The executive of the Guild decided to try something different. On Saturday, July 23rd, we held a 'Paint Day'. This informal get together, open to all members of ESAG, was intended to get we artists out of our studios to paint, draw, and sketch in the spirit of the Impressionist by going out into the open air to work. For many of us the chance to work away from the safety of our studios was a challenging adventure.
We began the day by travelling to the Surrey Art Gallery to view Paul Stilwell’s oil painting simply titled “Sunday”. Paul’s work received a third place ribbon for painting in the juried exhibition. From there the group headed over to Chris Kielesinski’s farm for a potluck lunch and some light-hearted fellowship. Chris shared with us some of his new illustrations that he has been working on. Beautiful work!
A sketch of a barn on Chris' Farm by Steve Knight
After the luncheon we gathered our materials and headed out to the farmyard to work on anything we liked and in any medium. Some of us did oil sketches or pencil drawings of the environment around the farm while others continued with projects they had begun in their studios.The day was bright and sunny and everyone enjoyed themselves. Members who attended were Paul Stilwell, Patricia Ballard, Chris Kielesinski, and myself. Paul worked on a landscape, Patricia added some colour to an already existing piece, and I did a pencil sketch of one of the barns. By 4:00pm we called it a day. This little outing is something we’ll have to try again.