Category: monthly meetings

Let’s make an exhibition of ourselves!

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August is synonymous with the Group’s Summer Exhibition. It is also synonymous with Hampshire Open Studios. And since this year the dates don’t overlap, we shall be making exhibitions of ourselves pretty much all month!

Summer Exhibition

If you haven’t been reading your newsletters, filling in forms expressing interest in exhibiting or helping, or forms with your entries, you may only have seen or heard something of the publicity for our Summer Exhibition at the Hillier Gardens (not to be confused with Hilliers Garden Centres).

https://www.hants.gov.uk/thingstodo/hilliergardens/whatson/CAF-Aug26

Previously known as the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, the rebranding took place a couple of years ago, but the Hillier Gardens retain their excellence as a venue for arts, crafts, nature and good food!

We will be exhibiting just inside the front entrance, in the usual exhibition space, so that enables visitors to the exhibition to visit without needing to pay an entrance fee – and they can also get refreshments at the cafe. But if they’ve made it that far, why not encourage them to support the Gardens, spend the day there and explore?

We will be setting up the exhibition on Monday, with hand-in of exhibits followed by hanging them, and our team will be working hard to get out before being locked out!

The exhibition itself opens at 10 am on Tuesday 4th, closing daily at 5pm until the last day, Sunday August 16th, when it closes at 3pm.

Then exhibitors will be rushing to collect their unsold works from 3.30-4, while the team dismantle the show and remove the equipment to storage till next time.

Of course, while there will be casual visitors to the gardens who will come in and look, it is even more effective when you tell your friends (and any enemies you might have made), bring the family, and spend a day at the Gardens yourself.

Other events

The only other organised events we have this month are the Drop-in session (hardly organised, totally free for all) on Wednesday 12th, at the Community Centre at Hursley Road. Then the Sketching Group will be celebrating the end of the Summer Exhibition with a morning at the Hillier Gardens on Monday 17th. Maybe an opportunity to work on an exhibition entry for next year?

Hampshire Open Studios

Ask Alex for flyers to give to your friends and neighbours

Our group Open Studio has proved so popular, we’ve expanded it from MR3 in Chandlers Ford’s Dovetail Centre (Methodist Church complex) to take over the Dovetail Main Hall. This runs from Saturday 22nd (set-up on Friday) to Monday 31st August, from 10 till 4 (except on the last day, when we finish at 3).

That means more artists in residence, doing their thing, chatting to visitors about process, materials, inspirations and everything else that gets talked about at these things, including the quality of the biscuits. Has anyone else discovered a new favourite? Mine’s Chocolate Rich Teas. Much better quality crunch than digestives, and not overly sweet like hobnobs!

There’s a title for a sketching challenge – coffee break!

Enjoy August, and let’s hope for some relief from heatwaves and drought.

Be prepared for hot weather next time!

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We start with an apology for the very late cancellation, hopefully only a postponement, of Jake Winkle’s live demo last Wednesday. But it was far too hot for most of us to leave the relative cool of our houses until well after 9pm that day. Safety first, especially in extreme heat. I’m sure Jake will be willing to travel from Dorset to see us on another occasion, and we look forward to it.

Jake Winkle Workshop
Our efforts to reproduce Jake’s Cheetah at the workshop last year!

Thankfully, the forecast for the immediate weeks ahead seem more normal. Which means we won’t have to worry about the heating for the Life Drawing session on Sunday 5 July or the one two weeks later on the 19th.

The last session of the Introduction to Sketching course takes place on Monday 6th, with the Drop-In Session following closely on Wednesday 8th at the Community Hall, Hursley Road Details

Saturday 11th sees a Gouache Workshop with Jill Iliffe at the Dovetail Hall (next to the Methodist Church). Jill did a wonderful workshop of painting a kingfisher last autumn, it’ll be great to see what happens next! Details

Our Sketching Group will be heading off to Hamble for their session on Monday 20th, so we hope the weather stays sunny and warm, without too much need for excessive heat precautions. Take sunhat, water and suncream anyway – even if it’s raining!

Wednesday 22nd is the fourth Wednesday of the month, and so time for our Live Demonstration at the Methodist Church with Caroline Viney. Hopefully Roy will give us more details in the members newsletter nearer the time. Non-members are welcome, for a donation of £5 (preferably in cash) at the door. The demo starts at 7.30, so arrive a little ahead of time to choose your seats.

Finally, your interest forms for the Summer Exhibition at the Hillier Gardens are already in; the next stage will be for your entries, and for helpers to sign up for the things they were interested in. Please respond promptly, it helps the organisers no end! Also, after the sterling work done to arrange HOS in the Dovetail Hall at the end of the month, those of you who have signed up will get your allotted days, and further instructions. Because of these events, the Life Drawing sessions for August are cancelled.

Please spread the word about both events (Posters to come!)

(header picture (c) Heather Jolliffe)

How did June get so busy?

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No, it’s not a rhetorical question, or even an inquiry into a mysterious lady from the past. It simply reflects the amount of activity going on within the group this month… and there isn’t even an exhibition (although there’s a great deal of planning for August going on!)

We start the month with two (fully booked) special events — Behind the Scenes visits to Southampton Art Gallery. I’m looking forward to hearing a report on these from one of the attendees – it doesn’t have to be as detailed as Bev’s workshop reports, but it would be nice to know what you saw and what you thought!

These are speedily followed by the first of our Life Drawing afternoons on Sunday 7th, when Rowan Roberts will be revealing all. I never cease to be amazed at the ability of our life models to stand still in poses I could not adopt for more than a few seconds – they hold them for a few minutes or up to an hour (usually the longest we ask for is a half hour).

Note: this may not be the model for June.

The day after, on Monday 8th, sees the first session in a new Sketching Course, taken by Mandy Axtel. The other sessions take place on 22nd and 29th June, and 6th July. We look forward to seeing your sketches of the St Cross area.

Relegated to a lowly spot, in the listing, but still on the second Wednesday of the month, our drop-in session runs from 10:00-13:00 at the Hursley Road Community Hall.

This month’s workshop is on Saturday 13th, and promises to be a lively Abstract Acrylic and Mixed Media with Rebecca Hurst. It is speedily followed by the Sketching Group’s outing to Romsey Abbey on the Monday, and a brief pause before our second Life Drawing session on the 21st.

Finally we round off the month on Wednesday 24th, with a lively live Demonstration from Jake Winkle. A good time will be had by all.

And that takes us to Midsummer! You realise we will then be closer to next Christmas than last Christmas? Start painting your cards now 🙂

Spring into Sunshine

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Well, maybe. This Bank Holiday looks like it might be a little cloudy, but then we could do with some rain already!

But that won’t make too much difference to us as it’s the Spring Exhibition at the Dovetail Centre Main Hall, with hand-in and set-up tonight (Friday), and the event open from 10 till 4 Saturday until Monday (when its closes at 4pm officially, and hand-out at 4.30, but these things become flexible over time).

Please tell your friends! And bring them along. And visit often yourself. Bring the visitors, bring the kids and their friends. There’s nothing better to do on a bank holiday weekend!

and after that…

Life Drawing! The first session of the month is on May 10th, second on 17th. There were a couple of late spaces available for the extra session put on in April, but the May ones are, as far as I know, fully booked.

Wednesday 13th sees our Drop-In Session at the Community Centre in Hursley Road, 10 till 1. Do whatever you want, enjoy the company, or just enjoy the space to spread out without the cat puddling your paintwork.

After the second life drawing session, we pray for good weather as the sketchers head for a morning at Mottisfont (National Trust, so bring your card if you’re a member). Even if the weather turns inclement, there should be plenty to see and sketch. (You could do the cellars underneath the building on the right hand side of the picture – they have fabulous pillars!)

The most important date is Wednesday 27 May from 18:45-19:30 as it’s our Annual General Meeting. Just a few routine reports to be read, committee to be seen, elected, or co-opted. Just to make sure we run ourselves clearly and correctly. And this is followed by our first LIVE Demonstration of the year, with Marieta Sotirova doing something very interesting.

Happy Easter – now paint!

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Happy Easter to you all, and let’s hope the weather is benign over the holiday weekend. A chance for you to get out and paint, perhaps?

Our month starts with the drop in event on Wednesday 8th, 10:00-13:00. I’m sure you know by now that this is a free to ‘do as you please’ event on Wednesday morning at the Community Hall on Hursley Road. I think it’s still with free coffee, tea and biscuits! 

Catherine Cartwirght

On Saturday 11th our Workshop is intriguingly entitled “How hard can it be?” It’s a Watercolour Workshop with Catherine Cartwright and I’m looking forward to finding out how hard it is!

The following weekend we resume our Life Drawing sessions (Sunday afternoon). The form for the next quarter was sent out recently, and has already closed. If you wanted to apply, please do so more quickly when the form comes out for the next quarter!

Monday 20th sees our Sketching Group heading up to Olivers Battery. I hope the weather will be decent for that. A new year of sketching monthly prompts will also be starting: these will now be sent to everyone, so just ignore those emails if you don’t want to be inspired. You don’t even have to do anything with your sketches, although if you want to add them in the Facebook Group, do so. For any help with this, contact Lisa Marshall.

A couple of days later, Wednesday 22 April, we have a social event, particularly to welcome new members, but everyone is invited. There will be an art-related Bring & Buy sale, and a clinic on presenting your work for exhibition.

And please note your entry form for the Spring Exhibition must be in by the 21st April.

There’s still time to do your Postcard painting – theme of Film Title, so you could bring that to the social too. And perhaps pick up some flyers to promote the Spring Exhibition to your friends and neighbours.

On the cusp of March

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Well, February whizzed by, so here we are, on the cusp of March, with sun, rain and daffodils, so it must be spring!

As always, we have a packed calendar, including a zoom demonstration on the fourth Wednesday, with the ‘new members’ social, although everyone is invited, now taking place in April.

We start with our now customary first event of the month – the Life Drawing session on 1st March. The form for the next batch of sessions was circulated to members a few weeks ago, and the form closed on 22nd February. There are unlikely to be any spaces, so if you missed it, get your application in earlier next time!

Wednesday 11 March is the Drop-in Session at the Community Centre on Hursley Road. Start 10 am, finishes at 1 pm, and you can drop in any time you want!

Our Workshop for this month is WOW with Acrylics, hosted by Jenny Muncaster. WOW is Wet on Wet, and the description of buckets for water, and huge brushes, plus sponges and goodness knows what else, suggests that the paint will run freely! There was a long waiting list for this event, probably thanks to Jenny’s demonstration last year. A good time will be had by all.

The next day, Sunday, we have our Life Drawing session, this time with a female model, and the following day, Monday 16th March, the sketching group heads out to Southampton Common, weather permitting. 

After that we can rest for a few days until the last Zoom demonstration of the season, on Wednesday 25 Mar 2026. Scott Swinson will be doing a Large Seascape in Watercolour,  Details. It looks lovely!

And don’t forget to get your picture on a postcard done and brought to a session. The theme this year is ‘Film Titles’. Please write your name and film title on the BACK of your postcard before hand-in.

There are only four weeks in February

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… but February is even more packed with all the things the group is doing!

We celebrate the end of January with a Life Drawing session at MR3 at  Dovetail Centre (at the back). This is Sunday 1st February! The Life Drawing sessions are mostly oversubscribed with waiting lists, and that’s just these early spring ones. Watch for the next sign-up list if you want to get a place in the following quarter. Details

On Wednesday 11th is our Drop-In Session (second Wednesday of the month) at the Community Large Hall on Hursley Road. If you meant to get on with your new year’s resolution of painting more often, now’s your chance. – Details

The second Saturday in the month is the 14th. This was going to be our workshop with Elizabeth Baldin but unfortunately she has had to cancel, but Bev has already rearranged with her for next year.– Details

The third Sunday in the month is the next day, and sees our second Life Drawing session of the month.  Details

If you really are an art addict, you can then go sketching somewhere interesting the next day, Monday 16th, with the Sketching Group. Of course, the Sketching group has been sketching on themes all through the year. They also have something planned for a daily challenge like they did last year. If you were on the email list last year, you’ll hear all about it. If you weren’t, contact Lisa Marshall (pictured).

And after a weekend off, you can settle down in your armchair with your favourite beverage on Wednesday 25th for a Zoom Demonstration with Paul Oakley, who will reveal all the secrets of the Colour wheel and tonal value – Details

Sounds like fun to me!

January Blues? Not here!

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We enter the new year with loads of activity for you. This is partly fuelled by having two life drawing sessions in the month, the first this coming Sunday at the Dovetail centre, MR3. Details

The following weekend, Saturday 10th we have a workshop with Jean Turton, Jean is a recognised expert in Chinese Brush Painting , and participants have been given a list of essentials to bring, but Jean will be providing the specialist Chinese brushes, ink and paper, so all we have to do is listen, learn and paint.

Wednesday 14th January is our first Drop-In Session of the new year. A chance for you to get those painting materials out to keep your new year’s resolution going, perhaps? I shall be putting my new pencil sharpener to the test … maybe even turn up at the drop-in…any time before 1pm is your start time. Details

Saturday 17th is our New Year lunch, this time at the Concorde Club in Stoneham Lane. The menu looks exceedingly nice, and the company will of course be magnificent. Contact Lisa for further information: Lisa is at cfageventcal at gmail dot com

We are back at the Dovetail Centre the next day for a second Life Drawing session of the month. If you didn’t get your application back before Christmas, you could check if there are any vacancies, but usually, there’s a waiting list.

Our Sketching Group plans to make hay while the sun shines on Monday 19th, so let’s hope for a mild, sunny day with excellent light. Although as the last few sketching challenges of December were about shadows, light and dark, night scenes and so on, obviously our sketchers can cope with anything, anywhere.

We end the month with a Zoom demo, hopefully the one we had originally planned for December. But at time of writing this is not confirmed. So, Wednesday 28th, Elizabeth Hammond may or may not be doing a demo involving Life of Plants. Watch your email inboxes for final details and connection links.

There’s a rumour it’s Christmas!

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It does seem to start earlier each year… carols on the radio on the 25th November with the excuse ‘it’s only a month to go’!

But here we are in December, and our public painting seems to die down as we gird our loins for 2026. We still have a Drop-in session and a Sketching group meet-up though!

The main event is our Christmas Social event on Wednesday 3rd, starting from 7 am. till 9.30  at the Dovetail Cafe. As well as special guests, there is tea, coffee and refreshments. There was a rumour of mulled wine until someone realised that the Methodist Church preferred not to have alcohol on the premises. Well, we may still manage non-alcoholic mulled something, to keep our tootsies warm. 

Don’t forget to bring your entry for the Christmas painting competition (with prizes). They don’t have to be framed, just strong enough to stand on an invisible-easel. Also if you haven’t seen the ‘flora’ postcards we did earlier in the year, they’ll be on display too. Details

The following Wednesday, 10 December is our Drop-In Session at the Community Large Hall. Despite the pressures of Christmas, this usually goes ahead anyway. A chance to finish those cards you’ve been trying to get done before the last post? Details

Talking of cards, if you have some to send to the SO53 postcode area (our own), check out Scout Post, online or at many shops and stores around Chandlers Ford including the Co-ops, the Spinney 53, and Waitrose I think. The local scouts deliver the cards and you pay I think 35p for each. Cheaper than Royal Mail! Money goes to their Brickfield rebuilding fund.

And finally, hopefully Monday 15th will still see the Sketching Group out and about. Then there’ll be ten more days for your Christmas preparations. I have my first Christmas dinner on the Tuesday this year 🙂 Watch out for the invitation to our New Year Lunch sometime soon (and don’t forget to sign up!).

A happy Christmas to you all and very best wishes for the New Year.

Remember, remember the 8th of November

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Yes, forget Guy Fawkes, November is all about our Autumn Exhibition.

This flyer is available for you to download and print if you want to hand it to your friends, or to post on your social media, or send by email to friends, whatever ways you can think of to get people you know along to our exhibition on Saturday and Sunday 8/9 November, 10 – 4 at the Dovetail Centre Large Hall. And don’t forget the Dovetail cafe is open on Saturday morning, too.

If you’ve entered an artwork, make sure to submit it in line with the instructions on Friday afternoon/evening (it’s dark now!), and collect it again (if it doesn’t sell) on Sunday afternoon from 4.15.

What else is in store for November?

Life drawing happened on Sunday 2nd, and will happen again on Sunday 16th. You have to be booked in for this.  Details

The Drop-In Session takes place on Wednesday 12th at the Community Large Hall on Hursley Road. If you’re free, take advantage of this FREE dedicated workspace and get your project done or progressed. If you’re making something for a Christmas display or gift (or our social – see below), you’ve not long to finish it! – Details

Monday 17th sees another attempt by our Sketching Group to get out and about in the neighbourhood. The weather has not been kind for the last two months, but Storm Melissa should have passed, so maybe we’ll have a few settled days by then.

Wednesday 26th sees our last Zoom Demo of the calendar year (the art group year runs to the end of March) Elizabeth Hammond will be doing something about the Life of Plants. Details here, and the zoom link will be emailed to members a few days beforehand.

Christine Marlow Christmas Tree

Don’t forget that we have our Christmas Social evening on Wednesday 3rd December. It’s Christmas, it’s social, there’ll be nibbles and drinks, and also, bring your artwork on the themes “Winter Light”, “Frost and Flame” or “A Touch of Sparkle” (your choice). You could win a prize! Details

And finally, our first Basic Art Course will conclude on 29th November. I’d very much like to report on it if somebody (or more than one person) would like to send me some thoughts on it, what they gained, and whether we should do another. With photos, if possible. Email to cfagweb[at]gmail.com