On the sunny but breezy afternoon of Tuesday, 30 August a group of 40 u3a members brought their folding chairs, hats, paints and brushes to a corner of Hartham Common for an outdoor watercolour painting session. For those who didn’t possess their own paints and brushes they were provided along with a firm lap board to lean on with paper and water pots which sat on the grass. Novices who didn’t want to paint the view could choose from supplied pictures.
Members settled down, some in the sparse shaded spots and others in the brilliant sunshine, having taped down their paper as the breeze was strong enough to keep blowing over the u3a banner signalling the meeting point. It was a convivial afternoon which gave members the opportunity to meet others they had not met before and chat whilst having fun in the sun.
Casual walkers on the common wandered over and chatted with the painters and were intrigued. I must admit I had been worried about how the afternoon would pan out but two hours later we began to pack up and I was overwhelmed by the number of members who dropped by to say how much they had enjoyed the experience and the subsequent emails I have been receiving. I am Group Leader for the Watercolour for Beginners group and we have grown our numbers since the event.
Thank you to members who came to the event, especially those of you who took a leap of faith to do something new!
Rita Andrews