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Having been invited by allotment-stalwart-cum-painter, Paul Nice, to visit the Roche Art Group at the Rocheway Centre, I duly turned up on a chilly Wednesday evening to find a warm and friendly welcome as the group was in the process of setting up and discussing business. For simplicity, I have attributed the remarks to Roche Art Group (R.A.G.) because, although long-term leader of the group,  Lily Mills, was the main spokesperson there was  good flow from others.  If at times, the flow seems a little disjointed it is because the comments were coming from all round the room!

R.A.G.:  Approximately twenty years. We used to have a tutor in a class but she went to America and some of the group said we don’t want to pack up, and we’ve been running it ever since. It’s as much a social group as it is an art club. We have an exhibition once a year. This year (and last) we had it in the Old Fire Station in Hockley. We’ve also had it in the Women’s Institute in Rochford. We also go out to dinner together before Christmas time. We do all those sorts of things, and in the Summer when the Rocheway Centre closes down, a couple of the girls sort out different places for us to go to, like down to the sea or to Flatford Mill to do painting and drawing, which is what the group is all about – water colour, oils or acrylic mostly. It is an art class but we don’t have a teacher. Occasionally we have a demonstrator in to come and demonstrate to us, and every so often we have a raffle to put some more money in the funds. At the moment we’re down to eighteen people but normally there are about twenty of us.  We run from 7.30 to 9.30pm every Wednesday evening.

RL: Do you charge to be members here?
R.A.G.: Yes, we pay £35 for the whole year. We’re not allowed to use a kettle to make tea, for health and safety reasons, but we have cold drinks and we charge 50p for them, and together with our raffles, that’s what helps us be able to have demonstrators.  It’s a very friendly group.  We’re about to take part in the Rochford Art Trail next week and our pictures will be in the Beehive Tea Rooms

R.A.G.: Well some of us have been here since we’ve been running so we’ve been painting for at least twenty years. Keith, there, is a comparative beginner only having been painting two years and we do have someone who has only been painting about three or four months.   

RL: Keith, what got you into painting?
Keith: Well I retired and a relative of mine is a sort of art buff and she said why don’t you do painting, so I said well,  I’ve never done it but I’ll try it and this is the result.

RL: What do you all get out of painting and this group?
R.A.G.: Well it’s relaxing for a start, and also when you live on your own it’s nice to know that you’ve got somewhere to go on a Wednesday evening. It’s social as well... and being recognised; it gives you a boost if you come out with a good painting or if you sell a painting. We also have paintings in the doctor’s surgery normally in Back Lane but because of this Art Trail we’ve had to collect them for hanging them in the Beehive tomorrow. Although we don’t have a tutor one of our members is always willing to help anyone who needs some help. Some of us belong to the Southend Art Club as well and in the Winter, every other week, they have a demonstrator in the Library, so that’s what we go to.

RL: By the fact that you have some beginners here, you are clearly not intimidating with all your skills, to put off new comers.
R.A.G.: It doesn’t matter if you think you can’t paint, just come and enjoy it. I came here about five years ago without much grounding apart from a little tutoring and I’ve never felt intimidated. I just get a lot of enjoyment. It’s just a friendly group and we try to keep it like that.

RL: Right, that’s really great.  It’s been good being with you. Thank you so much.