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Newsletter 3 April 2006
Newsletter No.3

All is going well with both groups and the numbers are growing steadily. We have welcomed new members and they have quickly become part of the groups. There are 37 in the Thursday group and 20 plus in the Tuesday one.

We have had new young people joining us and we particularly welcome them as the long-term future of the group will depend on these young people. However we have had to make changes to the rules because of the youngsters. We have limited the numbers of under 16’s to six and have had to inform the parents that although we will look after the young people to the best of our ability, the responsibility for them must ultimately rest with the parents themselves. We would welcome any parents who wish to stay with them.

During February we had a demonstration from one of our members, Roy Leftwich. Members had asked Roy if he would show them how to use a palette knife with oil paints. We were all amazed by the effects that could be gained and it was a great success. Thank you Roy for a good demonstration.

We have had two pastel workshops given by Carol Kibble. These were held during the day and we had members from both the Tuesday and Thursday groups present. We really enjoyed the days and learned a great deal. Carol Kibble regularly holds courses and workshops in Goatacre and if anyone is interested in attending any of them they can be assured of a good and informative time.

A small group of members went to a pastel exhibition in the Mall Gallery in London. It was a very interesting day and we saw a huge array of different paintings – some we liked and some we didn’t, but it was still fun to see them all. Now we want to see the first £20,000 painting in our group.

Bez organised a watercolour demonstration by Patric Bown which was held on March 30th. We had about 45 people there and really enjoyed the evening. For some people it was a chance to meet up with Patric again as they had started their painting in one of his classes. I know that some people are now going to try Patric’s way of doing the washes in his landscapes so we shall watch out to see how this goes. Again we had members from both groups and some people from a group in Wroughton so this was another success.

The Web Site is going well and people are dipping into it to see what is going on. Paula has worked very hard to get it up and running so a big thank you to her for all her work. It is almost time for a new artist to be featured so watch the space to see who it is and what makes them tick. If anyone feels like putting pen to paper or fingers to computer it will make the site even more interesting so let Paula have your contributions.

Barbara is looking into the possibility of starting an Open Studio Trail. For any of you who haven’t heard of these trails they are a chance for local artists who work at home to open up their studios, front rooms or even sheds, to let people see their work and chat to them about it. It involves all kinds of craftsmen not just artists. Marlborough and Calne are two places where they have these trails and they are very successful. Gilli has said we can use the Library as a centre for some people who don’t want to work from home so this will be ideal. We have already one professional artist who wants to be involved and quite a few amateur ones so if you are interested let Barbara know. Ron has offered to help with the organisation and any one else interested in helping will be very welcome. This is a huge undertaking and I think it will take a year to get up and running so the aim is summer 2007.

Phil has offered to give a demonstration of still life in pastels and we have a lady coming in May to give a demonstration of painting flowers in watercolours. It would be helpful to know what sort of things members would like to happen within the group. Please let us know as it is your group and the only way we can plan is if you tell us what you would like to happen.

I would like, on your behalf, to thank all the people in the group who do things to make the group tick. Maureen, who keeps us all watered on a Thursday and runs the raffle to boost our funds. Paula has got the group library organised, not an easy job to get everyone to sign things out and bring them back on time. Roy is busy getting us venues to have exhibitions and is now putting together an exhibition in May to be held in Inkspots. He hopes we will all support the exhibition as it will be a big showcase for group. We need to have between 120 and 150 paintings, as Inkspots is a very large place. Roy has entry forms which need to be filled in and returned to him no later than a week before the exhibition. This will be April 24th. Please read the forms carefully as we want this exhibition to go very smoothly.

It’s subs week this week and the good news is we don’t have to put them up as the cost of the room has not increased. We will have to charge for the next exhibition in the Library as the cost of hire has increased. Don’t forget that Inkspots give 10% discount to paid up members of Art groups – but you have to have your membership card and show you are paid up to date.

Spring is with us (we hope) and the light nights and lovely colours inspire us to get on with the masterpiece we all plan to do. When the weather is good we may even go out into the countryside to paint. We have been talking about this for a long time so maybe this will be the year! Watch this space for developments with The Weakest Link! Happy Painting!

For more information come along or call

Barbara Moody on 01793 722410 e mail barbara.moody@virgin.net
Margaret Freeman on 07778577873
Bez Suter on 01793 531360

 

Past Newsletters

Oct 2005

Jan 2006