I recently joined Network Arts, a community of artists from
Northamptonshire that organise groups shows and promote their art locally. They also organise workshops and group outings to art fairs and exhibitions.

What are the benefits of joining a local group?

I have only been a member for a month but already I have exhibited and sold a painting.

I have also booked a trip to Art in Action with the group at a bargain price including travel

The group organises workshops , inviting visiting artists to run them or members themselves. Members can attend the workshops at a reduced rate. I've just booked myself on a day workshop with Haidee-Jo Summers!

So far it has been well worth it for me and I've only been a member for a month!

Here's the link if you live in the Northants area. http://www.networkarts.co.uk/

If not make inquiries in your local area, often your local art gallery or museum will know of a group you can join.

Urban sketching has been around a while but it's now becoming so popular that groups are springing up in every town and city, all over the World.

I sketch with Drawing Outside Northants, it's a small group of 4 or 5 regulars plus some fairweather participants. We meet on Tuesday evenings, in the lighter , though not necessarily warmer, months from April until September. We take turns to select meeting points and then spend an hour or so sketching. There is no charge for this and it's really sociable, sometimes a pub might even be involved! We've sketched churches and graveyards, car parks and factories, parks and even an aerodrome. The skills of the individual really don't matter, as regular participation in sketching develops your eye and you can get ideas from one another too.

Some of our group travel to neighbouring towns to join their sketchers and are always greeted with warmth and it's a brilliant way to explore locations. I've visited places in my home town that I didn't even know existed and if I was alone I probably wouldn't have had the confidence to draw in public. There is safety in numbers , at the beginning of my time as an urban sketcher, I was terrified of drawing in public, now I just don't care and it has helped me and my work no end and I've made some great friends too.

If you fancy trying out urban sketching, Google urban sketchers and your location , I bet you'll find a world you didn't even know existed!


Here is a link to the blog for Drawing Outside : Northants
It's full of images of the groups work with not too many words! https://drawingoutsidenorthants.wordpress.com/

Hello and welcome to my blog.
As a child I wanted to be a vet or an artist ( not that the careers are mutually exclusive but as a child everything is either or!) I was born loving animals and would seek out their company where ever I was, I'm one of those people that chats to the dog at parties! My first art job was a figurine painter, I was 15 and had a room full of Jemima Puddle Ducks waiting for me to paint for Church's China ,in Northampton (sadly no longer there). So while most of my friends were on their paper rounds, I'd be painting in my room! I did follow a career as a vet nurse as well, qualifying and working in practices around the country, this has given me an insight to the variety of breeds and personalities of animals up close.
I completed a fine art degree in 2010 ,as a mature student, gaining a 2.1, a child and a husband along the way! So that's a little bit about me, I'll be blogging about courses, exhibitions and my art process, so please pop by every now and then to see what it's like to work as an artist.