Paintaway 2027
Enjoy a relaxing and inspiring 4-night painting holiday at Tyn y Cornel Hotel, set on the shores of Tal-y-llyn Lake with beautiful views towards Cadair Idris in Snowdonia National Park. The area offers dramatic mountain scenery, tranquil lakeside views, and charming Welsh countryside.
Shropshire Art Society has provisionally booked the entire hotel for 7 th – 11 th June 2027 (4 nights). Tal-y-llyn is only an hour and a half’s drive from Shrewsbury. Members make their own way to the Paintaway venue, although car sharing can be coordinated.
For members who enjoy painting, the Society’s annual Paintaway offers the chance to paint in a peaceful and inspiring setting, either independently or with friends. On previous Paintaways, we have gathered for breakfast and dinner before setting off individually or in small groups for the day. Non-painting members, friends and family will also be able to enjoy the many local attractions.
Local Attractions
- Talyllyn Railway – A historic steam railway offering scenic journeys through the Welsh countryside. https://www.talyllyn.co.uk/
- Dolgoch Falls – A series of beautiful woodland waterfalls with accessible walking paths. https://www.visitmidwales.co.uk/things-to-do/dolgoch-falls-p2213431
- Snowdonia National Park – A landscape of mountains, lakes, and valleys ideal for outdoor activities. https://snowdonia.gov.wales/
- Abergynolwyn – A welcoming village with scenic walking routes and local charm. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abergynolwyn
- Cadair Idris – A popular hiking mountain with stunning views from the summit. www.visitwales.com/things-do/adventure-and-activities/walking/guide-to-walking-up-cader-idris
- Tywyn – A seaside town with a long sandy beach, ideal for relaxing and exploring. https://www.visitmidwales.co.uk/information/product-catch-all/tywyn-p1725101
Reservation and Deposit
A provisional block booking has been made for the Paintaway. To secure a place, return the booking form and confirm payment of a non-refundable deposit (25% of the cost of your first choice of room) by August 31st 2026. The remaining balance will be due by February 7th 2027. Rooms are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis and you will be asked to indicate your first, second and third choices of room on the booking form. Room rates for the four nights including breakfast and dinner are listed on the booking form
Click HERE for the Paintaway Booking Form.
Gallery Day Trips:
Warhol & The Masters: A Midlands Art Day
Please save the date for an exciting gallery visit on Saturday 19th September
2026 to two of the Midlands’ most celebrated art venues: the Barber Institute of Fine Arts in Birmingham and Wolverhampton Art Gallery.
We are hopeful that the Barber Institute will have reopened following its major redevelopment programme, although an official reopening date has not yet been confirmed. Because of this uncertainty, we are encouraging members to hold the date now while final arrangements are confirmed. If reopened in time for our visit, The Barber will offer the chance to enjoy masterpieces by artists including Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir, Degas, Turner, Rubens and Rodin in one of Britain’s finest and most elegant small galleries.
In the afternoon, the group will travel to Wolverhampton Art Gallery for Andy Warhol: Art Star, a major exhibition organised with the Tate and the National Galleries of Scotland. The exhibition explores Warhol’s colourful world of celebrity, Pop Art and consumer culture through his famous screenprints, portraits and photographic works. Visitors will also be able to enjoy Wolverhampton’s impressive permanent Pop Art collections featuring artists such as Roy Lichtenstein, Peter Blake and David Hockney.
We will update members on The Barber Institute’s reopening date, or any alternative arrangements for the morning visit, in the next issue of Focal Points.
In the meantime, please save the date: 19th September 2026!
Masterpieces to Modern Icons: London & Oxford Art Weekend
This two-day gallery trip, on the 18th and 19th October 2026, offers the opportunity to enjoy some of the year’s most exciting exhibitions together with time to explore the historic city of Oxford.
Above: View of the Thames from the Tate Modern
On Sunday 18th October 2026, the coach will travel from Shrewsbury to London for a visit to the National Gallery’s major exhibition Renoir and Love. The exhibition explores Renoir’s celebrated paintings of affection, friendship and modern Parisian life, showcasing the luminous colour and atmosphere that made him one of the defining artists of Impressionism.
In the afternoon, the group will visit the Tate Modern for the Frida Kahlo exhibition, Frida: The Making of an Icon. Through her striking self-portraits and vividly symbolic paintings, the exhibition explores Kahlo’s extraordinary artistic vision, personal resilience and lasting influence on modern art.
Following the London visits, the group will travel to Oxford for an overnight stay.
On Monday morning there will be time to visit the Ashmolean Museum, one of Britain’s finest museums, with collections ranging from Renaissance masterpieces and Pre-Raphaelite paintings to modern and contemporary art. Artists represented in the collections include Raphael, Michelangelo, Picasso, Rossetti, Burne-Jones and Turner. Members will also have free time to enjoy Oxford before the return journey to Shrewsbury later in the afternoon.
This promises to be an enjoyable and varied cultural visit combining internationally
important exhibitions with some of Britain’s finest permanent art collections.
Full details of costs, final itinerary arrangements and the booking form will be published in the August edition of the Focal Points newsletter.
Please save the date – Sunday 18th to Monday 19th October 2026 and watch out for the August issue of Focal Points!
Some past gallery day trips, weekends and Paintaways…
Gallery Day Trip to Saltaire, 13th September 2025
We spent a wonderful day in Saltaire, mostly under a sunny sky, starting with a visit to Salts Mill to see the two David Hockney exhibitions—“David Hockney: A Permanent Collection”, and its more recent offering “20 Flowers for 2025 and Some Bigger Pictures”. The gallery offers a broad selection of art materials to purchase which proved an irresistible temptation to some of us! Afterwards, we wandered through Robert’s Park, enjoying stalls, music, and the Aire Valley Arts exhibition featuring lovely works by Jane Fielder and Caroline Hardaker. Some of us had fish and chips at the Salts Diner, browsed the shops in Saltaire, and then sketched by the river before rejoining Andy on the coach. Congratulations to Wilf, Tina, and Anne C. for winning ChatGPT’s quizzes on Hockney’s life and work, and identifying twenty of his paintings! Thank you to our Organiser Kirstie who looked after us brilliantly. We are already looking forward to our next great day out!
Patterdale Paintaway, 9th June – 13th June 2025
What a lovely week the Shropshire Art Society enjoyed during their Patterdale Paintaway! Thank you to Kirstie Edwards, our brilliant organiser, and to everyone who joined the group this year.
Set against the stunning backdrop of the Lake District, the group made the most of every moment. Highlights included taking the steamer across Ullswater to the spectacular Aira Force waterfalls, or journeying the lake’s full length to Pooley Bridge and Howtown, where members found inspiration in the ever-changing light and sweeping landscapes. Days were filled with sketching, painting, walking, birdwatching, church visits, and even wild swimming for the brave!
Two intrepid souls climbed Helvellyn, rewarded with breathtaking views and a shared sense of achievement. Afternoons often ended with relaxing moments on the front lawn of the Patterdale Hotel, soaking up the sunshine with a well-earned glass of wine in hand—perfect for reflecting on the day’s artistic adventures.
The week concluded with a Baroque, Romantic & Impressionist Masters Quiz, a real brainteaser created by ChatGPT. Congratulations to Gillian Mortimer, who emerged victorious—well done, Gillian! It was a fitting close to a week of creativity, camaraderie, and inspiration in one of the country’s most beautiful settings. Here’s to many more Paintaways!
Gallery Day Trip to Manchester, March 2025
We enjoyed our day trip to Manchester on Saturday 29th March 2025, visiting three exhibitions: ‘Turner: In Light and Shade,’ and ‘Women in Revolt: Art and Activism in the UK 1970-1990’ at the Whitworth Gallery, and the Lowry Collection at the Lowry Gallery. Thank you to all who joined us!
Ross-on-Wye Paintaway 2024
We were “blessed” with cooler and wetter weather for our stay at the Royal Hotel in Ross On Wye. But, undeterred, our intrepid sketchers and painters were treated to the urban and rural landscapes of Herefordshire, Gloucestershire and across the border into Wales on their forays far and wide from base camp. Gardens, castles, river views and cathedrals were on the menu. Glimpse our glorious 2024 Paintaway location above.
Skelwith Bridge Paintaway 2023
Thank you to all who made our May 2023 Paintaway to Skelwith Bridge so enjoyable. Click HERE to read our blog post and see more photos!
Gallery Weekend Newcastle-Upon-Tyne 2023
Click HERE to read our blog post and see more photos!
Oxford Gallery Day Trip 2022
We enjoyed a fabulous trip to the exhibition PISSARRO: Father of Impressionism in March 2022. Click HERE to read our blog post and see more photos!
Liverpool Gallery Day Trip 2021
Our Gallery Day Trip to Liverpool’s Walker Art Gallery, to see Sickert: A Life in Art, in October 2021, was a great success. Click HERE to read our blog post and see more photos from the day.
Some information about our normal programme
When possible, we organise day trips to galleries as well as residential city breaks and Paintaway holidays, for our members and their guests. In recent years we’ve visited cities as far apart as Leeds, London, Bristol, Aberystwyth, Edinburgh and Wolverhampton on our gallery day and weekend excursions. And, we’ve taken our popular Paintaways to beautiful places like the Lake District, Wales and Norfolk. We design our trips to combine visits to one-off exhibitions with the established and permanent gallery collections, while offering the non-artists in our party the opportunity to explore great British cities and scenery. We always do our best to keep costs to a minimum to make these activities accessible.
Please apply promptly for all Shropshire Art Society excursions as they are extremely popular and usually sell out fast. We hope you will join us!
To give you an idea, here’s a flavour of some other places we’ve visited…
