Dear Member
Recent Club Events
Spring Exhibition
Spring has arrived and our Spring Exhibition has been staged in Pinder Hall once again. As ever it was well supported and it is so pleasing every year to see what an excellent show our members put on. Lots of visitors came along and sales were good; quite a lot better than last year. Thank you to all who took part and also to those who helped to assemble and take apart the screens – we couldn’t do it without you! These photos were taken as things were just set-up and ready to open.
Monthly Meeting
For Our Thursday meeting in February Tushar Sabale came to demonstrate an oil painting of a Thames scene. He chose a view of the river at sunset with the instantly recognisable Shard in sight. His skill with the oil paints was very apparent as he built up the painting. It was a good demonstration of only putting in detail where it was needed, and his colours in the sky and the river were particularly pleasing.
Workshop
Our February workshop on Granulating watercolours in a landscape with Linda Saul RWS was well supported by our members. We had a very enjoyable day learning new techniques with watercolour. Using mineral based paints known for their granulating properties and then adding a granulation medium, which encouraged even more flocculation, we were able to produce some very interesting textures in landscape paintings.
If you would like to try the technique, colours to use include sodalite genuine, hematite genuine and blue apatite genuine by Daniel Smith, granulation medium by Winsor and Newton and a smooth and fairly heavy paper, such as Bockingford HP 140lb. Without the expertise of Linda to guide you, you should find lots of references to granulating watercolours on the internet.
Many thanks to Linda for an enjoyable and informative workshop.
Events in April
Workshop
Sunday April 12th, 10am – 4 pm in the Parish Centre Church Gate, Cookham, SL6 9SP
This April we have invited Jan Munroe to bring us a workshop ‘using acrylics for a mixed-media, contemporary still life’.
To quote from Jan’s website:
“My paintings are made with Acrylic, Collage or Pastels and sometimes a mixture of media. They are Semi representational. It’s about design for me and capturing a feel. I love combining colours and shapes, working on placement of tone, making my marks, doing what I love. I want to look beyond the reality. I am very inspired by the places in North East Scotland, quiet fishing towns and harbours as well as Still Life arrangements.”
To join the workshop, please contact us requesting how many places you will require by 3rd April. Numbers will be limited so book early to be sure of a place. Cost: £40.
We will then email your confirmation and outline your payment options. No payment will be required until you have received an email to confirm your place.
Monthly Meeting
Thursday 16th April, 2 – 4pm in the Parish Centre, Church Gate, Cookham, SL6 9SP
This month we look forward to a demonstration of a portrait in pastels, by Paul Berryman.
Self-confessed Portrait and life-drawing junkie, Paul’s work invariably revolves around capturing the human face and figure. Frequently favouring single light source poses or deep chiaroscuro, accurately capturing nuances in the balance between light and dark are often at the centre of Paul’s work. He has run several life-drawing and portrait groups and has delivered over 400 events, including his work at Milton Keynes Gallery, where he is an Associate artist.
Sunday Painting
April 19th 10.30 – 4pm. This month we head for Pann Mill, The Rye, High Wycombe. Pann Mill has a long and fascinating history. It was first mentioned in historical records in the 13th century and has been a working mill for centuries. Today, it is the last remaining water mill on the river Wye and an important part of our local heritage.
Do come and join us for a great day out! Subjects include the old mill building in the public park and the boating Lake.
Parking in Railway Place Car Park, 200 yds across London Rd, £1.40 all day Sundays, free to Blue badge holders. Café and toilets by boating lake (about 200yds across park from the Mill).
Coming Soon
Cookham Festival
It won’t be long now until the Cookham Festival get under way.
The ‘Main Event’ is 1st – 17th May, but many workshops and other events are getting under way very soon (some in February) – so if you might like to join in, do look at the Cookham Festival website – so much has been planned for the 2026 Festival.
Our Art Club is putting on an exhibition of paintings depicting ‘Seasonal Views of Cookham’, and you will find details and an entry form for that on our CAC website Cookham Festival page. We hope you are working on your paintings – we would like to put on a good show! We will be setting up our display in Holy Trinity Church on Thursday 30th April (set up from 2pm, handing in at 3pm).
If you are planning to exhibit ‘Seasonal Views’ please let us know by completing a Booking Request, which you will find on our Cookham Festival page.
Tuesday Painting Workshops
At Cookham Dean Village Hall, Church Road, Cookham Dean, Berks SL6 9PY, from 1.40pm to 5pm.
| Tuesday Painting: cost £2 A topic, appraisal, tea and cake |
Tuesday Extra: cost £2 Painting, tea and biscuits |
| March 31st: Emotion (an image portraying happiness, anger, hopefulness for example) | April 7th: Paint what you like |
| April 14th: Trees or flowers in spring bloom | April 21st: Paint what you like |
| April 28th: A miniature portrait (say 5 x 5cm) | May 5th: Paint what you like |
Obituaries
We were saddened to hear that Linda Powell passed away at the end of February. For many years she was a regular at Tuesday Painting and great supporter of our plein air meetings. She started exhibiting with CAC over 45 years ago in 1979. Linda was a lovely, modest lady with a great talent. Her use of colour was exceptional and we could usually tell if it was ‘a Linda’. Our condolences to her friends and family.
Many of you will also remember John Heywood, a long-time member and regular exhibitor. A talented painter, John demonstrated a Thames scene at one of our monthly meetings a few years ago. Sadly, we have learnt that he passed away, late last year. Our condolences to his wife, family and friends.
TIP OF THE MONTH
Fraying at the edges?
The ends of picture cord and other things such as ribbons (made of synthetic fibres) can be sealed by holding them very near to a naked flame until the fibres begin to melt – I keep a little disposable cigarette lighter in my art kit for this purpose. Be careful though – I tried it on my camera strap recently and it very quickly caught light!!
Cords made of natural fibres could be sealed by dipping them into melted wax.
Yours sincerely
Robert Jones
Newsletter Editor