IMPACT: Cathy Priestley

"Sketchbook Wednesday had a huge impact on my life. I was furloughed during lockdown, and our weekly meetings gave me a focus and goal in parallel with other personal and online artistic explorations.  After conversation with another artist in the group, I went on to study Art Practice at Cambridge Regional College, which I would not have considered without the encouragement of this group. What I gained from Sketchbook Wednesday was a joy of sketching, a supportive environment to experiment and explore and meeting lovely, like minded people, many of whom are still my friends."

I was one of the founder members of Sketchbook Wednesday coming out of lockdown, and each week, Laura guided us to explore new ways of observing, using different materials and techniques. This sketch was drawn in the garden at Haddenham Arts Centre, a pen and wash leaf drawing.