Swan Hotel Custom Print

architecture, art, art for sale, artist, buildings, buy art, drawing, essex, facade, fine art print, gift idea, high street, illustration, illustrator, kathryn hockey, maldon, paintings, pen, pen and wash, custom print, swan hotel, watercolour

This Swan Hotel custom print was an 80th birthday gift for an ex-landlord of the iconic Maldon establishment from his family.

I may have mentioned before that Marc Bolan, David Bowie (Jones at the time) and Joe Cocker all played gigs in the back room in the 60s!

architecture, art, art for sale, artist, buildings, buy art, drawing, essex, facade, fine art print, gift idea, high street, illustration, illustrator, kathryn hockey, maldon, paintings, paparazzi, pen, pen and wash, print, swan hotel, watercolourI “extracted” the Swan Hotel from part 6 (above) of my Maldon High Street series.

A3 prints of my Maldon High Street series parts 1-8 and any of the individual buildings included in those paintings are now available to order. Please drop me a line.

custom print, architecture, art, art for sale, artist, buildings, buy art, drawing, essex, facade, fine art print, gift idea, high street, illustration, illustrator, kathryn hockey, maldon, paintings, pen, pen and wash, custom print, watercolour

Pen and Wash Portraits of Maldon High Street

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. 

fine art print, print, gift idea, art, art for sale, buy art, kathryn hockey, artist, illustrator, art, maldon, high street, pen and wash, pen, watercolour, drawing, paintings, illustration, buildings, architecture, essex, facade, coach lane, maldon lettings, cafe brazil, finale

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. 

kathryn hockey, artist, illustrator, art, exhibition, maeldune centre, maldon, high street, pen and wash, pen, watercolour, drawing, paintings, illustration, buildings, architecture, essex, art for sale, all saints church, temme english, maldon book shop, oak house, blue boar, fine art prints

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

kathryn hockey, artist, illustrator, art, exhibition, maeldune centre, maldon, high street, pen and wash, pen, watercolour, drawing, paintings, illustration, buildings, architecture, essex, art for sale, moot hall, fine art prints

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.


kathryn hockey, artist, illustrator, art, exhibition, maeldune centre, maldon, high street, pen and wash, pen, watercolour, drawing, paintings, illustration, buildings, architecture, essex, art for sale, moot hall, fine art prints, maeldune heritage centre, exhibition, mrs salisburys, coles, timpsons, kate lifestyleThe exhibition is called “Looking Up” because it occured to me, while I was taking the reference photos, how rarely I take the time to stop, stand still for a while, look up and really appreciate my surroundings. Perhaps you’re the same?

architecture, art, art for sale, artist, buildings, buy art, drawing, essex, facade, fine art print, gift idea, high street, illustration, illustrator, kathryn hockey, maldon, paintings, paparazzi, pen, pen and wash, print, swan hotel, watercolour

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!

architecture, art, art for sale, artist, bluebell, buildings, butcher, buy art, drawing, essex, facade, fine art print, gift idea, high street, illustration, illustrator, kathryn hockey, maldon, maldon barbers, paintings, pen, pen and wash, pipes insurance, print, silo, the emporium, watercolour, wenlocks

The exhibition ran from 17th August to the 5th September 2023. Many people dropped in to see the paintings and the low tech interactive element – they did some colouring in and shared their High Street memories on the large black and white print in the centre of the gallery.

architecture, art, art for sale, artist, buildings, buy art, crusty loaf, drawing, essex, facade, fine art print, gift idea, high street, illustration, illustrator, kathryn hockey, maldon, mitchells jewellery, paintings, pen, pen and wash, print, pub, rose and crown, salon central, watercolour, wetherspoons

Please contact me if you’d like to purchase or exhibit any of my original Maldon High Street paintings.

Fine Art Prints

I’ve had some beautiful fine art prints made which capture the essence of the original paintings at half their size. Please click here to contact me if you’d like 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.