News Blog | Shropshire Art Society

Three Sketch Club outings. Join us!

In May the Sketch Club spent a day at the Old Hall in the village of Cressage. There has been a dwelling on this site for hundreds of years, and some of its history could be traced in the various architectural styles, making it particularly interesting to sketch. Sixteen members came in spite of it being a very dull day and we were made very welcome by the owners. We were able to explore the lovely gardens and enjoy the views across the river to the Wrekin.

Our next outing was to Much Wenlock at the time of the Much Wenlock Festival in early June. Not much ‘work’ done as most of us were distracted by the various displays around town, but we managed to get a photo of Reg – a very loyal and focused regular – producing some ‘magic’ in pen and ink (his speciality).

Collage of SAS Sketch Club outings 2016 — A flavour of the Sketch Club Summer 2016

In July we visited another ‘Old Hall’, this time at Cruckmeole. This was a return visit to a favourite venue. The owners have been very kind and welcoming supporters of the Shropshire Art Society Sketch Club. The sun was shining and eighteen of us spent a delightful day in their beautiful garden.

Our next outing will be on 17th August when we visit Whittington Castle. We can’t guarantee the weather but it will be a good day spent with like minded people. Hope to see you there.

Summer Exhibition 2016, Tony Purser our winner!

The Shropshire Art Society Annual Summer Exhibition is again being staged this year at St Mary’s Church, Shrewsbury. Running for four weeks, it closes on the afternoon of Saturday 16th July. Over 200 framed pictures are on show, together with a substantial number of unframed images and artists’ cards.

On Saturday 25th June, a very well supported lunchtime Social Event took place for members and guests. This provided the opportunity to welcome as our special guest, Robert Milton, Administrator of St Mary’s Church, who congratulated the Society on such an excellent Exhibition and spoke in very positive terms about the very successful cooperation between our two organisations. It also provided the opportunity for her family representatives to announce the winner of the Judy Townsend Memorial Prize, which this year was awarded to Tony Purser for Tree Study 2.

Image of winning painting SAS Summer Exhibition 2016 Judy Townsend Memorial Prize (Tony Purser, Tree Study 2) — Tony Purser’s winning painting: Tree Study 2

Image of Alan Townsend with Tony's winning painting SAS Summer Exhibition 2016 — Alan Townsend with Tony’s winning painting

Our thanks go to our Exhibition Organiser, John Willetts and his team of helpers for all the hard work which makes the Exhibition possible.

Please come and visit the Exhibition, and vote for your favourite painting. There is a “People’s Prize” of £50 awarded to the painting that receives the most votes from the public. Take part!

Post-Exhibition UPDATE: The 2016 People’s Prize resulted in a tie between, Maggie Humphry for “There by the Starlit Fences”, Val Littlehales for “Shropshire Lane” and Sadie Phillips for “Birds of a Feather”.

Image of The People's Prize voting box, handwritten by Judy Townsend, SAS Summer Exhibition 2016 — The “People’s Prize” voting box (Judy Townsend’s handwritten instructions!)

Our artists bask in sunshine in beautiful Bath

Collage of SAS Gallery Day Trip to Bath 2016 — Shropshire Art Society gallery trip to Bath 2016, photos by Anne Linton

On Thursday 26th May just under 40 members set off at 8.00am for our annual Summer Gallery Trip, this year to Bath. After a brief stop en route we arrived at the Holburne Gallery in time for coffee. This Grade 1 listed building is situated in attractive grounds a ten minute walk from the city centre along the elegant Pulteney Street. Alongside its own permanent collection of artefacts and paintings, at the time of our visit it was hosting a special exhibition featuring 28 paintings exhibited at the first Impressionist exhibition of 1874 in Paris. This selection of very significant paintings was accompanied by an excellent free audio guide. Elsewhere in the gallery a very small exhibition of early examples of work in pastel, caught the eye of some of us.

After lunch in the attractive restaurant area, most of us headed for the other main objective of the trip, the Victoria Gallery, where we were able to visit the Bath Society of Artists 111th Annual Exhibition. This offered an impressive and exciting range of current work for our enjoyment.

In addition some of us visited the prestigious ‘Beaux Arts’ commercial gallery where a fine collection of recent work by David Tress was on show. A rich feast for the gallery goer, on on a day when fine late Spring weather made walking around Bath a real delight! A scone or two later at 4.30pm, it was back on our coach for a smooth return journey to Shrewsbury.

Thanks again to Anne Linton for her excellent photographs, to Longmynd Coaches for organising our travel and to Dave, our driver, for ensuring our day went smoothly. And of course, to Alan Townsend, the man who makes these trips possible, for us all to enjoy.

2016 Beaumaris Paintaway in beautiful Wales

A Group of 27 members have recently returned from a very successful and enjoyable stay at the comfortable and friendly Bulkeley Hotel in Beaumaris. We enjoyed excellent hospitality and stunning views across the Menai Straits, while using it to explore sketching and painting opportunities around the attractive island of Anglesey.

Among the attractions for our artists were: the remote Penmon Point with its lighthouse and view of Puffin Island, the vast Newborough Sands, various attractive coastal inlets and the lunar-like opencast crater left by copper mining at Parys Mountain. Fortunately our visit coincided with a spell of good weather, with this very green island looking at its best.

Gallery visits are, of course, a must on such expeditions. This time many of us visited Oriel Ynys Mon at Llangevny, the long established Tegfryn Gallery in Menai and on our journey there or back, for some, the exciting Ffyn y Parc Gallery near Llanwrst.

In keeping with tradition, the final evening saw us assemble to view the exciting sketchbook work produced by the Group over the four days of our visit and to look forward to next year’s Paintaway which will involve a return to the popular Skelwith Bridge Hotel, just outside Ambleside in the Lake District.

Collage of SAS Paintaway 2016 to Beaumaris, Anglesey — Our party at the beautiful and ideally situated Bulkeley Hotel

Finally our thanks are due to the very helpful staff at The Bulkeley Hotel and to our member, Mike White, for kindly providing the photographs to accompany this report.

Sketch Club starts season in sun at the Ironwork Centre

This was the first visit of the Sketch Club season, and we went to the Ironwork Centre near Oswestry. We had 17 members turn up on a superb day. The sun shone, the weather was warm and the Ironwork Centre was all clean and sparkling. There were lots of new animals around, shining in their coats of varnish. The cafe which had been enlarged for this year served the usual drinks, nice soups, sandwiches and cakes.

Whilst we were drawing the elephants, we were approached by a member of their staff who asked if they might photograph us drawing for their advertising purposes. The photos they took were great and you can see a collage of some of them below. We really had a great time and everyone enjoyed themselves. Come and join us on a Sketch Club outing soon!

Collage of The SAS Sketch Club at the Ironwork Centre 2016 — Shropshire Art Society Sketch Club at the Ironwork Centre