Dear Member
Recent Club Events
We held our 84th annual summer exhibition in August.
We displayed work from seventy-one members and eight non-members. As a committee we all considered it as excellent as ever, and were pleased to hear comments such as ‘what a talented group’ and ‘are they really all local artists?!’
So, a big thank you to all who supported our club and put on such a lovely display – not just the artists but all the volunteers who worked tirelessly over the two and a half days it takes to receive and curate the hundreds of entries into an exhibition we can be proud of. The wonderful organization called Good Gym deserve our thanks yet again for coming along to help with the heavy lifting of the screens! If you are curious about what is involved, take a look at the ‘behind the scenes’ videos on our website.
It is pleasing to note that fourteen new members took part in our exhibition. Three members, showing their work for the first time ever, sold at least one entry.
The members voted first, second and third for People’s Choice were all new to the club, for two of them this was their first ever exhibition. Well done, David, Caroline and Simon.
Some other statistics: We sold 44 out of 315 framed paintings; 30 out of 103 unframed paintings; 25 out of 68 pieces of craft.
We put 9 ‘oversized’ paintings up this year and we were careful to find extra space for them and not use screen space needed for the smaller works. Sadly, none of these sold. The highest price paid for a painting was £480. Although, at first, we had several paintings in reserve (as always), eventually all were displayed as other paintings were sold and taken away.
Visitor numbers: the first week was pleasingly busy but the second week, disappointingly quiet. Overall, up about 50 visitors compared to 2025, with total of about 1069.
Overall, this year, we feel a sense of disappointment that sales were relatively poor – in summer 2025 we made a loss of about £500, this year we made a loss of about £1500. Only some of this is accounted for by the ever-increasing cost of venues etc. The club has built up a considerable reserve fund over the years, which one day we will need for expensive replacements of, for example, exhibition and audio-visual equipment. So, although we can absorb the loss this year, we are very much aware that we must keep an eye on the situation. A few years of losses such as this will rapidly erode our ‘comfortable’ reserves.
To end on a more cheerful note, we were pleased to welcome The Mayor of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, Siân Martin and the Mayor’s Consort, Tim Martin to our preview evening. They spent a long time viewing the artwork and chatting with artists and other visitors.
Afterwards Siân wrote: ‘Thank you for inviting me to the preview yesterday evening. It was a wonderful exhibition and 84 years is a wonderful achievement for an art club; I am very impressed.’
Sunday Painting
Our penultimate Sunday outdoor painting activity was in Eton on the riverside.
We had an entertaining day; when we arrived, it quickly became evident that the good view of Windsor from Eton in winter was almost completely obscured by the summer foliage. However, we all managed to find a couple of places in the shade, albeit some rather perilously close to the water.
The river and the Windsor bank were rich with interesting views; other than the castle, all manner of boats were going up and down, people were ambling, some feeding the swans and ducks, the whole place, Eton and Windsor, was full of life. The atmosphere was of a perfect Sunday, the sun was shining and not too hot, families having picnics on the Brocas and dogs enjoying the water, all in all we were spoiled for choice of subject to paint.
The day was full of happy noise with the tourist boats playing taped narration, music from somewhere and the water fowl quacking crossly at the wash caused by the boats or quacking hopefully at tourists who looked as if they had duck grub, and of course just the general hubbub of people having a leisurely day out.
Afterwards we all convened to a coffee shop for coffee and cake and all remarked that a very nice day was had
Events in October
Workshop
Our October 3rd Workshop with Nicky Hunter, ‘Loose and Lively Florals in Watercolour’, is now fully booked, with two people on the waiting list.
We look forward to Nicky’s visit.
Monthly Meeting
The 15th October Monthly Meeting is at 2-4pm in the Parish Centre (Church Gate, Cookham, SL6 9SP) with Susan Gray who is coming to demonstrate a landscape in acrylics.
Susan is an acrylic land and seascape artist, painting, sketching or completing small studies on the beaches or in the landscape and then working these up into large pieces within her studio. Her inspiration is mostly from the wild seas and dramatic landscape, in which she tries to capture the movement and energy. Using a mix of large brushes, rags and knives, often an abstract element appears within her work.
Susan ran a workshop for us a couple of years ago, when we worked on seascapes, and we look forward to seeing more of her dynamic paintings.
Coming Soon
Workshop
On Sunday November 15th: We offer an all-day expressionist portrait workshop with Sue Tilbury, using oils or acrylics. Sue is a portrait and still life painter and tutor based in Henley-on-Thames.
She originally trained as a graphic designer and worked for many years as a designer and illustrator in a central London advertising agency. After returning to study at Central St. Martins in London her passion for oil painting was ignited. If you would like to work on your portrait techniques book a place on this workshop – excellent value compared to other all-day workshops at only £40. Do look at Sue’s website to see some lovely examples of her work: www.suetilburyart.com
To join the workshop, please contact us requesting how many places you will require as soon as possible (and by 31st October at the very latest). 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 been emailed and your place confirmed.
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 |
| October 13th: Winter trees | October 20th: Paint what you like |
| October 27th: Christmas card competition | November 3rd: Paint what you like |
TIP OF THE MONTH
Many of our artists would agree that choosing the right green for a painting is challenging, and also that it is usually better to mix your own rather than use ready-mixed greens. Making yourself a colour-mixing chart is useful when it comes to choosing your colours for the next painting. Below are two examples – one just mixing greens from the 4 yellows and 3 blues the artist had available, and another ambitious one, mixing every colour from the paint-box with every other colour! (I know you can’t read the labels on these – but if you make a chart, you will just use the colours which are in your collection).
Yours sincerely
Robert Jones
Newsletter Editor