Our August meeting

Our August meeting: Summer sketching and treasures to take home 

A table of East End WI members, garden produce, art materials – and a caterpillar putting the ‘live’ in live sketching... Summer sketching was our relaxed meeting in the quiet of August

The session was led by our very own Lydia, a graphic designer, creative director and sketcher. We heard from Lydia about drawing as part of her work, her late career homecoming to sketching, her lockdown project Dispatches from a Small World and how she uses drawing as a way of looking at things. Then, with a smorgasboard of drawing materials and waste paper, we drew, chatted, shared stories and swapped knowledge.

One of the joys of drawing together is how differently everybody sees and makes marks. Some beautiful work was produced. And we went home with treasures – herbs, fruit, flowers and handmade goodies from our 'bring and buy' table with all proceeds raising funds for East End WI.

See more of Lydia’s sketches on her Instagram feed @lydiathornley.

If you fancy some outdoor sketching in the industrial and natural landscape of the Channelsea river, Lydia will be guiding a free drop-in sketching session for Surge Co-op on Saturday 27th August from 11am-1pm at the Long Wall Ecology Garden, off the Greenway, in celebration of the launch of 'London Nature Trails', four new green walking routes through Brent, Camden, Lewisham and Newham.

August coffee morning: Clarnico Club café, Olympic Park

Friday 26th August, 10.30am, Tandy Place, East Wick and Sweetwater, London E20 3AS.

A new venue for us, adjacent to Here East on the edge of the Olympic Park, served by Hackney Wick station, 388, 276, 339 and 488 buses or free Here East shuttle bus from Stratford bus station at Westfield or next to Stratford International DLR station. Clarnico Club café is independently owned and provides training and jobs for local youngsters with special needs.

Look out for our next What's On blogpost to see what's coming up in September.