Dear Member

Recent Club Events 

Summer Exhibition 2024

We do hope that you have visited our Summer Exhibition this year, which runs until Sunday 25th August.

Curating such a large number of paintings is quite a task, and it was very good to have the help of quite a few members who had not experienced the ‘set-up days’ before. Most were surprised by the complexity of the system. One of the professional artists of the selection panel was really complimentary about our organisation.

Here are a few pictures of the process (which has evolved over many years!):

Clockwise from top left:

• all the pictures are checked in against our lists, then put in a set of racks and shown one at a time to the selection panel
• the pictures are put in another set of racks, according to their scores and later put on tables so we can see a lot at a time, to choose which might go together on a screen
• templating: pictures are placed on screen-sized boards to plan the layout of each screen, then they go to another set of racks on the stage labelled with their screen numbers
• the hall is cleared, the screens got out from storage under the stage and erected, and the paintings are taken down from the stage to put on their allotted screens
• after a lot of final readjustment on the screens, polishing of glass, and tidying of the hall we are ready for opening!

Two solid days of work! We are so grateful for the help of our members and the volunteers from ‘Good Gym’, who erected most of the screens and helped with the hanging. We wouldn’t have survived without the club members who kept us supplied with copious tea, coffee and cake, and mid-day meals for the two days. A big thank you to all who helped.

P.S. It is such a big task, you can see why we are a little perturbed(!) when pictures turn up which are different to the ones members describe on their entry forms, or are not correctly and neatly framed and labelled. As the catalogue is prepared and printed in advance, we really cannot accept extra items and changes to entries, whether pictures or craft items.

Monthly Meeting 

In July our month’s meeting was for the New Arts critique and appraisal. Jo Harris, a local artist from Henley was invited to do it. She was informative and very entertaining – absolutely wonderful, and quite an extrovert as you can see from the picture of her presenting the prize to our winning artist. There were about 34 paintings to go through and the quality and subject variety was remarkable. It’s not easy to create modern style paintings, especially complete abstracts, but our members had taken on the challenge and the results were superb.

After the tea and biscuits and the voting, the winner was Sue Carter, with Satu and Pam the runners-up.

Thank you to all of those who attended. More than a few people asked if Jo might do a workshop, so we have asked if she can do our April workshop next year – fingers crossed.

Sunday Painting

In early August eight painters from the club returned to Nashdom House, near Burnham, at the invitation of the residents. This was our largest group for some time and we enjoyed a beautiful day in the extensive, peaceful grounds, with the choice of painting the house, the gardens or the woods, in the sun or in the shade. At the end of the afternoon, some of the residents met up with us to view our day’s work over cups of tea, pieces of cake and glasses of prosecco. A perfect way to spend a day.

For arranging this, we must again thank club member Roy Baker, whose connections with Nashdom, gave us the opportunity of being invited back to this quiet, private location. Many thanks to Roy, and to Joan.

Events in September

Sunday Painting

For our next outdoor painting on 8th September, from 10.30am to 4pm, the venue will be Littlewick Green, a short distance from Maidenhead, just off the A4 towards Reading. The large green is surrounded by many cottages and houses and has a traditional, attractive cricket pavilion. The church is also close by. There are no public conveniences but the village pub is near the pavilion. There is a small car park as you enter from the A4 (2nd entrance coming from Maidenhead). Pam Hammond has kindly offered to provide refreshments afterwards at her house, which is a short drive away.

We had a great turnout for the last outdoor painting – do come to Littlewick Green if you can.

Monthly Meeting

Stewart Beckett is coming to demonstrate a portrait painting in oils for our September 19th Monthly Meeting, from 2 to 4pm in The Parish Centre (Church Gate, Cookham, SL6 9SP).

You may have seen him as a participant on Sky’s Portrait Artist of the Year and Landscape Artist of the Year, having painted Gregg Davies and Ncuti Gatwa, Scotney Castle and Viking Bay (Broadstairs). He has also exhibited in The Royal Portrait Society and The Royal Institute of Oil Painter’s annual exhibitions in the Mall Galleries.

We look forward to an informative demo.

Cookham Dean Village Fete

Cookham Dean Village Fete coming up on 21st September. ‘Tuesday Painters’ will, as usual, be invited to put on a display of paintings – details during Tuesday sessions in due course.

Coming Soon

Workshop

Please note, our original plan for a workshop on 5th October has had to change because the original artist had to cancel his booking. We now have a workshop planned for the 12th October. We have asked Tushar Sabale to run the workshop. He has given us a super demonstration before and is exhibiting in our Summer show, having been a member of our selection panel. You may also have met him during the Cookham Festival. See the details below.

Tushar Sabale is coming to run our Workshop on Saturday October 12th, from 10.30 – 4.30pm, in The Parish Centre (Church Gate, Cookham, SL6 9SP). He will be working with us on a River Scene, using oil or acrylic paint. Tushar is such a skilled artist and presenter we expect this to be a popular event.

To join the workshop, please contact us requesting how many places you will require by Saturday 21st September. Numbers will be limited to about 16, so get your requests in as soon as possible.

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. Cost: £40/person.

Tushar demonstrated a Trafalgar Square painting for us In March

Tuesday Painting Workshops

At Cookham Dean Village Hall, Church Road, Cookham Dean, Berks SL6 9PY, from 2 to 5pm.

TIP OF THE MONTH

An interesting place to paint, or just to visit?

The archaeological dig in Paddock Field next to Holy Trinity Church is continuing throughout August. Initiated in 2021, this University of Reading research project is excavating the site of an Anglo-Saxon monastery.

For more information about the dig and Guided Tours see their website, or search for Friends of Cookham Abbey.

Yours sincerely
Robert Jones
Newsletter Editor