Sue Woodward gave a most interesting talk which was attended by a number of canal enthusiasts and artists as well a members of the Heritage Society. She explained how she had become interested in the canals over 30years ago as the result of a canal boat trip to convalesce after a serious illness. As an artist she was particularly interested in in the very characteristic “Roses and Castles” canal style of art, she started to research its origins and took up painting herself. Origins It is not clear how canal painting arose. It is thought, it first appeared in the 1850’s, perhaps as a result of wives moving onto the boats with their husbands and wanting to bring some decoration from the parlour at home. With a small cabin with sloping walls it was impractical to hang pictures, so images were painted directly on the boat. It could also be that owners took a pride in their boat and wanted to make it more impressive. The pictures were painted in the boatyard when a boat went in for repairs or repainting. The pictures were created by “painters” not “artists”. Styles Individual boatyards and areas had distinctive styles eg a Southern Stle or a Northern Style; the Braunston Boatyard (Southern Style!) being particularly famous. The basic designs and style of painting are seen in Austria and Switzerland and right across Eastern Europe into Russia. See some examples of Russian Painted Objects. Sue Woodward learnt her trade by attending a number of Master Classes with

acknowledged experts in the field as well as hard practice. She is a member of the Waterways Craft Guild initially with the rank of Journeyman, but has recently been elevated to the status of Senior Journeyman. She exhibits and sells her wares each year at the Crick Boatshow. Sue demonstrated the techniques for painting a plate and a watercan. The important thing with a galvanised watercan is preparation of the base metal zinc surface: degrease, sand the surface, treat with mordant and then a good primer (if this is not done the paint will peel off). A base coat is then applied and the image painted with each layer being applied whilst the preceding layer is still wet to give a characteristic appearance to the image. Images are painted with matt paint and the final image is varnished to protect it and give a gloss finish. As an example, a large watercan took over 24hours work to complete.