Shropshire Artists love London 2017

53 members and friends have just returned from another SAS Annual Gallery Weekend, this year a return to London, again basing ourselves at the very conveniently situated Mercure Bloomsbury Hotel in the heart of that attractive district. Travel with Longmynd Coaches was as usual comfortable and efficiently organised to maximise our city stay.

After a Friday midday arrival, members were soon fanning out across London making the most of the excellent London Transport buses stopping just outside the hotel. Some of us headed immediately for the nearby British Museum to explore its rich offerings and to visit the large Special Exhibition of Watercolours. Tate Britain, with its striking Hockney Exhibition, Tate Modern with the Robert Rauschenberg, the Courtauld Institute, The Mall Galleries and the small but exciting exhibition of Australian Impressionist paintings at the National Gallery, provided rich fare.

Theatres, concerts and sightseeing, including viewing the city from the new 10th floor platform at Tate Modern, provided more excitement, topped off for many of us by a sociable evening meal in the hotel’s new Pierre Marco White Restaurant.

Our thanks go to our organiser Alan Townsend, to the very helpful hotel staff and to our Longmynd driver, Ian.

Pre-Christmas cheer at the Riverside

On a beautifully bright and sunny 1st of December morning, some 45 members and friends gathered for a return visit to the very welcoming Riverside Inn, Cound, for our annual Pre-Christmas Lunch. Thanks to Peter and his staff, we enjoyed an excellent meal and and lively social occasion, marking a very successful first half to the current year’s SAS programme of activities. Our thanks go to all who had a hand in making the occasion so enjoyable, especially Alan Townsend who always goes the extra mile to ensure all our outings and trips are such a success.

Collage of SAS pre-Christmas lunch at the Riverside Inn 2016
Happy Christmas to all our members! Lunch at the Riverside Inn.

We wish you all a great December, a happy Christmas and an artistic and creative New Year!

A Christmas flavour to final Saturday Workshop of 2016

A very well attended Saturday Workshop was held on 26th November to conclude an enjoyable Autumn Term’s activities. Led as usual by Lynne Morgan and Mick Krupa, we were re-introduced to the exciting multi-media work of John Blockley and discovered more about his subject matter and technique, before applying some of his approaches to our own chosen subjects.

Collage of SAS final Saturday Workshop of 2016
A flavour of the pre-Christmas Saturday Workshop

The lunch break saw us relaxing with a pre Christmas drink and hot mince pies!
Our sincere thanks go to Lynne and Mick for their very thorough organisation of these sessions and their encouraging leadership. We look forward to meeting again in January.

Autumn Exhibition, John Willetts our prize winner

On Saturday 8th October, The Bear Steps, the traditional venue for our Autumn Exhibition, was the scene of a well attended gathering of members and invited guests. They had assembled to celebrate another very successful Autumn Exhibition and to witness the awarding of the R Harrison and H Walker Prize given annually in the judge’s opinion, for the painting that best reflects the Shropshire countryside. On this occasion, the award went to John Willetts for his watercolour entitled ‘Snow on the Wrekin’.

Image of winning painting SAS Autumn 2016 Walker Harrison Prize (John Willetts, Snow on the Wrekin)
‘Snow on the Wrekin’ by John Willetts

Our adjudicator, Jim Davies, with his considerable knowledge of the county and his artist’s eye, commented on the high quality of the paintings eligible for the award and offered a thoughtful critique of his final shortlist. He was thanked warmly for the trouble he had taken in making the award.

Collage of Autumn Exhibition 2016 Social, with John Willetts receiving his award from Jim Davies
A flavour of the event, and Jim presenting John with his award.

Our thanks go to John and his team for the hard work and attention to detail that makes this all possible and to Margaret Rowson for again organising the hospitality. Thanks too to Anne Linton for capturing the essence of the occasion in her excellent photographs.

Autumn Exhibition 2016 opens at the Bear Steps Gallery

The Shropshire Art Society 2016 Autumn Exhibition opens on Monday 3rd October at The Bear Steps Gallery, Shrewsbury and runs for two weeks. We’re delighted that so many of our members are exhibiting paintings this year, and at the variety and quality of the work being shown.

Collage of SAS Autumn Exhibition 2016 ready for opening
Shropshire Art Society Autumn Exhibition 2016, Bear Steps Gallery: a flavour

In beautiful autumn sunshine earlier today, our members brought in their paintings from all over Shropshire, and our team of volunteers, led by our Exhibition Organiser John Willetts, worked together brilliantly and enthusiastically to hang the paintings and prepare the Exhibition for the viewing public. Thank you to John and everyone who has helped make the Exhibition possible.

The R Harrison and H Walker Prize will be awarded for a painting, that in the opinion of the adjudicator, best reflects the Shropshire countryside. The Exhibition Social will be held on Saturday 8th October from 12 noon to 2pm; all members and their guests are very welcome.

The Exhibition is open daily (not Sunday 9th) from 10am to 4pm, closing on Saturday 15th October at 3pm. As well as the paintings, there is an excellent selection of cards for sale. Do visit and support the work of Shropshire artists. We would love to see you there!