Out & About

Each month the doors of the Candid Arts Centre in Islington open to the public and at 7pm budding artists, like myself, are equipped with easel, paints and brushes. 

Bedecked in fetching disposable aprons, we are warmly encouraged to express ourselves... on blank canvas.

Vanya (right) begins jamming

This then is Paint Jam, one of the capital's designated - and newest - nights out.

It seems no mean feat, so I head over to an uncorked bottle of wine instead. A glass and a half of inspiration later I'm back at my easel and painting to my heart's content.

Around me, people are happily comparing and critiquing each other's work while swapping ideas.

recreating postcards

Some are testing their skills by recreating postcards or pictures on mobile phones, and others are just happy to see where their coloured swirls take them.

Inspiration strikes for another jammer

As for my piece, what starts out as a landscape at night morphs into a piece of abstract expressionism which I never knew I had in me, and that's part of the fun of a night like this.

As Mikele, who brought the idea over from Hong Kong in 2003, philosophically points out, "Professionals don't need to pay me to paint."

So the room is an even mix of the good, and dare I say it, the not so good - but everyone is hell bent on creating and enjoying themselves.

Designed to appeal to all ages and backgrounds, it's an ideal night out for groups - Mikele also runs corporate sessions - friends, dates and brave individuals.

flush of satisfaction

Paint-Jammers, many of whom haven't touched a brush since their school days, tell me they like it because it's "something uniquely different for a Friday night out", and "it's really friendly so you don't mind people looking over your shoulder while you're creating something that's really quite personal."

Finally! Vanya's finished masterpiece

This is a night of atmospheric music, food, drinking and DIY entertainment, and I'm sold on it, too.

By the evening's end at 10pm, most of us have a flush of satisfaction when our work is lined up to dry; a hoard of art that reflects London's diversity and the many stories and experiences on our own doorstep.

Everyone is free to take their masterpiece home and I'm told that, at a previous session, one amateur was paid £100 on the spot for his creation and that another lady sold her effort to a stranger on the tube home.

Come to think of it, even I was offered a swap. I'll settle for that, not so bad for a first timer!

Monthly, at the Candid Arts Centre, Islington. Use the web-link in the right hand column for more details.