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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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

winter, pansy, pansies, flowers, botanical, purple, mayland, essex, burnham art club, pen and wash, drawing, painting, illustration, watercolour, watercolor

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.

singer, sewing machine, vintage,, mayland, essex, burnham art club, pen and wash, drawing, painting, illustration, watercolour, watercolor

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.

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. 

Full Moon, Pylon, Winter Sky

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Catching the full moon, as it rises bulbous on a clear night is most uplifting. 

It’s so large when it’s low that I can almost feel the weight of its pull. Being made of mostly water I probably can feel that pull…

This is the view over our neighbours’ garden through the evergreen border bushes, and while the pylon may not be conventionally beautiful there’s drama in the contrast of its strict geometry behind the softer silhouette of the branches.

Winter certainly has its consolations.

World Mental Health Day – get The Black Dawg eBook for free !

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10th October 2016 is World Mental Health Day

To mark the occasion we are giving away ‘The Black Dawg – an illustrated poem about Depression and Hope’ in its eBook format!

The offer will run until the end of October 2016 – all you need to do is click here to get in contact and we’ll email you the eBook.

Please feel free to share this offer widely and if you like the book it would be wonderful if you could please give us a positive review on Goodreads, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, Amazon.es and / or anywhere else you fancy.

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World Mental Health Day

  • was first celebrated on 10th October 1992 at the initiative of the global mental health organisation The World Federation for Mental Health
  • this year’s theme is psychological first aid and the support people can provide to those in distress. There’s a wonderful TED talk here by Guy Winch on that very subject
  • is a day to raise awareness of mental illness and the huge impact it has on many people’s lives worldwide

Some shocking statistics from the Mental Health Foundation – please don’t look away

  • 10% of children and young people (aged 5-16 years) have a clinically diagnosable mental problem, yet 70% of children and adolescents who experience mental health problems have not had appropriate interventions at a sufficiently early age.
  • 50% of mental health problems are established by age 14 and 75% by age 24.
  • 1 in 6 adults had a common mental health problem in the past week.
  • 1 in 4 people in the UK will experience a mental health problem in any given year.
  • In the UK mental health problems are responsible for the largest burden of disease – 28% of the burden, compared to 16% each for cancer and heart disease.
  • WHO states that ‘if we don’t act urgently, by 2030 depression will be the leading illness globally.’
  • In England, women are more likely than men to have a common mental health problem and are almost twice as likely to be diagnosed with anxiety disorders.
  • Suicide is the most common cause of death for men aged 20-49 years in England and Wales at present.

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The Mental Health Foundation’s top 10 tips for looking after your mental health

1. Talk about your feelings

2. Exercise

3. Eat well

4. Drink sensibly

5. Keep in touch with loved ones

6. Ask for help

7. Take a break

8. Do something you’re good at

9. Accept who you are

10. Care for others

I love that whole list…

…and have found that cultivating mindfulness and taking regular exercise are particularly helpful for improving my emotional well-being.

Making the illustrations for The Black Dawg book also helped me enormously – I am much more adept at recognising and dismantling the process which starts as a single negative thought before it suddenly swells into an overwhelming landslide of undermining and vitriolic self-loathing mind-babble with accompanying anxiety and exhaustion as my psyche does battle with itself.

Eckhart Tolle’s theory about the ‘pain body’ really rings true for me; seeing the negativity as a separate entity gives me more strength to keep it in check and overcome its insidious effects in the moment it arises.

‘Coming out’ as depressive has also been liberating and strangely uplifting in that it’s enabling me to form stronger and more open connections with my friends and family and even with people I don’t know. As Brené Brown says in her funny and brilliant TED talk ‘The Power of Vulnerability’ – “connection gives meaning and purpose to our lives; it’s why we’re here.”

And we are all in this together…

Louis, who wrote The Black Dawg poem, and I strongly believe that The Black Dawg book can help people suffering from depression feel less isolated. We also hope that it will help friends and family to better understand how it feels to be depressed. And that’s why we want to share it – we think it’s a valuable resource in the armoury against mental illness.

This evening the Chicken & Frog bookshop in Brentwood, Essex are holding an auction in aid of The Young People’s Counselling Service and we’re delighted that The Black Dawg book and some signed prints of the ‘Spiralling Branches’ illustration from the book will be included.

Dr Carole Easton, chief executive of The Young Women’s Trust explains why it’s so important to build resilience in children and to prevent mental issues becoming mental illnesses in this Huffpost article ‘Young People’s Mental Health – We Must Do More‘

Click here if you’d like to read more about The Black Dawg project.

Take excellent care of yourself!

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