Tuesday 9 June: Hopes and Dreama - or Missed Opportunites

We have received a lovely collection of people's hopes and dreams, and missed opportunities due to coronavirus. Our artists long to see family and friends, and to return to places dear to their hearts. One artist longs to go off on a companiable urban sketching trip. Some of us recreated special memories. One person looked at her neighbours' windows and thought of all the longings within sets of windows. Some of us focused on missed opportunities, and hopefully it is beneficial to identify the losses and produce these in art form. A wide selection of media were used, and beyond our normal paint-based materials we have some three-dimensional sculptural work and collage, including embroidery.

As always, despite our best efforts, we have one painting unaccountably omitted from our previous collection, and some ex-theme pieces.

Details about our next art day will follow shortly  In the meantime, thank you for sharing your lockdown thoughts and other visions with us.


Images above are, left to right, by Diane Umemoto, Gafung Wong, Janet Payne


Images above are, left to right, by Cathy Burkinshaw, Maggie Pettigrew, Jenny Ainsley


Images above are, left to right, by Helen Fuggle, Gill Steiner, Wendy Long


Images above are, left to right, by Priscilla Worley, Tricia Sharp, Sue Lees
Images above are, left to right, by Imrana Khanum, Sara Meidan, Imrana Khanum


Images above are, left to right, by Pat Castle and David Milner



Image above is by Pat Castle

Tuesday 9 June: Hopes and Dreams - or Missed Opportunities

We have decided to have another paint-at-home day next Tuesday, 9 June, because we think that you are all enjoying the challenge, and a painting day takes people's minds off the continuing unsatisfactory Coronavirus situation. This time the theme is "hopes and dreams", and alternatively, "missed opportunities". Plenty of scope for imaging what you would like to do, people you would like to see, etc., or your thwarted plans, (including collage - Ed).

And if you don't fancy the theme, don't let that put you off doing something else and sending it in.

The destination for images this time is: susan@lees.org.uk and we look forward to seeing your creations.

Happy Painting!

For those of you who want to get back to sketching the streets of London, a "virtual" sketchcrawl may be the answer. The London Urban Sketchers have got to grips with how to set these up, and their next event is on Saturday, 6 June, when the location is Little Venice. The USk have extracted various links from google's street photos, they put them on their blog page, artists click on the links and can pan round that particular location. You choose your view, and start sketching! Conveniently, the light does not change nor do vans park in front of the view. The usual throwdown displays of participants' work have been replaced by various social media links. Full details can be found here: http://urbansketchers-london.blogspot.com/2020/05/virtual-sketchcrawl-lets-draw-little.html This method of urban sketching is yet another step on for your artistic journey, maybe worth a go.

Finally, a new submission from Annie Faulkner.

Reflections: Tuesday 26 May 2020

This time we asked you all to produce something on the theme of Reflections. This could involve watery reflections, mirrors, windows, contemplations on our current virus situation, or indeed, a reflection of where you are or what you are doing. Artists produced work on all aspects of these reflective possibilities, and also reflections on past events now unreal and dreamlike. The white pots are interpretations of Roman pots, following the artist's discovery that the Romans had a pottery in Highgate Woods, close to her home. She has been thinking through Roman life, reflecting, in fact, on Roman existence, and the uncomfortable nature thereof, around the pottery, constantly over the last few weeks.

We have also included a couple of works which were accidentally omitted in the previous collection. (It is surprisingly difficult to keep track of all the images sent in! We do apologise, and hope that this time nobody is left out, except of course, late deliverers!)

Thank you all for sending in such interesting and varied images. We will let you know the next theme and date very shortly. In the meantime, please enjoy the images, and keep painting!

May 2020, extra pictures and next meeting

Phoenix (Gafung) Wong has sent in these lovely pictures of irises for our Celebration of Spring event. 

Our next 'innings' is on Tuesday 26 May and the subject is Reflections. You can interpret this in any way you choose, reflections in water, reflections in a mirror, or of course reflections (or thoughts) on the current Covid 19 situation. Or alternatively in the best creative tradition ignore the subject and send in what you want! This time please send your pics to Sue, susan@lees.org.uk.

There has been a great response so far to the innings, keep going Artists!

Early May 20, Celebration of Spring

Once again a great response. Artists include Gill Steiner, Sue Lees, Diane Umemoto, Janet Payne, Tricia Sharpe, Priscilla Worley, Jenny Ainsley, Anna Fraser, Avis Dennis, Cathy Burkinshaw, Louise Howard, Wendy Long, and Alison Sandifer.

Some artists are still abroad and others only just able to return to London after the easing of travel restrictions. Most of us are here in North East London where the birdsong is much more audible than usual and the parks and gardens are blossoming. 

Watch this space for the next event. Hopefully we can have more of an outing next time, though not as a group.