We were fortunate to have as our base a room in Whitstable's modern Arts Centre, a wonderful building inspired by sailing vessels and located right on the seafront. On the lower floor is a large gallery and during our visit the exhibiting artist was stood at an easel demonstrating his work. There is also a cafe in the building, so everything we needed if the weather was not kind to us but as the sun shone throughout our trip everyone was able to work outside on both days.
Whitstable has a lot to offer, apart from its busy harbour lined with stalls selling a vareity of fresh seafood. There are boutiques, restaurants, bars and plenty of reasonably priced areas to park. A good deal of Whitstable's charm lies in the understated, slightly shabby appearance of its many wooden buildings. Despite the hotels, guesthouses and other tourist attractions, the place feels like a working town that has not allowed itself to become too tourist oriented.
Whatever the particular interest of the artist, be it seascape, landscape, still life, architecture or people, our surroundings supplied them all in abundance. Gillian even brought along some natural form items that could be used as foreground images to the wonderful choice of backdrops.
The first of our evenings was spent at the Rose In Bloom pub, which overlooks the sea and served really tasty food. Our meal on the second evening was at the Chestfield Barn, an attractive thatched building with a galleried retaurant.
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