Category: Special Events

New Year’s lunch

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About fifty members came together for a delightful New Year lunch at the Concorde Club (on Stoneham Lane) on January 17th.

This was a delightful meal in a pleasant room, and with good company. Terry had organised it all, and although Roy had had to give his apologies, due to a bad case of something that might be flu and might or might not be infectious, he was still there in spirit, and along with a set of questions to amuse us and test our knowledge. No brainwork involved, just a good knowledge about the Group: the questions were along the lines of ‘how many demonstrations are held each year?’ I don’t think anyone was spot on with the date of the club’s fiftieth anniversary, though. (2019 – I wasn’t even in Hampshire then!)

For many of us, it was just an opportunity to get to know people we had or hadn’t met before, at events or workshops, and we had a lovely time.

Thank you to Terry, Bev, and all the committee, for their hard work in organising this and all the other amazing things we do during the year.

Note: I spoke to many, especially new members, who said nice things about this website. If you’d like these news items sent to your inbox rather than you surfing to the website itself, just add your email address to the pink box below, tap ‘subscribe’, and it’ll add you to the notifications list.

A merry Christmas to you!

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Other appropriate seasonal greetings are also implied by the headline. 🙂

We enjoyed a lovely social evening on 3rd December, in the Dovetail Cafe.

A selection of pictures show us having (quite sedate) fun. There was a huge turnout of artworks, which garnered a very wide-ranging set of votes, and right up to the last few votes counted, it seemed like a tie was inevitable. But after the photofinish, the result went to Tom Winlow as the winner, with Nicola Williamson in second place and Nicky Gage in third.

Tom Winlow with Roy Brophy
Inspecting the entries, chatting, last view of postcards, and half our refreshments team

Some of us of with more Grinch-like tendencies were exceedingly depressed by the idea of guest carol singers, but we were in for a pleasant surprise! The Show Off Choir performed a wonderful 25-minute set, of festive songs from shows, films, and a few of the more harmonious carols thrown in. We were pleased to donate £100 to their chosen charity (Maggie’s Cancer Care).

The Show Off Choir

The refreshments team were superb, the MC (Bev) was brilliant, and the video maker was in his element making sure all went well.

And most people remembered to take their Flora postcard pictures home with them, although if you weren’t there, and would like your entry back, then Roy or one of the other committee members will be laden with them for the next several events: please ask for yours back when you see them.

Footnote: application forms for the spring Life Drawing sessions, and also for the New Year lunch went out last week. Please reply promptly 🙂

Happy New Year!

HOSts of visitors on Sunday!

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We had a really good footfall of visitors to our Hampshire Open Studio set-up on Sunday. Meeting Room 3 at the Dovetail Centre was a hive of activity. Most also visited the Exhibition, but their active engagement with our artists in the studio made for quite a stir!

Well done and thank you to Alex Phillips for organising it, and to everyone who is taking part over the ten-day event. (ends Bank Holiday Monday.)

Note: If you haven’t viewed the Postcards at the Dovetail Centre yet, they will shortly be moving to the lIbrary, in the Fryern Arcade.

Just three events in August

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There may be just three events in August, but they account for twenty-one activity days!

August 13th sees the Drop-in session at its usual venue at the Community Hall on Hursley Road. This is for members only, and continues to offer free refreshments! It’s a chance to work on your projects away from the turmoil of home.

Summer Exhibition

On Friday evening, 15th August, we have the hand-in of artworks for our Summer Exhibition. As the entries have already closed, and we’re only open for a short window, Roy is amenable to requests for inclusion from those who missed it. But only for the next few days, so act fast. Helpers for setting up the exhibition should also contact Roy if you haven’t already done so.

The Summer Exhibition opens at 10 am on Saturday morning, and runs until BH Monday, 25th August. Please tell your friends, get as much publicity as you can, and bring people along to take a look. The Dovetail Cafe will be open in the mornings Tuesday-Saturday.

Hampshire Open Studios

Once you’ve viewed the exhibition, go to the rear of the complex, where our Open Studio will be in full swing for the duration of the exhibition (16 to 25 August). This is part of the Hampshire Open Studio tour 2025, and leaflets are available to give to friends, visitors, and anyone interested. In addition, the local artists have produced a guide to the Chandlers Ford area studios.

The projects our artists will be working on are diverse, and many artists will be there for only one day, at most two. Practice varies from oils and acrylics, and watercolour landscapes, through printmaking, needlework art, and collage to book illustration.

Many artworks will be for sale in both rooms through the ten days.

March went out like a tabby cat!

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Our Members social event on the last Thursday of March was very enjoyable, and we had an excellent turnout.

More than sixty people came when Roy counted, but a few had dropped in and dropped out again, and other arrived later, so it was a flexible and fluid count, rather like paint.

The Bring and Buy sale was full of things you really knew you needed, but couldn’t actually think of when you would use them. I suspect the donors had the same problem when they originally got them! The frames went well, and many were picked up, inspected, then taken over to the ‘framing clinic’ to see if they passed muster for the exhibition requirements. The ones I liked didn’t, as they were too small for the Hillier Gardens events, but would be fine on our invisible-easels for a show at the hall. Many people took the opportunity to acquire for a small donation, artists materials they’d seen in demonstrations, but had never used themselves.

March social 25

The ‘framing clinic’ answered all sorts of queries about the group, exhibiting, papers, and other framing queries. It was really appreciated by us less experienced artists to have the chance to talk to someone not under pressure to receive artworks, and talk about the think that we weren’t sure of. Or were completely flummoxed. We are flummoxed no more!

Thank you to the catering team for keeping us supplied with drinks and nibbles, and to my companions for a lovely chat.

We rounded off the evening by a presentation from the Mayor, who kindly handed Roy and Gill the portrait of himself done by Adebanji Alade last September. We had clubbed together to buy it for them in thanks for all the work they’ve done for the group. We donated around £700 to the mayor’s charities. Thank you, everybody, for your contributions.

The Mayor then surprised us by giving gifts of flowers and chocs to the winners of his Christmas card competition. We had announced these at the Christmas social, but it was lovely to see the winners rewarded in person by the mayor.

We are planning to repeat this event on Thursday 26th March 26, so put it on your calendars now!

A Successful Christmas Social

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by Bev Dunstan

Thirty-six members attended the members-only Christmas social event on Wednesday, 4 December to enjoy an evening of good company, tea & coffee and the festive nibbles so well organised and served by Joy, Tessa, Sue and Helen.

There was a lovely array of artwork covering all three themes of “Reflections”, “Rain or shine” or “Christmas“.  Each piece was numbered and all of the attendees chose their favourite 3 pieces.   Once the votes were counted it became apparent that we had a draw for second place! These numbers were put into the hat and drawn again for 2nd and 3rd places.

The winners were:

Angela in First place:

Tricia in Second place:

and Mike in third place:

Mayor’s Christmas Card

The Mayor of Eastleigh had also asked if the Chandlers Ford Art Group could provide some images for his official electronic Christmas card. 

The following images were chosen by the Committee members and shared with the Mayor’s office:

by Sue
by Nicola
by Barbara

Well done to everybody who brought an artwork along, and we hope everybody had a good time, and a happy Christmas!

tv art guru Adebanji Alade at Chandlers Ford Sept 14th

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Adebanji Alade will be giving a demonstration of painting portraits at our special event on Saturday 14th September.

Adebanji Alade, the “Addictive Sketcher,” is the President of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters and a regular on BBC’s The One Show. Renowned for his dynamic urban sketches and vibrant portraits, his work captures the essence of life with a lively sketchy feel. Adebanji’s infectious enthusiasm and engaging presentation style make his demonstrations a must-see, offering a unique opportunity to learn from a master artist whose passion for sketching is truly inspiring.

The Dovetail Cafe will be open from 6pm – Free coffee/tea & biscuits for ticket holders and members.

The demonstration is between 7 and 9pm. The Church has excellent audio visual equipment (six large monitors) and cameraman.

Adebanji Alade – Sat 14th September, 7-9 (coffee etc from 6). Non-member tickets HERE

On with the HOS

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Our Summer Exhibition is over, our studio for Hampshire Open Studios is up and running, and open daily at Meeting Room 3 in the Chandlers Ford Methodist hall complex, on Winchester Road.

Here you have a chance to meet artists at work, talk about their methods, generally enjoy yourself, as Blake demonstrates below.

The cafe is open in the mornings until Sunday, too.

The artists taking part change during the week, some do one day, others do several. If you’ve ever wondered about book illustration, I’ll be there Thursday and Friday.

Susie James was there last weekend. I love Suzie’s work.

If you have a HOS24 brochure, do check out the entries for members who are opening their own studios to the public until Monday.

July definitely flew!

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There may have been storm clouds, but there was also heat, so I hope you got out to make some art.

Summer Exhibition starts 7th August

You should be nearly ready to submit your entries to the Summer Exhibition, next Tuesday, 6th.

Don’t forget to tell all your friends and acquaintances, and people you’ve never met, to come and see the exhibition. If you can, contact Roy or Alex for some flyers, or download them from the link in a recent newsletter.

Adebanji Alade – 14th September

If you haven’t already responded to the workshop application form you have until 11th August, after which places will be allocated by ballot (members only).

If you didn’t respond to the Demonstration expression of interest, you can still come, but tickets are now on sale to the general public (here) and the number available reflects our capacity including the members who have said ‘yes’. For safety, please let Roy know you would like to come. Details here.

Most importantly – please get your friends to buy tickets!

Adebanji Alade – Sat 14th September, 7-9 (coffee etc from 6). Non-member tickets HERE

More August reminders next week.

Pictures of Paradise?

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Paradise is the Hillier Gardens and lovely summer weather.

And despite (or maybe because) the Committee’s preparation for bad weather for our plein air and cream tea event, all three of the dates turned out to be wholly suitable, and the latter two redundant. Yes, we turned out en masse for the Cream Tea event on May 20th, and had a great time!

David Lovegrove
Janet Ferguson
Ruth Ann Lewis

It was also Gurkha Day, and the band turned out to play their way to the Gurkha Memorial. Great work from Ruth Ann Lewis to capture it.

If you couldn’t make it, why not pencil in your diary for the same weekend in May next year. That’ll guarantee rain!

~~~

PS: Don’t forget the Curtis Tappenden Circus Art Demonstration on Wednesday!