Summer Exhibition in St. Mary’s Church, a winner!

A good number of Art Society members, friends and guests gathered at St Mary’s Church in the centre of Shrewsbury at noon on Saturday 27th June. They were there in good numbers to celebrate the staging of our Annual Summer Exhibition, which again this year features some 200 framed pictures and an exciting choice of unframed paintings and quality cards.

Image of Sally and Alan with Maggie Humphry winner of Judy Townsend Memorial Prize 2015
Maggie Humphry (left) with Sally and Alan Townsend in front of the winning painting

The main event, however, was the presentation by Alan and Sally Townsend Blake, of the annual Judy Townsend Memorial Prize. The award was created, following her death, to celebrate the very special contribution she made over many years to the development of the Society. The Prize of £100, provided jointly by the Society and the Townsend family, and chosen by the latter, this year went to Maggie Humphry for a very distinctive oil painting of a Shropshire landscape, created as an imaginative and intriguing response to a line in a Houseman poem. The title of the painting is ‘White in the Moon the Long Road Lies’. Congratulations Maggie!

Maggie Humphry and her beautiful painting

Thanks must go to all our members whose entries help to create this excellent show, to John Willetts and his hardworking team, and to all those members who will steward the exhibition over its four week run. Thanks are of course due to St Mary’s Church for warmly welcoming our Summer Exhibition once again to their splendid building. Please encourage all art lovers to visit and to make a purchase – credit and debit cards are accepted! The Exhibition runs until 18th July (not Sundays) from 10am to 5pm each day, closing at 1pm on Saturday 18th July.

Sketch Club enjoys country retreat, May 2015

A country house set in beautiful surroundings, was the venue for the Sketch Club’s May outing. Thank you Alison Williamson for the lovely photos included in the collage below.

Collage of SAS Sketch Club outing summer 2015

It has a lovely garden, untouched old farm buildings, and its own little wood.

A cold wind was blowing to start the day, but 15 hardy members came along for this return visit and were rewarded by the extra delight of bluebells in flower – an uplifting but testing subject for artists.

The day gradually warmed up and members were able to relax and enjoy picnics and friendly lunchtime chat before embarking on another ‘masterpiece’.

We look forward to seeing you all on our next outing, to Broseley on Thursday 18th June.

Beautiful Beaumaris Paintaway May 2015

On the sunny afternoon of Monday 11th May, 32 Society members assembled at the Bulkeley Hotel in Beaumaris, Anglesey, for our annual four night Paintaway. Situated very conveniently between the lively old main street of Beaumaris and the waterfront facing the mountains of Snowdonia across the stunning Menai Straits, the hotel proved a great base from which to explore.

From the nearby Beaumaris Castle, Penmon promontory and the small harbour of Moelfre to the former copper exporting harbour of Amlwch, great sightseeing and sketching was to be had. Further afield South Stack lighthouse with its cliffs, challenging steps to climb and its many birds awaited also awaited us. At the centre of the island, the excellent gallery, Oriel Ynys Mon, offered a splendid exhibition of textiles, alongside the Charles Tunnicliffe Collection and a fine selection of paintings by Kyffin Willaims. This attracted many of us on our final and least sunny day. A couple of athletic members, clad in wetsuits, found time from sketching to brave the waters off one of the island’s fine beaches. This must be a first! The very comfortable hotel with its excellent meals and its friendly and very helpful staff ensured we all enjoyed our stay. Indeed to confirm this, a few members chose to prolong this by an extra night.

Thank you Alan Townsend for organising the holiday so splendidly. Alan says,

“After receiving very positive feedback from members of the Group and realising that the island has plenty left to explore, a repeat booking on very good terms has been made for the equivalent four nights in 2016. The usual letter, giving full details and inviting bookings, will be circulated shortly but would suggest you might like to put this date in your diaries.”

Shropshire Art Society Chairman recipient of 2015 Mayor’s Award

Image of Wilf Langford, our SAS Chairman on the night of his Mayor's Award
Wilf Langford, our Chairman on the night of his Mayor’s Award

Our Chairman Wilf Langford, accompanied by his wife Jean, recently received well deserved public recognition for the tremendous work he does for the Shropshire Art Society. This took the form of a Mayor’s Gold Award in the Community category, presented recently, at an impressive and well attended evening at The Guildhall, by Beverley Baker, the current Mayor of Shrewsbury.

This annual ceremony recognises contributions made by individual residents and groups, working to enhance the life of the town and benefit their fellow citizens. Wilf was surprised but delighted to receive this recognition, which followed a nomination by a small group of SAS Committee colleagues. Not only did the Award recognise Wilf’s sterling work over many years for our Society but also the contribution the organisation (he so ably leads) makes to the lives of our many members, as well as to the wider cultural life of the Town.

Congratulations Wilf!

Oxford and Great British Drawings in April

Members and friends set off from Shrewsbury at 8am on a very sunny Saturday 18th April for the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. After a pick-up at Wellington, we were soon heading south. News the night before that a massive fire had ripped through the Randoph Hotel opposite the Ashmolean’s main entrance, was on the minds of some of us, but fortunately, media reports of expected congestion, appeared to have kept traffic out of the city and at our time of arrival, also out of the Museum.

Soon we were marvelling at the “Great British Drawings” exhibition, the main reason for our visit. This major exhibition’s aim was to trace the history and development in drawing from C16th to post WW1 experimentation, inspired by developments in continental Europe. The variety of approaches and of technique was truly impressive.

Outside, the city offered a colourful spectacle, created by many groups of Folk Festival dancers and musicians, performing in every available space against a backdrop of the iconic Cotswold stone buildings glinting in the bright sunshine. Returning to our coach after exploring the city and its other galleries and attractions, it was generally agreed to have been a very full and enjoyable day.