Swan Hotel Custom Print

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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.

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Maldon House Commission


maldon, essex, town house, house, illustration, landscape, commission, architectureDelighted to complete this pen and wash commission of an elegant Maldon townhouse for its splendid owner.

Please get in touch if you’d like a portrait of your own beautiful home.

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“Looking Up” – Pen and Wash Portraits of Maldon High Street

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I was delighted to show my pen and wash portraits of beautiful Maldon High Street in the Maeldune Centre, at the top of Market Hill, Maldon, from 17th August to 2nd September 2023.

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Here I am on the launch night, sitting in front of the half size fine art prints I had made of the original paintings. Click here to find out more about the prints and buy them.

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The exhibition had a tremendously generous reception from Maeldune Centre visitors and volunteers alike. By far the star of the show was the black and white print I had made for the table tops in the centre of the gallery. People had great fun colouring it in and writing on it; the comments and shared memories of Maldon High Street were really touching. As the exhibition drew to a close the Maldon Society photographed it for their archive – I was truly honoured.

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Maldon’s mayor, Andrew Lay, and young Blake hone their colouring skills at the launch party.

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Maldon historian Stephen Nunn visited a couple of times and I was able to add some fascinating facts about the High Street to the interactive artwork as he dictated. Here he is with my dad, Ron, who was also very enthusiastic and generous with his High Street memories. 

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Click this link to see a video of the interactive artwork and learn some fun and fascinating facts!

The Maldon Society is in the process of adding photos of the interactive piece and digital versions of the original paintings to their archive. I am truly an honour.

Here’s what Stephen said about the exhibition along with some other reviews:

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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. 

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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.


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?

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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 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.

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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.

Summer Paintings

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.

 

Steam Tug Brent Exhibition 2023

I was delighted to submit a painting for the annual exhibition of locally made artworks celebrating the Steam Tug Brent which ran for a week in July 2023 in the Octagon at St Mary’s church.

In preparation I paddled out with my kayak buddy to get a photo from an interesting angle. I wanted to show The Brent with St Mary’s Church and its Octagon in the background because that’s where the exhibition would be held.

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I used that photograph as reference while I made my pen and wash painting (above).

There was a generous and varied selection of beautiful works shown in the exhibition, the youngest contributor being under 4 years old and the oldest having just celebrated their 93rd birthday.

Photographs of the exhibition space

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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.

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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. 

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.

Mrs Salisbury’s

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Inspired by the deliciously beautiful photos on the Instagram feed of Mrs Salisbury’s Tea Room and Restaurant I decided to make an illustration. I do love to paint food…

…I also love to eat cake but alas I’ve still not had the chance to sample Mrs Salisbury’s delights – if they’re half as tasty as the look they’ll be well worth the wait. I can’t remember the last time I had a vol-au-vent.mrs salisbury's, afternoon tea, cake, sandwiches, tea time, vol-au-vent, cup of tea, tea pot, maldon, brights path, restaurant, food illustration, pen and wash, watercolour painting, drawing, border, detailThe home of Mrs Salisbury’s is a delightfully pink house on the corner of Bright’s Path and Maldon High Street and the stairs up from their front door are tiled in this lovely black and white pattern, so I wanted to incorporate that into the border design.cake stand, detail, mrs salisbury's, afternoon tea, cake, sandwiches, tea time, vol-au-vent, cup of tea, tea pot, maldon, brights path, restaurant, food illustration, pen and wash, watercolour painting, drawingmrs salisbury's, afternoon tea, cake, sandwiches, tea time, vol-au-vent, cup of tea, tea pot, maldon, brights path, restaurant, food illustration, pen and wash, watercolour painting, drawing, red velvet cake, victoria sponge, chocolate cake, detailmrs salisbury's, afternoon tea, macaron, tea time, cup of tea, tea pot, maldon, brights path, restaurant, food illustration, pen and wash, watercolour painting, drawing, heart cookie, scone, clotted cream mrs salisbury's, afternoon tea, tea time, strawberry, tea pot, maldon, brights path, restaurant, food illustration, pen and wash, watercolour painting, drawingmrs salisbury's, afternoon tea, tea time, vol-au-vent, maldon, brights path, restaurant, food illustration, pen and wash, watercolour painting, drawing, cup of tea, sandwiches