Dear Member
Our Summer Exhibition will soon be under way. Do plan a day to come along, and bring your friends and relatives too. It runs from 18th to 30th August and is open from 10am to 6pm (Closing at 4.45pm on the last day).
Recent Club Events
Monthly Demonstration
At our July Monthly Meeting Fiona Hooper gave us an entertaining demo of palette knife painting using oils. She produced this lovely seascape using only four colours plus white. Her basic advice for palette knife painting was ‘don’t stint on the quantity of paint’ – especially important for large areas of colour such as the sky. If you like the colours of the sky, sea and rocks in her painting, here is what she used: titanium white, vivid turquoise and venetian yellow orange by Pebeo, and cobalt blue and burnt umber by Seawhite.
Some of her mixes were: burnt umber, cobalt blue and white for the sea; adding some venetian yellow orange for darker areas and turquoise for the greener sea. Burnt umber, venetian yellow orange and a little white for the rocks; adding some cobalt blue for darker tones. She advised using retouching varnish to protect the painting when it’s touch dry. The paint will continue to dry through it.
Many thanks to Fiona for an interesting afternoon.
Sunday Painting
Outdoor painting in early August: Our visit to Waltham St Lawrence was hugely successful, the village has a friendly community feel and everyone we spoke to was cheerful and welcoming, including some motor-bikers visiting the pretty pub. As well as the picturesque old pub there is an ancient church with an impressive lych gate and equally impressive yew trees.
With seven of us all descending on our club chairman’s home for delicious homemade cakes, we were made very welcome by both Robert and Chris and a lovely time was had sitting in the sunshine and shade in their lovely garden.
Events in September
Sunday Painting (early September)
The next Sunday Painting on 6th September will be at Eton and The Brocas, a large meadow on the Eton side of the river at Windsor from which there is a great view of Windsor Castle. We plan to meet at the Meadow Lane car park SL4 6BN. We are hoping to car share to reduce the number of cars and our parking cost and, so far, Rachel and Lyn can offer three spaces in each car.
Sunday Painting (late September)
Unusually, we have a second Sunday Painting in September on 27th when we will visit Goring and Streatley – two ancient riverside villages separated by the river and joined by a bridge. Since Victorian times, Goring & Streatley has always been a popular holiday destination. Nowadays, visitors come to enjoy its renowned hospitality, and the lovely scenery and local attractions. I would highly recommend the Pierreponts Café in Goring, by the bridge. It looks like the best place to meet is at the Wheel Orchard car park RG8 9HB. Again, car sharing is encouraged, as it is quite a long way to go – lets be green!
Monthly Meeting
September’s Monthly Meeting is on Thursday 17th Sept, 2 – 4pm, in the Parish Centre, Church Gate, Cookham, SL6 9SP.
Catherine Beale is coming to demonstrate her watercolour techniques with ‘An Enchanted Woodland’ – painting negative shapes.
Catherine is an award-winning painter and author of a new book ‘Capturing light’ (Search Press). She specialises in wet-in-wet watercolours and keeps them fresh and mobile with her “gravity painting” techniques. Her watercolours explore ethereal light effects in the countryside. ‘Dropping pure pigments onto a wet board and encouraging them to mingle can help to free up painting styles and promote brave colour use and full tonal range’.
Coming Soon
Workshop
We have planned a Watercolour Workshop on Saturday October 3rd 10am – 4 pm in the Parish Centre Church Gate, Cookham, SL6 9SP.
Nicky Hunter, who gave us a demonstration showing her technique with flower painting in April 2025, is coming to run our session entitled ‘Loose and Lively Florals in Watercolour’. So if you love to use watercolour, would enjoy learning more and would like to ‘loosen up’ your technique, why not come along?
To join the workshop, please contact us requesting how many places you will require as soon as possible (by 19th September at the 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 we has emailed you and confirmed your place.
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 1st: A vase of flowers – make the vase the focal point | September 8th: Paint what you like |
| September 15th: A sailing boat in pointillism | September 22nd: Paint what you like |
| September 29th: An abstract or realism painting of a large apple | October 6th: Paint what you like |
TIP OF THE MONTH
Do you have a dedicated table for your artwork, or do you have to keep it clean for other uses? Or perhaps you need to keep the floor clean underneath?
To keep the table/floor clear of paint one of our artists uses vinyl floor tiles, joined together with gaffer tape. The ‘mat’ can be folded when not needed, for easy storage.
Yours sincerely
Robert Jones
Newsletter Editor