Tricia Forrester leads the Happy Art group for Teignmouth & District u3a.

Tricia says: ‘Since the beginning of the Happy Art group a year ago, the skill level has definitely been on the up but, as the lovely weather continues, members have not always spent their time indoors honing their skills.

‘One of the main aims of Happy Art is to have fun and so, one sunny afternoon, some of us went paddling in the sea.

‘Pauline Dean, our hands on chair (below left) and Lynn Hiscock collected bits of seaweed to incorporate into our paintings, and we used sea water instead of tap water.

‘The idea was that our paintings of the sea would literally be ‘of the sea’!

‘The spirit of u3a is very much about ‘by the members, for the members’, and a later session was led by Val Ellicott, one of the Happy Art group members.

She demonstrated how to create fur and feather effects using inks.

This was a very new technique for most but, after ‘beavering’ away, everyone felt really rather pleased with the results.

l You can always find out more by visiting www.teignmouthu3a.org.uk.