Dear Member

Summary of contents– please read on for further details

• Covid Safe meetings – an update
• Reminder of The Spring Exhibition
• Recent events
• Monthly meeting with Max Hale
• Tuesday painting workshops
• Coming soon – an all-day Workshop and the Cookham Festival
• Tip of the month

We are aware that Covid 19 is very much still with us, and we know that we have members who are vulnerable (or living with vulnerable people). With this in mind we want to make certain that all our members feel as safe as possible at our events.

To this end we ask that:

• you use hand sanitiser on arrival at the venue, before signing in

• you wear a mask at all times whilst inside the venue (unless eating or drinking)

• you sign a declaration on entry to the event that you are free of any Covid 19 symptoms and have not been in close contact with anyone with symptoms

• if you remove your mask to consume refreshments, please try to maintain a ‘social distance’ between yourself and others.

In addition, we hope that:

• if you are able to, please take a Lateral Flow Test on the morning or within 24 hours prior to the club event – this is not a requirement, but it will definitely help everyone feel safe

• you have received a “booster” or third vaccination against Covid 19 (unless exempt.)

We would really like to encourage you to take part in our annual

Spring Art Exhibition and Sale, 4^th – 6^th March 2022.

When you receive this Newsletter, you will still have time to book your display screen. All the details were in the February Newsletter. It has been such a long time since we have been able to hold a Spring Exhibition, let’s make this a good one!

Recent events

Our Monthly Meeting in January was a critique of our paintings by Peter Keegan held over Zoom (as the Omicron variant of Covid was such a concern at the time). We were very pleased with the number of members who sent their work to Peter for his assessment. Here are some jottings I made at the time:

Intro: You don’t have to like everything! Point of view is subjective…

Best works of art are those in which the artist has something to say. Ask yourself if / why it is working?

Things to consider – whether planning your painting or looking at someone else’s:

1. Composition / Drawing – gets things in the right place
2. Tonal values – gives shape and form – painting looks a bit flat? Increase tonal range.
3. Colour – every colour has a tonal value. Some artists might start with colour – better to start considering tone, then add colour.
4. Mark making/edges – how we touch the surface – gives our own style to the artwork.
5. The message! If it hasn’t got a strong message or ‘you’ in it, it won’t be very successful

Peter was certainly of the opinion that the ‘rule of thirds’ is a good starting point for composition. He also encouraged artists to really consider edges, often suggesting where a softened edge might improve a painting, giving the subject a more rounded appearance rather than looking like a ‘cut out’. In other words, ‘do not be too confined by an outline’. He expressed a liking for ‘soft, loosey, painty areas’.

Monthly Meeting

Thursday March 17^th 2 – 4 pm – in the Parish Centre (Church Gate, Cookham, SL6 9SP.)

Max Hale who has given us a number of good demonstrations on previous visits is coming to paint a still life. He will be using water-based oils which should be interesting for those of us unfamiliar with the medium.

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

Berks SL6 9PY, from 2 to 5pm.

Coming Soon

An all-day painting workshop, Sunday April 24^th 10am – 4pm – at Cookham Dean Village Hall (Church Road, Cookham Dean, Berks SL6 9PY).

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.

(You may be thinking the price of a workshop has gone up! We have certainly seen, over the last year or two, an average of 20% rise in costs to put on a workshop, which is the reason. At this price some of our workshops will need subsidising from club funds, most will just about break even. We are keeping the price as low as we can for our members, and we can certainly observe that other one-day art courses in our area would cost, say, £70 to £90.)

This year the Festival runs from 6^th – 22^nd May. Cookham Arts Club is invited to take part. Cookham High Street is a wonderful mix of characterful buildings, so we have come up with a proposal that we will invite our artists to paint images of all the shops and cottages along the street. If each artist paints one building (or more), then we will hang them together during the Festival to give a panorama of the High Street.

Would you like to take part? We will give more details in the next Newsletter (best not to start painting yet!)

Our thinking at the moment is that each painting will be done on an 11” x 14” box canvas in landscape format in oils or acrylics, or watercolour if you coat the canvas in e.g. Daniel Smith watercolour ground. The club will provide the canvas, you will own the painting after it has been displayed. Obviously, we will need some coordination so that we do not get several paintings of the same premises. If you would like to take a look at our (un-edited) selection of photos for inspiration, please visit the link which has been sent to all our members.

Obituary: it is with great sadness that I have to tell you that Odette Coe has passed away. Odette had been a member of CAC for many years. During her time with the club, she gave great commitment to all the aspects she was involved in, serving on our committee, writing the newsletter and organising our exhibitions each year. She will be sadly missed. Our condolences to her husband Trevor and all her family and friends.

Yours sincerely

Robert Jones email rdjforcac@gmail.com

Newsletter Editor

TIP OF THE MONTH

It is often good to try a new technique, when running short of inspiration. Have you tried painting with string? Soak the string (wool, cotton, whatever) with acrylic paint (or other media) and apply to the surface, moving it around, or not as you like. The ‘string pull’ technique is often used with paint-pouring to give some unique patterns. Search the internet for ‘painting with string’ and you’re sure to find lots of little videos.

You might like to send me your results for the newsletter – maybe with notes on what you did?