Art crowd party

Blue tit: Copyright Martyn Bishop 2018

Since our venue is about to turn into a building site for a number of weeks, we had our last meeting of the year today, and debriefed a project on a theme suggested by the ever-inventive Joan, Light as a Feather.  Miss, though officially retired from her role as teacher, kindly presided, offering her usual constructive criticism.  Given the prodigious output of other members of the group, I hardly dare admit that we each did a single piece.  I offered a water-colour pencil sketch of some fruit scones, Martyn's version of which more than conforms to the theme!  He had done a watercolour picture of a blue tit, his first essay in the genre for decades: it was very well received - quite right!

The meeting soon degenerated into drinks and nibbles - our earliest Christmas party of all time - but not before I'd set our next project: Heritage.  Some of the group wanted to swot up on perspective, but rather than go too prescriptive and limiting, we decided in the car on the way there that we'd set a more nebulous title - if only to allow retired architect Tony to avoid having to draw more buildings.  I put up a handful of paintings, etchings and the like from our collection to prime the pump, as it were, largely of buildings.  One, a painting of a little house called Holly Cottage, provoked quite a reaction.  The husband of one of the group turns out to have lived there at one time, and she recognised it instantly.  (Not one of mine, but a prize-winning oil by one Fred Parker, who, along with his wife Joan - and my Ma - used to exhibit each year in the Maidstone Art Society show.)

We also got back the stuff we'd hung at the Bridges show in October.  Again, one of mine had sold: a view from the train on the way down to Lauterbrunnen.  Not a bad £15-worth, said he immodestly, and to the benefit of the Bridges charity.