Burnham Art Trail 2023

This is me, proud as Punch! Having just hung my paintings in Holicity Health, 140 Station Road, Burnham on Crouch, my alloted venue for the Burnham Art Trail 2023.

It was Art Trail venue number 12, which you can find on the Art Trail Map here.

This was my first Art Trail, the culmination of nine months painting and anticipation, which is why I was so relieved and excited.

kathryn hockey, artist, illustrator, holicity health, venue, burnham art trail, burnham on crouch, essex, art exhibition, pen and wash, watercolour paintingsDiana and Nick from Hoilcity Health were an absolute dream to coordinate with. They were both so kind, laid back but enthusiastic and very flexible when I had to postpone my set up day because of a brush with covid. Huge thanks to them.

kathryn hockey, artist, illustrator, holicity health, venue, burnham art trail, burnham on crouch, essex, art exhibition, pen and wash, watercolour paintings kathryn hockey, artist, illustrator, holicity health, venue, burnham art trail, burnham on crouch, essex, art exhibition, pen and wash, watercolour paintings

And here’s a little video of the pictures in the window. 

All my Art Trail Paintings are For Sale!

I’ve listed the paintings I exhibited in my Art Trail venue below. They’re all pen and wash and they’re all for sale, so do please contact me if you’d like to buy yourself, or someone else you love, some art:

sunset, trees, winter, silhouette, landscape, sky, clouds, essex, mayland, essex, burnham art club, pen and wash, drawing, painting, illustration, watercolour, watercolor

 

Sunset, Winter Trees, Mayland

Framed

£75

sunset, trees, winter, silhouette, landscape, sky, clouds, essex, mayland, essex, burnham art club, pen and wash, drawing, painting, illustration, watercolour, watercolor

Sold

 

Sunset II, Winter Trees, Mayland

Framed

£75

 

sunset, trees, winter, silhouette, landscape, sky, clouds, essex, mayland, essex, burnham art club, pen and wash, drawing, painting, illustration, watercolour, watercolor

 

Sunset III, Winter Trees, Mayland

Framed

£75

 

grapnells farm, wallasea island, burnham-on-crouch, burnham art trail, burnham art club, river crouch, essex, wallasea island, boats, landscape, pen and wash, watercolour, painting, urban sketching, nautical scene, illustration

 

 

Grapnells Farm, Wallasea Island

Framed

£100

 

 

blue boat, low tide, burnham-on-crouch, burnham art club, river crouch, essex, wallasea island, boats, landscape, pen and wash, watercolour, painting, urban sketching, nautical scene, illustration

 

 

Blue Boat, Low Tide

Framed

£100

 

 

 

burnham-on-crouch, burnham art club, river crouch, essex, wallasea island, boats, landscape, pen and wash, watercolour, painting, urban sketching, nautical scene, illustration

 

 

Wallasea Island from Burnham Quay

Framed

£100

 

 

 

burnham-on-crouch, burnham art club, essex, landscape, pen and wash, watercolour, painting, urban sketching, clock, clock tower, architecture, high street, illustration

 

 

Clock Tower, Burnham-on-Crouch

Framed

£120

 

 

 

burnham-on-crouch, burnham art club, essex, house portrait, landscape, pen and wash, watercolour, painting, urban sketching, front door, door, architecture, high street, illustration

 

Green Door, High Street, Burnham-on-Crouch

Framed

£100

 

 

 

 

sharings, wisteria, weatherboard, cottage, high street, burnham-on-crouch, pen and wash, watercolour, painting, drawing, landscape, house, cottage core

 

Sharings’ Wisteria

Framed

£100

 

 

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Morning Trees, Mayland

Framed

£75

Sold

 

 

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Asheldham Church

Framed

£75

 

 

 

At Burnham Museum

And below is the painting, also pen and wash, that is on the Burnham Musuem ‘taster wall’

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No7 High Street, Burnham-on-Crouch

Framed

£100

 

 

 

And this is the original painted postcard I donated for the auction, it’s based on a sketch I made in my neighbours’ garden last year.

bees, bumble bee, lavender, flowers, poppy, seed heads, insects, pollinators, pen and wash, watercolour, painting, drawing, sketch, sketching, illustration

 

 

Lavender Bees

Unframed

Auctioned

 

 

 

There was a lovely Art Trail launch party at Burnham Museum. It was a real treat to meet other participating artists, some for the first time. The range and quality of the artwork on show there was really impressive and I was honoured to be included. 

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Art On The Quay

I also took part in Art on the Quay during the mornings of Sundays 25th June and 2nd July. We painted under the bright pink gazebos opposite The Olde White Harte pub.

essex, burnham art trail, art on the quay, the olde white harte hotel, architectural, illustration, quay, burnham-on-crouch, pen and wash, watercolour, painting, drawing, artists, painters, kathryn hockey, artist, illustratorThe pen and wash painting I made of the pub over those two Sundays is below. It’ll be up for sale at the Burnham Art Club exhibition which starts on Saturday 26th August in Burnham’s museum.

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And here’s me painting it!

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Click here for all the Burnham Art Trail 2023 information.

Riverside Trilogy, Ulting

I received the application form for the annual art exhibition in Langford and Ulting Village Hall as a friend and I were planning a kayak trip from Hoe Mill Lock. It was the perfect opportunity to take some reference photos of the beautiful Ulting countryside along the banks of the River Chelmer as we paddled to Paper Mill Lock and back. 

Being so low, sitting on the surface of the water, lends an unusual perspective and, as my kayak buddy pointed out, these pen and wash landscapes actually have the orientation of portraits.

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It was the striking silouhettes of the towering teasels I noticed first, I love the way they frame this little rural scene. water, langford and ulting village hall, art exhibition, countryside,ulting, river chelmer, riverbank, riverside,silhouette, landscape, essex, burnham art club, pen and wash, drawing, painting, illustration, watercolour, watercolor

I was struck by the lush green of this riverside field in contrast to the backlit branches, still bare, on the cusp of spring.

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And lastly, the beautiful old church appears to grow out of the vegetation on the riverbank.

The exhibition will celebrate local artists and raise money for the village hall:

Langford and Ulting Village Hall, Langford Road, CM9 4SS

Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd April 2023, 10am-5pm

Burnham Art Club – Winter 2022-23

Happy to present the remaining pen and wash paintings I made between December 2022 and February 2023.

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Above and below, a couple more attempts to capture the colourful sky as the winter sun sets behind our neighbours’ poplar trees.

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And since I’m partial to a silhouette, here’s Asheldham church backlit by a January sunset.

winter, leaves, maldon, essex, burnham art club, pen and wash, drawing, painting, illustration, watercolour, watercolor

While taking a short, time killing wander around Maldon one December evening I noticed these illuminated leaves still clinging to a tree behind the Blue Boar pub.

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It never ceases to amaze me how winter pansies can continue to bloom after being repeatedly frozen, aparently solid. 

chickens, hens, birds, mayland, essex, burnham art club, pen and wash, drawing, painting, illustration, watercolour, watercolor

The two beauties above live in the neighbourhood.

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My mum bought this beautiful Singer for £32, 12 shillings and thruppence in 1962 which is worth between £658 and £873 depending on your inflation calculator. 

Burnham Art Club – November 2022

Even if I can’t get to Burnham Art Club meetings on a Tuesday morning, to either paint out in the open air or inside the Art Club meeting hall, I set time aside to make a new painting at home.

These are the paintings I made in November.

tillingham, village, essex, dengie, landscape, bricks, tiles, weatherboard,pen and wash, drawing, painting, illustration, architecture, church, rooftops, chimneys, watercolour, watercolor

I actually made a version of this view of Tillingham Church about six months ago in May. I drove to Tillingham on a bright morning and sat drawing in the street until the chill from the wind got a bit uncomfortable. The passersby were mostly curious and friendly and the guy whose house I was sitting outside kindly offered me a cuppa. He’d overestimated the warmth of the sunshine too – he came out wearing shorts and no top!

I was out of practice back then and although the painting  came out ok, I wasn’t happy with the composition so I redid it this month.

cherry tomatoes, tomatoes, pen and wash, drawing, painting, illustration, food, homegrown, watercolour, watercolor

We’ve still got tomatoes growing in our greenhouse here in Mayland. I was struck by the elegance of this particular branch as it draped over the bamboo cane. I also love the colour gradation of the fruits as they ripen at differnet rates. 

pen and wash, drawing, painting, illustration, flower, rose, floral, botanical, homegrown, watercolour, watercolor

And finding this beautiful rose blooming in our neighbours’ garden while I was house  sitting recently was a lovely surprise. Its scent was diivine but, sadly, capturing that was beyond me!

sunset, trees, winter, silhouette, landscape, sky, clouds, essex, mayland, essex, burnham art club, pen and wash, drawing, painting, illustration, watercolour, watercolor

You may recognise the form of the trees above from a painting I made almost exactly a year ago.

It’s the view from my bedroom window, and by November the sun has crept around the house to set behind the neighbours’ poplars, with Mayland Hill in the background.

Although the silhouette of the trees is basically unchanged, there’s huge variation and sometimes drama in the sky colours as the sun goes down. 

Summer Flowers

botanical drawing, sweet peas, flowers, pen and wash, waterclour, painting, drawing, pink, sketchbook, illustration

Above and below, a couple of sketchbook pieces that I painted in the summer. I used the same colour palette for the orchids and the sweet peas, as you can see from my little paint tin in the photos.

orchid, flowers, botanical drawing, pen and wash, waterclour, painting, drawing, pink, sketchbook, illustration

Orange Field – Tree Silhouettes

 

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On my way back from morning dog walks, these winter tree silhouettes kept catching my eye. They are particularly beautiful in contrast with the orange field in the background.

Autumn Sketches

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I was out walking one day and these beautiful fallen leaves seemed just too wonderful to leave behind. I wanted to paint the background black as a contrast to the bright leaves.

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Here’s a pen and wash study of a little squash I grew in the summer this year, I love that deep, dark green and the lighter verdigris veins that demarkate the segments.

I added a digital background to the version below as I thought the orange would contrast well with the green.

squash, drawing, painting, watercolour, pen and wash, autumn, vegetable, food, illustration

Brent – Group Exhibition

Back at the end of the 1970s, aged 10-11, I had a brilliant teacher for my last year of primary school; Janet Hall. She was a gentle, creative person with flowing hair, flowing skirts and clogs, and she lived on this boat. The Steam Tug Brent.brent, steam tug, boat, maldon, essex, heritage

I’ve had the good fortune to have had enjoyed some excellent travel adventures but one of the best was during that last year of primary school. Mrs Hall arranged for our class to travel by boat (not the Brent!) from Maldon to Saint Osyth’s Priory. I still remember that exhilarating feeling of freedom as we skimmed across the water that dark grey morning with a hair whipping wind. Below – my school photo from around that time.budding artist

I got back in touch with Janet having returned to Essex after many years away. As luck would have it she was on the deck of the Brent as I walked on Maldon’s prom one day. Once Covid restrictions eased we met for a coffee and caught up on the intervening years.

Janet told me the story of the Brent’s rescue from the salvage yard in 1971, the years when she became the Hall family home through to the Steam Tug Brent Trust being set up in 2010 as a means of raising money and a voluntary workforce to conserve and restore this lovely old boat. 

The Brent really is a labour of love and I highly recommend signing up for the supporters’ newsletter where you can see many beautiful photos and read the full story. steam tug brent contacts

The Brent has achieved iconic status after 50 years in Maldon. To celebrate, a group exhibition of Brent related artworks was staged at St Mary’s Church Octagon in July 2021. The range, number and quality of pieces was really impressive; models, paintings on metal and board, watercolours, textile pieces, primary school submissions. Really lovely.

I was delighted to be invited to contribute, I made the pen and wash sketch below and helped to hang some of the pictures in the exhibition space.brent, steam tug, boat, maldon, essex, pen and wash, watercolour, painting, drawing, sketch

Circumstances, Covid and otherwise, have so far conspired to prevent me from getting on board on one of Brent’s open days. I’d love to have a really good look around, and of course it would be marvelous to see her fully restored and sailing under steam power again one day.

Summer Sketches

bees, bumble bee, lavender, flowers, poppy, seed heads, insects, pollinators, pen and wash, watercolour, painting, drawing, sketch, sketching, sketchbook, illustration

Here are a couple of pen and wash sketches I made in a beautiful Essex country garden this summer, with the bees humming in and about the lavender.

farmhouse, essex, countryside, english, country garden, weatherboard, red brick, listed building, flowers, pen and wash, watercolour, drawing, painting, sketching, sketchbook, illustration

Hollyhock Bookmark

After many years admiring other people’s summer hollyhock displays I finally managed to grow some from seed this year. My Mum loves hollyhocks too, she had collected the seeds from some beautiful plants that were growing out of the concrete at the edge of a car park in town. I think the fact that such delicate but exuberant loveliness can thrive on apparently nothing adds to the wonder of the hollyhock. The name is also a bonus for a Hockey!

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I noticed recently that my Mum’s bookmark had been well used into tattiness so I painted her a new hollyhock bookmark for her birthday.

Water resistant pen, watercolour paint, 300gsm watercolour paper.