Category Archives: Illustrations

Pen and Wash Portraits of Maldon High Street

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I was born in Maldon (as was my dad), and I lived there until I was 18 so I feel a very strong bond with the place despite having lived away for 30 plus years.

 I decided to paint some of Maldon’s most beautiful buildings. 

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While I was taking reference photos I got the urge to paint all the façades from the old police station in West Square down to the Rose & Crown on the corner of Butt Lane. 

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Part of the loveliness of buildings comes from their relationship to their neighbours; that’s something we could also say about ourselves.

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That stretch of High Street was too long to fit onto one piece of paper so I divided it into eight sections and started making rough sketches. Then I challenged myself to finish all the paintings in a year and exhibit them at the Maeldune Heritage Centre, which is one of the buildings included in the series.

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And since I’ve painted these buildings I’ve notice that they’ve become more vibrant to me. I mean that when I walk or drive past them now, they seem brighter and more alive. It’s as if by getting to know all the little details of their faces I’ve made friends with them!

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The exhibition runs from 17th August to the 5th September 2023, do drop by if you can! There’s an low tech interactive element – please do some colouring in and share your High Street memories on the large black and white print in the centre of the gallery.

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Fine Art Prints

I’ve had some beautiful fine art prints made which capture the essence of the original paintings at half their size. Click here to buy prints.

The ink is lightfast, so it won’t deteriorate over time and the museum quality paper is Hahnemuhle William Turner 310gsm, which has a texture and weight similar to the watercolour paper on which I painted the originals.

Exhibition

Read about my summer exhibition at the Maeldune Heritage Centre here.

Summer Paintings

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The Olde White Harte Hotel

burnham art trail, art on the quay, the olde white harte hotel, architectural, illustration, quay, burnham-on-crouch, pen and wash, watercolour, painting, drawing, landscape, hotel, public house, traditional pubI made this pen and wash piece over the two Sundays of Art on the Quay, which were part of the Burnham Art Trail. It was the first time I’d participated in the Art Trail and it was an excellent experience. Click here to read more about it.

Steam Tug Brent

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I made the pen and wash piece above for this year’s exhibition celebrating this iconic vessel in Maldon. Read more about the exhibition here.

 

Burnham Art Club – Spring 2023

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Grapnells Farm, Wallasea Island

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 Just as the spring weather became gentle enough for open air painting I ventured out onto Burnham Quay. Those two black headed gulls kindly adopted a stylish pose on the post for just long enough for me to sketch them. Got to love an Essex gull.

Sharings’ Wisteria

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Struck by the glorious wisteria adorning Sharings cottage one spring morning, I quickly snapped a photo hoping to make a painting of the scene at a later date. I worked from that photo to make the pen outline and then went back to sit outside the cottage and paint the watercolour washes. Quite suddenly a cloud of bees appeared and started settling on the cars parked behind me. “Keep calm and carry on,” I said to myself before scarpering sharpish a couple of minutes later as the swarm intensified. Such drama for a calm spring morning.

Burnham Art Trail 2023

Both these pen and wash pieces are on show in my Burnham Art Trail venue: Holicity Health, 140 Station Road from 24th June to 2nd July 2023. That’s number 12 on the Art Trail Map.

They are framed and priced at £100, please contact me for more details.

Burnham Art Trail 2023

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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.

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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:

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Sunset, Winter Trees, Mayland

Framed

£75

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Sold

 

Sunset II, Winter Trees, Mayland

Framed

£75

 

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Sunset III, Winter Trees, Mayland

Framed

£75

 

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Grapnells Farm, Wallasea Island

Framed

£100

 

 

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Blue Boat, Low Tide

Framed

£100

 

 

 

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Wallasea Island from Burnham Quay

Framed

£100

 

 

 

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Clock Tower, Burnham-on-Crouch

Framed

£120

 

 

 

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Green Door, High Street, Burnham-on-Crouch

Framed

£100

 

 

 

 

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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.

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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.

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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

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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

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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.

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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. 

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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

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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.

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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.

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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. 

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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!

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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. 

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.

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Brent – Group Exhibition

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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.

Hollyhock Bookmark

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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.