Dear Member

The Club Fun Day held in February was certainly fun! Imagine 16 artists either up to their elbows in shaving foam mixed with paint, or trying to paint on huge sheets of paper with metre long brushes and sticks of charcoal, or with one hand in a paper bag trying to draw with the other hand what they could feel in the bag, and you have the general idea.

A layer of foam, dripped and swirled with acrylic ink produced an effect something like marbling on a piece of paper, which was pressed on top and then lifted and cleared of foam with a squeegee.

Our long ‘brushes’ had charcoal taped on one end and a flat brush on the other. We painted with the charcoal and very strong coffee! Many thanks go to Gill and Pam for organising the day.

Also, in February we enjoyed watching a watercolour genius, Jake Winkle, at work. In the two-hour demonstration he completed two paintings; a cheetah and a couple of mules and their riders. He worked wet-in-wet, showing how to build up a picture with ever increasing concentrations of watercolour paint and not a cauliflower in sight.

The afternoon was very well attended and Jake gave us a friendly and informative demonstration.

Events in April

Outdoor painting, Sunday April 10^th 10.30 – 4pm. Please join us to paint sunny River Thames views (it’s always sunny in April!) on Ray Mill Island.

Lots to paint: the tree covered island, the lock, the weir, the new footbridge and numerous ducks and swans. We will meet to finish the day and see each other’s paintings at about 3.30 – 4pm, probably at the café on the island – we’ll decide on the day. Toilets on the island and car parks nearby (charges apply) off Ray Mead/Lower Cookham Road, with just a short walk to the island.

Monthly Meeting, Thursday 21^st April, 7 – 9pm (note: our Spring/Summer meeting times).

Geoff Hunt will be demonstrating a London River Thames scene, using oils.

Geoff last visited in 2018, painting something distinctly more oceanic!

An all-day painting workshop, Sunday April 24^th 10am – 4pm – at Cookham Dean Village Hall (Church Road, Cookham Dean, Berks SL6 9PY). As advertised last month – do book your place soon.

Judit Matthews, a Hungarian born illustrative artist living in the UK, is coming to run a mixed media workshop. The topic is ‘animals’. Judit uses pen and ink, watercolour and collage in her work in a quirky, whimsical way with lots of detail and pattern, disregarding scale or distance. If you would like a place, apply soon – our workshops are often over-subscribed. Price £40. To learn more about Judit and her work, visit the Surrey Open Studios website – this link should take you there:

Judit Matthews (surreyopenstudios.org.uk)

To join the workshop, please email Sue Sepehri by Friday 1^st April (smsforcac@gmail.com) requesting how many places you will require.

Sue will then email your confirmation and outline your payment options. No payment will be required until Sue has emailed you and confirmed your place.

Tuesday Painting Workshops. At Cookham Dean Village Hall, Church Road, Cookham Dean,

Berks SL6 9PY, from 2 to 5pm.

Coming Soon

This year the Festival runs from 6^th – 22^nd May. As mentioned last month, Cookham Arts Club is invited to take part. Cookham High Street is a wonderful mix of characterful buildings, so we have invited our artists to paint images of all the shops and cottages along the street, which will be hung together to give a panorama of the High Street.

You will have received an email about this. We have had a really good response but there are some buildings which have not been chosen yet. If you would like to join in with the project, please visit the link, showing photographs of the High Street, which has been sent to all our members and choose a building to paint (on an 11” x 14” box canvas in landscape format, which your club will provide):

A date for your diary. On May 19^th our monthly meeting is our ‘New Arts Evening’. This is a critique of ‘modern style’ paintings – e.g. abstracts, or a painting in a style which is not purely representative but has for example an unusual colour scheme, or a highly impressionistic style.

Time to get painting?

On Sunday July 10^th, 12 – 4pm, we plan to hold our Summer Party. In previous years one of our members, with a suitably large garden, has been good enough to host our get together. Do you think you could offer a venue for the Club? Please get in touch with me, Robert, if you could. (email and tel. no. below).

TIP OF THE MONTH

Have you tried painting up-side-down? (No jokes about standing on your head!) Sometimes it is good to concentrate on painting just the shapes and tones you see, forgetting what the subject is, and if your source (e.g. photo) is inverted it can really help you to do this.

Yours sincerely

Robert Jones

Newsletter Editor