masterclass with Erin Raedeke is on the 15th February 7.00pm: read more or sign up on this page
Tuesday Evening Freya’s Fast Poses 7.00pm-8.30pm on Zoom
Hannah
Wet media: splishy, splashy, scritchy, scratchy. Freya will be asking you to get your inks, watercolours and brushes out this evening because yes, you can draw with paints and inks. If you are looking desperately around your home for something that looks like a paintbrush, don’t worry, you can draw along in the spirit of wetness perfectly well with a pencil if that is all you have. Our model is dancer Hannah.
You can join us on Zoom from 6.45pm and get to know us and any other drawers before work commences at 7.00pm.
The cost is £8 but if you can convince us you’re a student we’ll give you a code to get the session for £5: drop us an email.
Wednesday Portraiture 2.00pm-5.00pm on Zoom
Amy will be our portrait model for this week and next. I think the piercing is a thing of the past.
Zoom fee is £15 Please book here
The session fee will be reduced to £12 if you use the discount code PESTE2 at final checkout. This is optional.
Saturday Long Pose Life Drawing 10.00am-1.00pm on Zoom
Rebecca
Rebecca will posing for us this Saturday and next. Rebecca is a dancer and almost always poses with her mouth slightly parted, as in the picture above, which brings a distinct charm to the proceedings.
Zoom fee is £15
The Zoom session fee will be reduced to £12 if you use the discount code PESTE2 at final checkout. This is optional.