LOCAL ARTIST INVITES OTHERS TO WALK & SKETCH IN TURNER’S FOOTSTEPS

Local artist Anne Hayhoe will lead a free walk and workshop for budding artists focussing on the time spent in Malmesbury by the famous landscape artist JMW Turner on Saturday August 13.

The interactive workshop ‘In The Footsteps of JMW Turner’ will begin with a short talk at the Athelstan Museum in front of the Turner painting of Malmesbury Abbey. Anne will then lead the participants on a walk around the Abbey, stopping in some of the places where Turner was known to have made his exploratory sketches.

Whilst visiting the Abbey, participants will have time to make their own sketches at these iconic viewpoints using their own materials. 

Anne said: “It’s a fantastic opportunity to imagine the landscape and the Abbey in the way that Turner did and to ‘have a go’ at capturing it with our own eyes, or in this case pencils!”

To finish, the group will study their sketches and discuss the contemporary artworks that can be created following this inspirational sketching tour.

Developed from Turner’s early sketches and painted in about 1827, the watercolour is one of the 96 which make up Turner’s set of ‘Picturesque Views in England and Wales‘ (1825-38). These views have long been celebrated as the finest of Turner’s topographical projects and noted examples of the picturesque movement. 

It is believed to be the only finished watercolour of that particular aspect of Malmesbury Abbey and shows it from the north, early on a glorious summer morning with the foreground flooded with light and cattle warming themselves in the early sun.

It was thanks to support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and The Art Fund that the Athelstan Museum was able to acquire the original Turner watercolour of Malmesbury Abbey and secure the iconic picture for future generations. 

“It is wonderful for the people of this rural community to have free access to an original watercolour of Malmesbury Abbey by renowned British artist JMW Turner,” said Anne. “Participants will be inspired to use the materials that are available today to create their entirely new images of the Abbey.”

Although now living in Pewsey, Anne has strong links to Malmesbury. She was educated at Malmesbury Grammar School and returned to practice art about ten years ago. Having studied Fine Art at Trowbridge College and Oxford Brookes, she now works across a wide range of media including painting, drawing, textiles and she writes poetry.

The workshop, , is free but does need to be booked in advance with the museum. It will start at 10am with an estimated 1pm finish.

To book a place, contact the museum by phone on 01666 829258 from Tuesday-Sunday from 10.30am-4.30pm.