From Windows and Walks, Autumn 2020

SAS from windows and walks paintings by our members, Autumn 2020

We are very happy that we were able to offer a set of Wednesday classes this autumn, and that so many members took the plunge and adventured with us.

Painting from Windows and Walks, tutor Lynne Morgan

Thanks to Lynne Morgan, our enthusiastic and talented tutor, and Mick Krupa and Sally Blake in support, we launched our first ‘online’ by email and video course, ‘From Windows and Walks’. Eighteen members joined the classes and many have given us their permission to share a selection of their work here.

Lynne recorded a total of eight videos, four for ‘from Windows’ and four from ‘from Walks’, which members could either watch on the day of the classes or in advance, as they wished. Lynne gave feedback where people wanted or needed it.

The first week we tackled making a painting from a window, and the second, from a ‘lockdown’ or previous walk. In the final week we had a choice, either to complete the paintings or recreate one of them in another medium.

We hope you enjoy the paintings, and that they may inspire you for the next stage of 2020, as we begin the next ‘lockdown’ phase in the UK. We are considering the options for classes for the Spring Term, and will have more news in due course.

Meanwhile here are some more of the Autumn Term Wednesday Classes paintings:

SAS from windows and walks paintings by our members, Autumn 2020
SAS from windows and walks paintings by our members, Autumn 2020
SAS from windows and walks paintings by our members, Autumn 2020
SAS from windows and walks paintings by our members, Autumn 2020

Report by Sally and Alan.

(Copyright remains with the artists, there is some slight cropping in the images due to the collage format, but this is the way we can share a glimpse of the work.)

SAS Autumn Exhibition 2020 underway!

SAS Autumn Exhibition 2020 set up
Members of the set-up team mounting the Autumn Exhibition 2020

Our Autumn Exhibition 2020 is open!

Thank you to our members, for submitting so many great artworks to our Autumn Exhibition 2020. The set up team did a splendid job in mounting the Exhibition on Sunday, and the Exhibition has opened today Monday 5th October. It runs 11am to 3pm until the 17th, closed on Sunday and closing at 1pm on the final day, in the Bear Steps Gallery, Shrewsbury.

I called in to take a few photos of the occasion, and found the team hard at work. It felt exciting to see so many paintings, prints and other work on the wall again after such a long break, and I hope visitors will come to enjoy (and buy!) over the next two weeks. Here’s a flavour of the art on display.

SAS Autumn Exhibition 2020, reporter Sally
Me, Sally, pleased to be recording this ‘historic moment’ for the Society

Of course, all Government guidelines re COVID-19 are noted and in operation. Our stewards will be delighted to welcome you and your guests. Wishing success to everyone.

Sally, reporting for the SAS Committee, Autumn 2020
(With big thanks to John Willetts and his admin/set-up/take-down teams, all stewards and exhibitors, and the Bear Steps Gallery for making the Exhibition possible.)

Saturday Workshops Autumn 2020, a new adventure

We may be in our homes, but we are still exploring together! (image of first Saturday Workshop, Autumn 2020)
We may be in our homes, but we are still exploring together!

Alan was excited to set up his home studio for the first Saturday Workshop of Autumn 2020. He knew that a record 29 people had signed up to take part in the new e-correspondence version of the Workshops, but he had no idea how many other members would manage to join in on the day itself.

Lynne and Mick (our leaders for the Workshops) had sent out a flyer of inspirations for the day, so that we could explore painting in the style of Laura Knight – Portraits (gypsy / theatre / ballet / war effort). They’d included some great images of Mick, dressed up for the occasion, and Alan chose to focus on one of those. He worked all day Saturday and part of Sunday to finish in time to send a photo of his work in by the deadline, midnight on Sunday. He and I (Sally) went to bed that night still wondering whether other members had joined in.

You can imagine our delight when on Monday morning we received, from Lynne and Mick, images of completed works by a grand total of 21 SAS artists. Apparently, people really had burned the midnight oil to submit their artworks. We were so thrilled with the amazing range of results, that we immediately asked for permission to share, and everyone said, ‘Yes!’ So, take a look (below) and see what we all got up to. It’s such a joy to feel we are back together, making art, as a group, despite the ongoing Coronavirus-pandemic challenges.

SAS Saturday Workshops Autumn 2020, members' works 1 (image)
SAS Saturday Workshops Autumn 2020, members' works 2 (image)

We want to thank Lynne and Mick for making this venture possible, and we look forward to the next session ‘in the style of Pam Carter – Hebridean landscapes’. And, of course, thanks to all the artists for agreeing that we can share they work in this way, copyright of course remains with each artist.

If you’re interested to make some art with us this Autumn, there is still time for members to join Lynne Morgan’s Wednesday Classes ‘From Windows and Walks’ which will be run by e-correspondence with video tuition, starting 30th September. For more information, email Alan arhtownsend@btinternet.com and we will send you the Booking Form.

Things may be different, and of course at times challenging for any one of us, but we can still enjoy the feeling that comes with being part of a group of artists working together and inspiring each other. The first Saturday Workshop of the season certainly lifted our spirits.

Report by Alan and Sally

London 2020

Over the weekend of the sixth to ninth of March, some thirty of our members enjoyed our annual Gallery Weekend, on this occasion to London. We were safely delivered to the Mercure Bloomsbury Hotel on the Friday lunchtime by our coach, and swiftly set about making the most of our time in the capital.

At dinner on the first night, it was inspiring to hear of people’s individually planned, and completely different, itineraries. Yes, it’s true that there were some exhibitions that seemed especially popular, like David Hockney: Drawing from life at the NPG, and Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk at the V&A, but over the four days I think between us we may have made it to every gallery in London. Tate Modern, Tate Britain and The Mall Galleries were of course popular choices.

As we were just a stone’s throw from the British Museum, many of us spent time there, as well as in the scores of cafes and restaurants nearby. Among the theatre shows, people enjoyed Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, The Lion King and Leopoldstadt, Tom Stoppard’s new play. Wicked on the other hand got slighty less rave reviews! Shopping at Cass Art kept some of us busy too.

Naturally we were all aware of the developing situation with COVID-19 and so, people often chose to walk in the fresh air instead of using public transport. From Spitalfields Market through to the East End, to Tower Bridge (some even bravely made it up to the top of its high structure where there was a glass floor!), to the South Bank and the London Eye, we covered the London miles. It was great to catch up each evening on what people had particularly enjoyed.

We all agreed that the location of the hotel was not to be beaten, the staff were kind and professional, and those of us who ate there were happy with both the food and the company. The little Italian restaurant around the corner was also a popular choice with our members.

For a glimpse of the weekend through the eyes of one couple on the trip, Mike White has put together a really great account, in pictures, that he’s happy for us to share. You can see it by clicking HERE.

Some of Mike’s photos are also illustrating this blog post, along with some from Anne Linton and a few from me, Sally. Whatever shapes up in the coming weeks and months, I’m so pleased I was able to join this SAS Gallery Weekend, and spend time with you all.

Thanks must go to Alan Townsend, our organiser, who made sure everything ran without a hitch, to the staff at the hotel, and to Longmynd Travel. Here’s hoping that 2021 will see us all adventuring again.

One January day, two Wirral galleries

The day trip to the Wirral, to the Williamson Art Gallery and Museum in Birkenhead and the Lady Lever Art Gallery in Port Sunlight was voted another success, a visit to two very different galleries.

SAS Wirral Gallery Trip 2020 collage 1

The Williamson Art Gallery – like many others – is showing the effects of changed financial circumstances, in contrast to the era when it was built. The information on their website was out-of-date and we arrived to find things we were expecting to see not there at all, and despite some wonderful art in many forms, presentation contrasting with what we then saw at the Lady Lever, where galleries reopened only 4 years ago after a £2.8m major re-development, removing decades of building ‘improvements’ and returning them to the original architectural style of 1922. When we visit galleries and exhibitions, our attention goes first to the art we’re there to see, but the contrasting 21st century situations of these two galleries highlights what goes on behind the scenes to make the art available for us to even look at.

SAS Wirral Gallery Trip 2020 collage 2

The day gave something for everyone, with plenty of contrasts. At the Lady Lever there was the wonderful late Turner, portraits by Reynolds, Pre-Raphaelite paintings by all the big names and then the work made by Matisse in the later stage of his life. At the Williamson, a project developed out of a chance discovery of an old collection of family photos contrasted with the contemporary portrait photography of the women working at the city’s Cammell Laird shipyard. There was the contrast of a very large collection of Wedgewood plus Chinese ceramics at the Lady Lever with the Arts and Crafts ceramics from Birkenhead’s Della Robbia factory.

Both galleries were established by people who believed that making art available for their local community to see was so important that they made major investments into it. The Lever brothers’ 19th century soap business and the development of Port Sunlight – including the art gallery – was part of that. In Birkenhead, the Williamson Art Gallery is named after one of the directors of Cunard, John Williamson. A legacy from him and his son funded its building, which opened in 1928 (six years after the Lady Lever opened). Birkenhead Council had already built up an art collection, believing in the need for this for their city. The number of people wanting to visit art galleries – including us – has grown and grown. A century ago, these key individuals, influencers in their own time, supported a trend still growing and which we are part of.

SAS Wirral Gallery Trip 2020 collage 3
SAS Wirral Gallery Trip 2020 collage 4

The great variety of photos captured by Mike White, Anne Linton and Jennifer Wallace, of which the above are just a sample (thank you all!), show the spirit of our day and how much we enjoyed it. We are also especially grateful to Jennifer and Jillian Wallace for organising the day for us, and to Jennifer for putting together the text of this report.