Cafe Sketching

For several years, thanks to the initiative and steady organization of a sketch friend Carmen, I've been able to sketch regularly with a very small group of sketchers. The core of the group has its roots in Casey U3A but we've added other friends over the years. Where possible we sketch on-location somewhere in our local area but on the most recent sketchmeet day there was a severe storm warning so our venue was a cafe. On this occasion I took a dozen of J's wonderful life-like food fridge magnets for us to draw. We played a "speed sketch" game where we had 2 minutes to draw a magnet before passing it onto another sketcher. Two minutes is a long enough time to draw one of these magnets but doing 12 for 2 minutes each in quick succession required serious brain work...for a group of mostly Seniors!

Cafe sketching will take a back seat as we head into sketching outdoors in what I hope will be a good summer. I decided to add the splash of watercolour to the page later but I'm not sure if that was an improvement or not. Here is the group of magnets I took for us to draw.

#Sailorfude pen, #Stillman&Birn Zeta Sketchbook, 7.5”x 7.5”.

Casey U3A Showcase Day 2024

Casey U3A (University of the 3rd Age) is part of a global organization offering activities for Seniors. Their annual Showcase Day on 4th October was when this branch displayed all its offerings as part of a membership drive. Our Member of Parliament, Jason Wood, graced the celebrations to cut a big cake as it was also Casey U3A’s 33rd birthday! 

It's been awhile since I've attended one of Casey U3A's main events so it felt really nice to reconnect with friends I'd not seen for sometime. During the event, members of the organisation showed off their skills in exhibits and activities. Visitors would have been impressed by the camaraderie of the members who demonstrated sessions of Zumba and Tai Chi, played Pickle Ball, Walking Football, showed off their artwork and manned booths showing all the many activities of the organization. A sausage sizzle and coffee truck was an added bonus.  

Casey U3A now has more than 500 members and (did I hear correctly) with 66 activities offered there is much to choose from! 

I first joined Casey U3A 8 years ago when I was new to the area. For 5 of those years, I also led one of their courses (an on-location sketching course) and made many new friends, some of whom I still sketch with regularly. Casey U3A continues to be an uplifting source of social connection for me and I look forward to an enjoyable year ahead. 

This was sketched and painted on-location at Showcase Day, Jack Rae Pavilion, Akoonah Park, Berwick. Embellishments were added at home.

#Sailorfude pen, watercolour, #Stillman&Birn Beta Sketchbook, 7.5”x 7.5”. #caseyu3a  #u3a