
While my car was being serviced yesterday I spent a few hours exploring the recently reopened The Beaney or, to give it its full title, The Beaney House of Art & Knowledge.
The current main exhibition at The Beaney is work by Henry Moore but on the ground floor I discovered the amazing paintings of Thomas Sidney Cooper (1803 - 1902). He was still painting at 99 years of age and his unfinished 'Sheep in Snow' showed the squaring up pencil marks under the layers of paint. His speciality, which made him a wealthy man, was paintings of cattle.
Next to Cooper's last painting was a sculpture, 'Lamb' by Susan O'Byrne, which I made a pencil sketch of. If you're ever in Canterbury look in at The Beaney. The staff are very friendly too.