At the end of September we hosted some drawing classes with artist Lucy McElroy.

We looked at the work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh for inspiration in particular his use of space, the layering of different flower angles and his use of watercolour.

He was a Scottish artist and architect who produced a substantial number of elegant flower studies, drawn from cut specimens, between 1901 and the mid-1920s. In 1914, Mackintosh spent 15 months in Walberswick, a village on the Suffolk coast, where he turned to watercolour painting and produced many paintings of flowers, beautifully observed. Within his floral watercolours, Mackintosh included a small cartouche at the bottom or side providing date, subject, location, and the artist's initials.

And we also looked at some of the drawings in my collection by Leeds College of Art student Hilda Clegg from 1916-17 and how she used her page to record different flowers and plants at different months of the year. 

It was a wonderful day and there were lots of moments when everybody went quiet and you could only hear a bit of Mozart and a pencil or two....

Everybody took home their little masterpieces and I hope they will cherish them as a memory of a moment of mindfulness.

Enjoy the photos below.

Thank you Lucy for a fabulous, relaxing day- am very grateful.

You can watch the drawing class here and have a bit of time for yourself.

You can follow Lucy's own artwork on instagram @Lucy.mcelroy.artist or on her website www.lucymcelroy.co.uk