Summer Exhibition Round-up

So, the summer show is over for another year. Obviously, the Church Hall does not get as much passing foot traffic as the Hillier Gardens, but it is a great venue, and the Cafe is an added attraction. It has also made a huge difference that we now can store our own exhibition stands in the room adjacent. Thank you to everyone who got involved in making these, from a single nail hammered in to a finishing coat of our special grey paint.

Thank you also to Roy and Gill not only for all the amazing work they do for the group, but also for the daily sales update. Members can access the spreadsheet to see who sold what and when, but here’s a brief taste.

The exhibition in figures

We achieved sales on every day of the exhibition. Tuesday 22nd was the lowest (and was it the wettest?) with just cards sold – about 15 in all.  It’s odd, really as Monday 21st was our most successful day – we took over £700 that day, of which over £500 was for displayed artwork (which includes framed, canvases and sculptures). Browser sales also went reasonably well, with over £100 taken on the first Monday and the last Sunday.

Ruth Ann Lewis and Richard Waite each sold two artworks. Jenny Morgan, Trish Brant, Wendy Sleeman, Jocelyn Halfpenny, Patricia Dorling, Peter Maule, Tony Eaton, Chris Benning, Jane Nash, and Joan Willingham were the other successful artists.

Ruth Ann Lewis – Hanging Around; sold on the Saturday

In all we sold 254 cards. The most successful card art came from Nicola Williamson (29), closely followed by Ruth Ann Lewis (28). Totals in the teens came from (in no particular order) Angela Sweet, Colleen Cockroft, Elizabeth Saunders, Gill Brophy, Jenny Morgan, Lynette Vickery, Pradeepa David, Sue Bowery, Susie James and Veronica Bliss.

The browser sales came to fourteen in all, and several members sold more than one, including Angela Chambers, Ruth Ann Lewis, Trish Brant and Nicola Williamson. Jane Nash’s Dunstan Burgh was the last artwork sale of the show.

We didn’t keep track of the number of visitors, but there was a steady trickle most of the time, i.e. there was usually one visitor present! Roy would be interested in any of your ideas for increasing our footfall.

HOS23

The Open Studio in MR3 for HOS 23, organised by Alex Phillips, was a very enjoyable place to be. It was usually buzzing with activity, creativity, coffee, tea and biscuits. Artists reported several delightful discussions with visitors, and many sold pieces they’d been working on at the event. Lynette Vickery sold some of her jewellery, too. This operated separately from the Summer Exhibition, so we don’t have detailed sales figures.

A notable first came for Hisham Edakandathil, who joined us on Monday, took part in the HOS workshop on Wednesday, and sold a picture! May it be the first of many, Hisham.

Here’s a short (14 seconds) clip (on Youtube) of the HOS activity.

The show and HOS are both time consuming to prepare, and can’t take place without the many many helpers. However small you might feel your contribution is, it is invaluable. Thank you so much.

Watch for details of the Autumn Exhibition, scheduled for 11/12th November.


Summer Exhibition in photos

Although it wasn’t busy on the first Sunday of our exhibition at the Dovetail Centre (Church Hall), we did have visitors, and the purchase:visitor ratio was excellent!

Members are receiving a daily email update on sales and activity at the exhibition, so if you haven’t got it and you’re a member – check your spam box. If you’re not a member – contact us to join.

Here are some photos Roy took on Sunday. Thank you to the visitors and stewards for adding some life to the still life.

Don’t forget to come and visit any day from 10 till 4 until Monday (Bank Holiday). Bring your friends!


One week to the Summer Exhibition and HOS23

Just one week to go until we hand in our exhibits for the exhibition on Friday night and Saturday morning, 19th August.

The committee and many helpers have been working flat out to make the new hanging stands, and get everything ready, including labels for every submission, every artist, and more.

Forty-eight artists are represented, with 164 artworks, not including browsers and cards. Most are for sale.

The exhibition opens on Saturday 19th, at 10 am, in the Church Hall at the Dovetail Centre. It runs through to Monday 28th, 10 till 4 daily.

You can’t miss the banners already outside the Methodist Church, so tell your friends, and everybody else you know, bring them along, have tea of coffee one morning in the Dovetail cafe…

Hampshire Open Studios HOS23

And while you’re visiting, don’t forget to visit our Studio set-up for Hampshire Open Studios this year. Artists will be working on their projects, as well as showing examples of their work.

Artists change from day to day so come back for a second visit and see some different approaches!

This will be in Meeting Room 3 (MR3), which is between the Church Hall and the car park at the rear. Times and dates as for the exhibition.


Ten weeks to the Summer Exhibition

Our Summer Exhibition will be in the Church Hall at the Dovetail Centre between 19 and 28 August (Bank Holiday Monday).

If you are exhibiting, you will need to get your submissions in, and your artwork ready according to the guidelines. But the committee have been busy with it for months.

The biggest activity has been the commitment to our own display stands. Roy and his team have been constructing, knotting (painting the knots with stain to stop them bleeding), and painting our new stands, which are kept in the storage space at the Dovetail Centre. And that had to be cleared out before we started!

We have a Sunday in July set aside for the last push on display stands, and apologies to the keen life artists that we had to steal the hall booking from them.

This is how the layout should look:

graphic of the layout for the exhibition

So, look out your best paintings, sculptures, needlework, tapestries, cards, browsers, and get them ready for submission.

And please advertise it to your friends, colleagues, neighbours, aunties, and anyone you think you can drag in off the street. The poster will be available soon.


Seven Days in March

Sorry about that, but we are already seven days into March. Apologies for the delay in reminding you what’s on!

On Wednesday, it’s our monthly Drop-in Session to help you get on with your own project in appreciative company. Details here, and remember it’s at the Community Large Hall on Hursley Road, not the Methodist Centre.

Workshops

Saturday 11th it is a palette knife landscape or seascape workshop with Stephen Foster. This was so popular that we have arranged a second one, in May. No, it’s not an aberration of the Calendar.

All the places for the workshops for this year have now been allocated. If you haven’t had confirmation of your successes and waitlist places, please contact Roy. And don’t forget to pay. You should have had all the details in an email around 22nd Feb.

Sunday 19th March we have our monthly Life Drawing workshop in the Church Hall. Wrap up well as the priority for the limited heating is our poor model! Life drawing workshops were also booked last month, check your email for around 22nd if you don’t recall getting one. There are a few spaces left for both March and April (16th).

Our Quiz Night!

Wednesday 22nd brings us a Quiz Night hosted by Bev and led by Jacky. Tea and coffee etc in the interval. And… there may be prizes! Jacky says this is not a test of how much you know about art. Hopefully you may learn a thing or two (she has, in setting the questions) but the main thing is to have a fun evening. Laughter, bafflement, and a few groans, probably!

The Spring Tabletop Exhibition

Spring Tabletop exhibition at the Dovetail Centre, 29/30 April 10 till 4

We are preparing a print run of flyers for you to give to your friends, neighbours, and anyone else willing to spread the world.

Thank you Sue Bowery for letting us use her lovely picture.

Please let Gill know how many flyers you think you could use asap. The poster can also be downloaded here for those who would like to spread it around their social media. If you can do that with a banner style on a webpage, that’s here.

If you are not a member and wish to take part in workshops and other active art, then why not invest a very small amount of money in joining us? Contact Gill (cfagmemsec at gmail dot com) for details.


Summer Exhibition – Last Few Days!

Amazing that our Summer Exhibition for 2022 is nearly over. It ends on Wednesday afternoon (10 August) around 3 pm, with a very quick break down and collection of unsold works. If you have not visited yet, you still have time, though.

So Many Sales

We’ve had so many sales you’d think that there would be nothing left for collection. But artists have brought in their reserve pieces to fill in the spaces, and Barry’s artful displays have continued to make an excellent display of them all.

As of Sunday evening, the totals are as follows:

  • We have sold 31 framed, canvas or 3D works
  • 22 artists have sold at least one work
  • 31 artists have sold a total of 680 single cards or packs!
  • 13 artists have sold 20 browser items

Artists of the Second Week

Continue reading “Summer Exhibition – Last Few Days!”

Summer Exhibition – week 1

By the end of today, the Summer Exhibition will have been open one week!

Members are enjoying daily updates from our Membership Secretary, Gill Brophy. Each evening she’s been sending out tallies of sales, pictures of sold artwork, and … the Artists of the Day.

Artists of the first week

In that wonderful way of putting artist’s faces to names and their work, I’m repeating them here.

Continue reading “Summer Exhibition – week 1”

Summer Exhibition 2022 NOW OPEN

Our Summer Exhibition at the Hillier Gardens is open today, from 10am until 5pm daily, until 10th August (when it closes at 4pm).

Exhibition at the end of setting up day

More than one hundred items of artwork are on display, not including the cards and browser items. Most pieces are for sale, and there is something to suit every pocket.

Even before we finished setting up last night, people were anxious to come and see the display.

Continue reading “Summer Exhibition 2022 NOW OPEN”

Our Summer Exhibition is TWO WEEKS away!

Chandlers Ford Art Group Summer Exhibition at the Hillier Gardens is just two weeks away.

All exhibits must be handed in on Monday 25th July, with the Exhibition open from 10 am till 4 pm on Tuesday 26th July through to Wednesday 10th August.

Visiting the Exhibition

Visitors are most welcome – and you do not have to pay to enter if you are just coming to the exhibition or the cafe! But the gardens are lovely, and well worth spending time, wandering and relaxing.

Continue reading “Our Summer Exhibition is TWO WEEKS away!”