A Celebration of Painting Classes

This is my first solo exhibition, after attending drawing and painting classes for ten years. You will see that I paint for enjoyment and paint and draw what what I like to see or what interests me. However there are also the challenges set by the class teacher, which sometimes result in paintings of difficult subjects, like the Valencia flooding of 2025, or trying a bit of Fauvism. I would not be anything like as skilful or confident if I hadn't had the training, advice, support and those challenges set by my teachers. And as these are classes, there are other students; we share our experiences and encourage each other. I've also included a selection from my sketchbooks, I'm still not very confident at sketching in public places, though I was able to sit in and sketch makers at a craft session and a community drumming session, with the encouragement of Gillian Lawrence and the Eastbank Seniors group. In 2017 I joined a class at Bedford House in Buckhurst Hill (BHCA,which I still attend) which got me started in acrylics, watercolour and pastels, and since 2024 I'm also attending a portrait class at Wanstead House. With the challenges they set each week, I've found these classes vital to developing my skills and enthusiasm for drawing and painting. This exhibition is dedicated to my teachers: Patrick Purcell (Instagram) and Anna Bisset (Instagram), for their encouragement and patience.