Dear Member
Here’s a date for your diary: Cookham Dean Village Fete is coming up on 20th September, when ‘Tuesday Painters’ put on an exhibition of paintings in the Village Hall where we meet.
If you would like to take part, listen out for details which will be given at Tuesday meetings. Set-up will be 2pm on Friday 19th September and collection at 5pm on the Saturday. We usually ask artists to bring 2 framed paintings and 2/3 unframed paintings and up to 20 cards/packs of cards. Artists will get a form on which to fill in their entries, and bring on the 19th.
Recent Club Events
Monthly Meeting
In July Jan Gasca came along to demonstrate a River Thames scene using oils. His choice of colours seemed quite different to many artists we have watched, and I tried to make some notes.
His sky included white, Naples yellow, violet and king’s blue. Similar colours went in the water, with a deeper violet, and yellow ochre for the under-water sandy banks. He used red as a base for the green grass, added later. Teal and raw umber formed the basis for the shadows under the trees and also in the water. A similar mixture plus burnt umber was used to establish the distant trees. The ‘main’ tree was a great mix of all sorts of colours!
Jan told us about his colour mixing as he went along and his brush-work was fascinating. As someone commented, it was one of the best demos for a long time – very absorbing!
Outdoor Painting
White Waltham Airfield, the WW2 HQ of Air Transport Auxiliary and still a busy operational airfield for light aircraft, was the venue for our August outdoor painting. Despite the early onset of autumn weather five intrepid painters participated this Sunday painting event. An extra layer or hoodies were the order of the day to combat the wind across the airfield – until it was time to go home, when of course, the sun came out!
There were small planes parked all over the airfield and many arrivals and departures. Some brave artists painted single planes in detail while others favoured views of the hangars or main buildings, with some planes conveniently further away. We did have to take shelter at one point due to a little rain, which caused a couple of our main ‘subjects’ to be moved under cover, but this didn’t spoil our day.
Later in the afternoon three vintage planes were rolled out of a hangar and took off; a Hurricane, a Messerschmidt and a bi-plane.
We ended the day feeling a little buffeted by the wind but were made welcome in the club house where we enjoyed lovely mugs of tea and delicious lemon drizzle cak
Events in September
Sunday Painting
Outdoor Painting is on Sunday 7th September 10.30am to 4pm. Do join us at FREEBODY’S BOATYARD in Hurley, very close to the Lock – Freebody’s is one of the oldest boatbuilders on the Thames (and in the world!) with over 300 years of history – their website (www.peterfreebody.com) has some fascinating old photos and history of the Freebody family.
Directions – Peter Freebody and Co, Mill Lane, Hurley SL6 5ND. Boatyard at bottom of Mill Lane. Free parking in Hurley village car park on left opposite the church at bottom of Mill Lane. Boatyard entrance is along the lane to right, at the bottom of Mill Lane (about 150 yd walk).
Because this is a fairly small, private location, it always helps to have a rough idea of expected numbers – so please contact us if you would like to come (the boatyard have not asked us to limit numbers, but we would like to let them know how many to expect). Because it is small, and there will be users on the site, we cannot park within the boatyard but it is only a short walk.
Toilet will be open in the boatyard. The village shop, near bottom of Mill Lane, now does teas and cakes.
The workshops will not be open but, as there will, perhaps, be some boat owners on site, care must be taken walking around to access the various viewpoints. We have been asked not to sit on the jetties because of need for access; they are narrow and may be slippery but there are places to sit on land to get different views.
Monthly Meeting
Our Monthly Meeting in September is on Thursday 18th, 2 – 4pm in the Parish Centre, (Church Gate, Cookham, SL6 9SP). Ian McManus, a new demonstrator to us, is coming to do a marine landscape in watercolour.
Ian McManus is a professional Watercolourist, well known for his dynamic watercolour painting demos, creating lively paintings that fascinate the viewers as they evolve with speed and skill on the paper. We look forward to seeing him at work! You can find lots of examples of his paintings by at Ian Michael McManus – Watercolour Artist . We think you will be inspired to come along.
Coming Soon
Workshop
An all-day Workshop is coming up on Saturday Oct 4th, in the Parish Centre. Paul Alcock will be our tutor. Using oil or acrylic, the topic is an urban scene with figures. Paul visited us several years ago, working in pastels. For some lovely examples of his oil paintings, see PAUL ALCOCK – Artist and Art Teacher
To join the workshop, please contact us requesting how many places you will require by Sat 20th September. Numbers will be limited so book early to be sure of a place. Cost: £40.
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.
Mall Galleries Trip
Marlow Arts and Crafts Society is organising a trip to the Mall Galleries, on 10th September – to visit The David Shepherd Foundation Wildlife Artist of the Year exhibition – and they have asked if any of our members might like to go along.
Alison Pink, who most of you will know from her superb clay sculptures of animals, has been selected to exhibit. Out of 1,340 entries from 68 countries Alison will be joining other finalists. This has been a goal for Alison since she first picked up a lump of clay some 12 years ago.
What an achievement – our congratulations to Alison.
If you are interested and would like the details of travel arrangements etc, please contact us via our website and we will forward your query to the MACS Trip Organiser – Clare Clarke
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 |
| September 2nd: A landscape with unexpected colours – perhaps red grass and blue trees! | September 9th: Paint what you like |
| September 16th: Balance. | September 23rd: Paint what you like |
| September 30th: Irregular patterns – think of a field of poppies, a flock of birds or van Gogh’s irises – recurring motifs, but not in a regular pattern. | October 7th: Paint what you like |
TIPS OF THE MONTH
Colours can ‘tie a painting together’ – if you find you have for example some patches of orange or purple in your tree, try to repeat little areas or dots of the same colours elsewhere in the painting.
Yours sincerely
Robert Jones
Newsletter Editor