It's part 2 of the painting task and the same team assembled like the previous one. We had two more GoodGymers joined this time. Nishy ran from Hanwell and Alaa joined us for her first GoodGym task.

Welcome to GoodGym Ealing, Alaa

We didn't have a problem wearing the aprons as we had experience from last time. Mandie got us some watermelons, pineapples, and water bottles to keep us refreshed. It was getting warm after some time.

Kash, Nishy, and I used the big rollers and went up and down whereas Claire, Clare, and Sevan focussed on touchup using small brushes. Tbh using the small brushes was a niche work and required more effort and care. This time we got a ladder and Claire was covering the top of the walls for some time. It was Alaa's first painting task. She took regular rollers and covered the area near the windows.

We got lost in time and it was almost noon. We then wrapped up and Claire owned the cleaning up like last time. Sevan was busy finishing up his artwork and was going at it till the last minute. We had some bites of watermelon before the team dispersed.

So if you feel like you missed this one don't worry as we will be coming back for another painting session sometime end of this month or next month.

Painting is not new for the Ealing GoodGymers who showed up at the West Ealing library. Last year, we painted the Open Ealing Art centre on a hot summer. This time the weather was pleasant, and the wall is not that tall.

I arrived a few minutes before the task and Mandie, who is the founding member of Open Ealing, had already put all the painting materials needed for today's task. She gave me a quick walk-through of what needed to be done and left us in the safe hands of West Ealing library manager Nashab.

Clare arrived soon after for her first GoodGym task and her first visit to West Ealing Library

who is not new to GoodGym as she was a task owner from the Northfield Allotments.

Sevan and Kash came running and we slowly started getting into the task. Sevan and I didn't know the secret behind the plastic apron and were wearing it like a bib, till Kash showed us how to properly open and wear it.

After some vigorous shaking, Sevan poured the creamy paint onto the trays and Clare didn't wait a single minute and went straight to the task.

In the meantime, Mandie came back with refreshments (A box of Millionaire shortbread and flap jacks and a few bottles of water). We also had tea/coffee options available as there was a kitchen inside.

Sevan took the long rollers and focussed on the pillars. Kash picked the wall on the right and I chose the centre. Clare's expertise suggested she paint the edges first and was doing a pristine job.

Claire joined us then after completing her 99th park run in Osterley and assisted Clare in covering the wall on the left side.

Kash was doing more than painting. Her strokes looked more like graffiti than a regular paint job as she was using an unwashed dried-up painting roll. So she switched to a new painting roll and could see the difference and smoothness.

I on the other hand can't stop imagining butter, custard cream, and everything yellow after seeing the creaminess of the paint. So I controlled my temptations from licking the paint and letting the brush do the job.

Soon we covered the major areas and switched to painting the edges. We were sitting, crouching, climbing, and rolling on the floors to get the edges painted.

With 15 minutes left, Claire switched from painting to cleaning. She started removing the paint from the frames and corners using sugar soap. We didn't have to spend much time washing up the rolls like we did last time as Nashab said he would take care of it.

We were amazed after seeing how perfect Clare has painted her side of the wall

We managed to cover 25% of the area and we might come back to finish the rest sometime next time month. Keep your eyes peeled for an announcement soon.

The Canvas 🖼️

Open Ealing Art Centre, wanted to paint their studio with a fresh coat of white paint so that they can open it up sooner for the next batch of art and education. Mandie, the operations manager of Open Ealing, explained the task. She had prepared everything that was needed for the task. We had rollers of different sizes, paint trays, two buckets of white paint, plastic wraps, clothes, and other materials to cover the floors, Latex gloves, plastic aprons, and paintbrushes.

Mandie said that we only needed to paint the walls up to a certain height and not the roofs which made things simpler for us.

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The Artists 🧑‍🎨

Sevan - Measured and poured the paint into the trays evenly and was the only one who used a paintbrush to cover the nooks and corners and touch-ups wherever needed.

Kash - Who has lots of experience with painting tasks, took a roller brush, and moved up and down against the walls.

Emmanuella - Who never painted before took a long roller brush and gained experience by the end of the day. She had paint on her face just a minute after her first stroke.

Emmanuella is on a roll and did 5 tasks in her first week of joining GoodGym

Divya - Our regular visitor from Hammersmith, owned a wall to his own and started painting aggressively.

Harvey - After completing the Gunnersbury park run and having tasted Liv's 250th park run celebration cake, arrived earlier to the task and was the well-prepped GoodGymer of the day. He put on his painting clothes before starting the mission.

Claire - Also joined us after completing her park run this morning and suggested the use of masking tape to cover the corners. She then come with up a bright idea to turn the lights on as it was a bit dark inside. She couldn't withstand the humidity and hotness after some rapid painting and cooled her down with cold water.

Madiha - Took a long roller brush and tried reaching the roof and covering as much as possible. She had previous experience with GoodGym painting as well. She couldn't stay for the group photo at the end.

Madhan - Took pictures at awkward angles for the reports and carefully painted to not spill paint on his GoodGym T-shirt. But ended up getting paint on his track pants instead.

GoodGym Ealing surprised Mandie and themselves by completing the painting task within an hour

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The Cleaners 🧼

As we had more than 30 minutes left in the task, Kash suggested that we would help wash the brushes and trays and the paint is water-based. But the washing area is a bit cramped and only one person can wash at a time.

Divya, Harvey, and Emmanuella started pouring the remaining paint back into the bucket.

Then Divya started washing the trays, while Kash was assisting him, and then Emmanuella joined Divya and left after cleaning the tray. Kash was explaining the process of cleaning paints from the roller to Emmanuella and after 20+ minutes of squeezing and scrubbing, they completed the cleanup process.

Claire was removing the masking tapes whereas Harvey after removing some paint off the floor set his eyes on a lovely chair and then couldn't stop posing as a 'Thinker'.

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Refreshment 🧉

Along with all the painting materials, we had some refreshments arranged for us. Ice cold water bottles, Elderflower sparking water, squash, biscuits, and brownies to name a few. Some of us treated ourselves to the refreshments. We also had the option of Tea/Coffee but we stick to cold water as it was humid and hot inside.

Sevan got engaged in a conversation with Mandie on how the Open Ealing operates. And Claire was doing her stretches supervised by Harvey. Madiha left earlier so she couldn't be part of the group picture. After the successful completion of the mission, everyone parted ways and half the team met after two hours for another mission in Acton Central.