Dear Member
Recent Club Events
Monthly Meeting
Jenny Whalley, at our demonstration in May, gave us a watercolour painting which was very evocative of the hot and dusty African plains. She painted a whole herd of zebra with wildebeests and giraffes in the background. The deft application of a few stripes, ears and black muzzles soon had very convincing zebra on the page. Wildebeests, giraffes and the dust followed, then she finished off with a few crisper outlines of opaque white and black pen-work and a touch of blue sky.
Many thanks to Jenny for an entertaining and informative demo.
Sunday Painting
For our outdoor painting in June, we had a wonderful day in the picturesque Little Marlow, with a wealth of lovely viewpoints to paint. The weather was perfect and we had a fabulous time painting scenes of our day. To our delight, we also had an unexpected visit from a handsome American red-tailed hawk taking his handler for a walk. We ended up at the Queens head pub for drinks and delicious puddings (No cake on the menu), where we were made very welcome by the extremely polite, helpful and friendly staff.
Events in July
Summer Garden Party
It is not long now until our SUMMER GARDEN PARTY, on Sunday July 6th, from 12 to 4pm. Rita will be our host in her lovely garden in Marlow. If you came last year, you will remember that Rita accommodated us all in her house as the weather was very wet! We do hope for a lovely day to enjoy the garden this year.
This has always been an enjoyable, well-supported event and it is so good to meet up with other members we may not have seen for a while. Do come along if you can, partners welcome too!
Please bring a plateful of ‘finger-food’ to share. If you would like to bring something like a trifle, we’ll make sure we have enough bowls etc. So that we have an idea of numbers to expect, and to co-ordinate the mix of sweet and savoury dishes, please get in touch with Leng as soon as possible, preferably by email (details in copies of this newsletter sent to members) or at a Tuesday Painting session. She will make a food list and may help you decide what to bring. The Club will provide plates, cups, cutlery etc and some soft drinks. Tea and coffee will be available.
Rita has quite a large selection of garden chairs but once we have an idea of numbers, we will ask for help with any short-fall.
We plan to have a quiz and a raffle with some lovely prizes. See you there!!
Getting there and parking: (details in copies of this newsletter sent to members)
Monthly Meeting
On Thursday 17th July we have our Monthly Meeting, from 2 – 4pm in the Parish Centre (Church Gate, Cookham, SL6 9SP).
Many of you will remember our visiting artist, Jan Gasca, who ran our critique in January 2024. This month we will see him painting a local River Thames scene using oils. Always good to have a local scene!
Coming soon
Summer Exhibition
It is time to start planning for the Annual Summer Exhibition 2025.
We would like to invite you all to participate in the Club’s 83rd Annual Exhibition from 12th to 24th August 2025 which will be held, as usual, in Pinder Hall, Cookham Rise.
Here is a summary about our exhibition which we hope will be useful, especially if you have not entered before.
For all the more precise details about how to enter, how many paintings, framing requirements, acceptable size of pictures, craft labelling etc. please refer to the FAQ’s on our Summer Exhibition page
You do not pay a fee to enter your artwork. If sold, 20% commission is payable to the Club (10% on cards).
If you would like to take part, please complete the Member’s Registration Form from the Summer Exhibition page and submit it as soon as you can and no later than Monday 30th June. You will then be emailed the Entry Form.
Please download the Entry Form and complete it by typing your entries on to it. This will be used as the Entry Sheet at the Exhibition. Email it back to the Exhibition Organiser by Saturday 12th July at the latest. This will enable the catalogue to be compiled and printed before the exhibition. NB: Late entries and amendments cannot be accepted.
If for any reason you cannot access the webpage please contact Wendy
Handing-in day for paintings (framed and unframed), and greetings cards is Saturday 9th August (10am – 12noon).
Please make sure you hand in all the paintings entered on the Entry Form, including the unframed (portfolio) items – they will already be in the catalogue!
Handing-in day for craft items is Sunday 10th August (1pm).
Schedule of events for the exhibition.
| Saturday | Handing in pictures/unframed and cards, selection panel and templating |
| Sunday | Hanging pictures, Craft hand in 1pm |
| Monday 7pm-9pm | Preview evening, invited guests and artists |
| Tuesday | Exhibition opens for the first full day |
| Tues/Wed | Local press invited |
| 2nd Wednesday | Best in Show vote closes, Winning Artist invited for Photograph. |
| 2nd Friday | Pack all red dot sales ready for buyer collection from 2pm |
| Last Sunday | 2pm Raffle prize draw. 4.45 exhibition closes, craft artists pack their work 5pm All artists collect work 5.15pm Dismantling team commences. |
Would you like to join the CAC Holiday in 2026?
We plan to offer a ‘Self-Guided Painting Holiday’ with HF Holidays, as we have done in previous years.
Our base will be the Longmynd Hotel, Cunnery Road, Church Stretton, Shropshire SY6 6AG
For rural calm in the Shropshire Hills National Landscape, the location of this characterful country house is hard to top. Set in a wooded hillside just a short stroll from the market town of Church Stretton (nicknamed Little Switzerland for its picturesque landscape), you’ll be within walking or driving distance of the Stiperstones, Caer Caradoc, Ironbridge Valley of Invention, and the historic towns of Ludlow and Shrewsbury. And then, of course, there’s the Long Mynd itself – an area of registered common land that has been cared for by a group of farmers (the self-named commoners) who have grazed sheep and ponies here for generations.
Sounds lovely, doesn’t it? All the details can be found on our Holidays page.
The dates are: Friday 19th June 2026 for 7 nights, departing on Friday 26th June.
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 |
| July 8th: A group of people in a scene (shop, pub, sporting event etc.) Remember that the theme for next year’s Cookham Festival is ‘The Seasons in Cookham’ – perhaps ‘a summer picnic on the banks of the Thames’ would be a good topic for your Festival entry? | July 15th: Paint what you like |
| July 22nd: Cloud studies (John Constable for reference). | July 29th: Paint what you like |
TIPS OF THE MONTH
Jenny Whalley showed an interesting technique for adding a watercolour sky wash towards the end of your painting session. Turn the painting up-side-down to prevent dribbles from the sky running down over your carefully executed work!!
Yours sincerely
Robert Jones
Newsletter Editor