Learning objectives
- The materials needed for decorative folk art
- Understand the basic designs and how to paint them
- Practise your brushstrokes
Some years ago, I was lucky enough to attend an English waterways rally. I became interested in the beautiful bright and vibrant paintings on both the sides of the narrow boats and on the household utensils displayed on the boat decks.
The origin of English narrow boat painting is somewhat vague, but it possibly evolved from the production of japanned metalware and goods produced in the Midlands in the late 1700s to 1800s. These goods were transported by canal and people would have spent many days on these boats. The artists who decorated the japanned tinware and goods probably started to decorate some of the goods they were transporting as well as the boats that carried them. Later, when the wives and children started working on
