The Forest Painters

Ancient House from St Mary's Graveyard, Alison Brown

The Forest Painters, Shirley Watson, Linda Smith and Alison Brown, enjoy painting Walthamstow's varied local landscapes in Lisa Ivory’s art classes. Over the past two summers they have spent every Wednesday morning painting with Lisa in different beautiful sites in and around Walthamstow. In the winter , Lisa's classes are held weekly in Church Hill Baptist Church, where they try out a variety of landscape techniques and ideas, stolen from the great artists, and practice these using sketches or photos, to be ready to apply them when painting outside in summer.

The Garden, Shirley Watson

The Hollow Ponds, Linda Smith

Inspired by the views, while sitting outside in both the warm and cold, the painters experience the atmosphere of the Walthamstow landscape - ducks, moorhens, swans , herons, geese, goslings, and ducklings, splashing about, mostly in sparkling water, whether in Hollow Ponds or on the Walthamstow reservoirs, with the view of Canary Wharf in the distance. Strange tree shapes rise up in the dark woods. A herd of curious cattle wandering about, staring at the painters in the forest. The bitter wind, hot sun, raindrops and insects are incorporated into paintings. Mossy green and yellow tinged gravestones sit amid the tall waving grasses, cow parsley or bluebells in St Mary's churchyard. The delights of painting sessions!

The Forest Painters' pictures will be exhibited at Pictorem Gallery, 383 Hoe Street (at the Bakers Arms opposite Hornbeam Cafe), Friday 2 - Saturday 3 and Tuesday 5 - Saturday 10 September.

The pictures will be sold in aid of local charities - either Thuso (a Waltham Forest charity to support orphans with food and education at a specific school in South Africa) or Cat and Kitten Care (which rehomes local felines) . 

New members are welcome, anyone wanting to join the classes should contact Lisa.