Shropshire Art Society Autumn Exhibition continues until Saturday 1 December 2012

The Autumn Exhibition by members of the Shropshire Art Society is currently on show at the Bear Steps Gallery, St Alkmond’s Square, Shrewsbury. The Exhibition presents an impressive 113 framed works plus an excellent number of unframed works in a wide variety of media and subject matter.

Collage of SAS Autumn Exhibition 2012
Autumn 2012, including winner ‘Changing Light’ by Stewart Rankine

The Reg Harrison and Harold Walker Salver Award — for the picture which in the opinion of the independent adjudicator best reflects the Shropshire countryside — was presented, by the Society President Jean Hammond, to Stewart Rankine for his picture titled ‘Changing Light’ (shown in the top right of the photo-collage above).

The following pictures were also commended :

‘ Fragments of Shropshire‘ by Wen Williamson
‘ Winter Sets In‘ by Maggie Humphrey
‘ Edge of Poles Coppice‘ by Helen Sample
‘ Morning Mist‘ by Blanche James
‘ Shropshire View, Autumn’ by Alan Townsend
‘ Trees on the side of a Hill’ by Reg Turrell

The exhibition continues until Saturday 1 December 2012. We hope to see you there!

Shropshire Art Society visits Cambridge

An early start saw 45 Shropshire Art Society members arriving outside the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge in good time for coffee at 11.00am. We were all eager to explore its splendid collection and particularly its picture galleries. Special exhibitions of Prints by Gerhart Frankel and another of Calligraphy Today especially caught the eye, as did Gallery 5 with its fine collection of Impressionist paintings.

Collage of SAS Gallery Day Trip to Cambridge 2012
A flavour of our Cambridge trip

Lunch was soon followed by an exploration of the city’s vibrant, student and tourist-thronged centre, as many of us made our way to the very special experience provided by the house and gallery at Kettle’s Yard. From 1958 until 1973 the home of a former Curator of the Tate, Jim Ede, it’s a rich storehouse of paintings and artefacts produced by Ben and Winifred Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore and many other influential artist friends. These are all displayed in an intimate, calm and welcoming domestic setting.

Heading back to our coach, we could only briefly take in the colourful punting scene on the Cam, some unusual street performers, the excellent commercial galleries along Trinity Street and of course the impressive architecture of the College frontages. An exciting and sun-blessed day!

Shropshire Art Society gallery trips are open to members and their guests, are affordable and are usually over-subscribed. Do make sure you book early for future excursions!

Exhibition celebrates Shropshire Art Society Saturday Workshops

An inspiring exhibition of paintings and artists’ prints created by members of the Shropshire Art Society’s Saturday Workshop and Printing Groups was held in the Gallery at the English Bridge Workshop on Saturday 27 October 2012. This one-day exhibition was a new venture for the Society, additional to our well established Summer and Autumn Exhibitions, which are held at St Mary’s Church and the Bear Steps Gallery.

Shropshire Art Society Saturday Exhibition
Photos of the day by Lynne Morgan

This new addition to the Society’s exhibition calendar was designed to showcase the work of these Saturday groups, the members of which meet on a regular basis at the English Bridge Workshop.  As well as  providing  an opportunity to view work done by these two groups, the  exhibition offered a chance for visitors to find out  about the work of the Society and the range of opportunities on offer to all our members.

It was a very successful and enjoyable day and we hope to hold a similar exhibition in 2013.

Meanwhile our Autumn Exhibition opens to the public on November 19th at the Bear Steps Gallery, Shrewsbury. Click here for more details. We look forward to welcoming you!

Mike Clements tutors an excellent printing workshop for the Shropshire Art Society

Mike Clements, of the Sidney Nolan Trust, made a welcome return visit on Wednesday 24th October to the English Bridge Workshop in Shrewsbury to run another of his excellent workshops for the members of the Shropshire Art Society Printing Group.

Collage of the Mike Clements printing workshop SAS 2012
Photos of the day by Mike White

On this occasion, Mike’s aim was to further initiate us into the techniques of the various types of intaglio printing and to encourage us to introduce colour into our prints, by the use of ‘a la poupee’ and ‘chine collee’ techniques. He definitely succeeded. One of the course members was keen to praise the day, This workshop enabled us to further develop our confidence in the various intaglio methods and encouraged us to employ this new knowledge in our remaining monthly print workshops.

Alan Townsend, who co-ordinates the printing sessions said, Normally we rely on the expertise of our own members to guide us at our monthly printing sessions, which works well, but it is inspiring to have Mike’s skilled input and excellent tuition on occasions like this. We all had a great day.

Thank you Mike!

Shropshire Art Society presents £5000 cheque to Severn Hospice

Image of Sally and Alan presenting SAS cheque to Severn Hospice in memory of Judy Townsend 2012

We are delighted to report that on Thursday 27th September 2012 the Shropshire Art Society presented a cheque for £5000 to Severn Hospice. The money was raised at the wonderfully successful Art at Ford House event held over the weekend of 31st August and 1st and 2nd of September, in memory of Judy Townsend.

Our Chairman Wilf Langford, committee members Anne Linton and Alan Townsend, and Alan and Judy’s daughter Sally Townsend Blake presented the cheque to Mike Perry of Severn Hospice on a lovely morning in the Hospice garden. There were lots of smiles! And, the Shropshire Star helped us to say thank you to all the members of the public who had donated money or purchased paintings and craft items.

We’d also like to take this opportunity to thank everybody who helped with or supported the event, because you all contributed to raising this magnificent sum. Of course, we’d especially like to thank all our members who donated paintings or crafts… you really ‘came up trumps’, as Judy herself would have said!

October’s Shropshire Life magazine had a great feature on the event, written by Howard Franklin, which was wonderful.