Sunday 19th February 2023
Today I set off to do a thing I'd never done before in a place I'd never been before. I ended up doing two new things!
The wonderful world of the internet told me about an Urban sketcher group and I saw that they were meeting at a new-ish market near the Leeuwkop prison. I thought about a young artist friend who might be keen to join, which she was. So we arrived at the lovely venue before the meet up time. It was a lot closer than I expected so we walked around the different 'sheds' before the doors opened and the masses arrived.
There was an interesting Clay Shed, which doubled up as a restaurant. The lovely owner explained the process and we went out to find the sketchers who still hadn't arrived. After a while we decided to go into the clay restaurant and try our hand at painting ceramics. The food was yummy and very reasonable price and the waiters explained the different painting techniques and were very attentive to our creative concentrating needs. The hours whizzed by in a comfortable silence and I was impressed by how full the venue got, plus all sorts of different types of customers.
I reached my fill so I put down my paintbrush and went off to the bathrooms seeing the sketchers dotted around the gardens. I chatted with some and admired the art and I will definitely try and meet up with the group next month. Back inside the clay venue we settled the bill and did the efficient process for our ceramics to be collected after 'firing' process in about 4 weeks time.
The sketchers had finished up so we decided to do our own version until a light shower made us run for cover. While sitting for the weather, we did another sketch. We had such fun and I'm really glad I put my art anxiety aside and just relaxed and did it.
By the time we left, the parking lot was full and it's great to see so many people out and about supporting small business. It's a super venue and I hope that it stays well managed and supported.
A great day out.
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