We have a new website !
You can now find us at:

www.lancasteranddistrictartsociety.com/

Friday 13th february

                                     Graham Lowe gave a demonstration of still life in acrylics

We are in the process of putting together a new website. You can find it at:

http://lancasteranddistrictartsociety.com

You comments are welcome

Friday 30th January

Lou Morton gave a demonstration of Watercolour on acrylic, choosing the Lancaster skyline as his subject.

What a good year!

The past year had been a very successful one for the society, said our secretary Colin Pickering at the annual meeting held in Bolton-le-Sands in December.  Reflecting on the previous 12 months, he said members had enjoyed a varied and exciting programme of events and the year had culminated in the popular exhibition at Lancaster Museum.

Chairman Peter Lovett-Horn said much of the success had been down to the good work of the many volunteers and to committee members like Christina Gannon who had worked so hard to organise the excellent group of demonstrators. He hoped that more people could be recruited to enjoy the club evenings.

Treasurer, Jenni Thornley’s report revealed that the society’s finances were in good shape and she proposed that the membership fee remained the same at £25 for the coming year.

Peter, Colin and Jenni were all re-elected as was lecturer secretary, Christina Gannon.  Jill Grindey was elected vice-chairman and new member Bill McAleer agreed to be website supervisor, assisted by the chairman.

David Brookbanks and Norman Shadwell were re-elected to the committee and Kathy McAdam was elected as a new committee member.

Art at the 19th

Art at the 19^th

Exhibition Morecambe Golf Club

Society members, Norman Shadwell, Roger Salmon and Stuart McDade are also golfers and they got a chance to showcase their artistic talent with a small exhibition at Morecambe Golf Club. They came together for this special event to help raise funds for St John’s Hospice.

Norman has had a life-long interest in art, but began studying painting in 1979 with Ray Schofield at evening classes at Morecambe College and then later with Chris Stephens at White Cross. At first he concentrated on watercolours – still his favourite medium – but later began using oils with Martin Greenland’s guidance at Lancaster and District Art Society.  More recently e has added acrylics to his portfolio.

Norman used to race dinghies and his love of boats and coastal areas is reflected in many of his paintings.  Both Lancaster City and Maritime Museums have Norman’s paintings in their permanent collections.

Roger, a semi-retired vet, has been an artist for more than 20 years and like Norman he started out as a water colourist.  These days he concentrates on oils, a medium he feels can help him be more expressive.  He also studies under Martin Greenland.

Roger’s paintings and style vary from the realistic to the impressionistic, helping create varying feelings of peace and tranquillity or fear and trepidation. Many of his works have been inspired by the countryside around the Lake District and Morecambe Bay.

Stuart McDade is a Lancastrian born and bred and this is reflected in his paintings in which he has tried to capture the beauty surrounding Lancaster and Morecambe.  It was whilst working for the Department of the Environment in Manchester that Stuart first developed a love of art, studying at evening classes.

He continued those studies locally again under the influence of Ray Schofield and these days oil paints have taken over from acrylics and water colours and landscapes and buildings are his special interest.

Mayoral send off for our exhibition

the Mayor with council leader Councillor Eileen Blamire
 and Gil Shaw

Lancaster's Mayor Councillor June Ashworth was full of praise for our exhibition which she formally opened at Lancaster Museum.

Councillor June Ashworth also revealed to me that she was a painter herself, enjoyed art, particularly visiting galleries and exhibitions like ours.  I seized the opportunity and invited her to one of our club evenings and she promised she would visit.

During her tour of the exhibition, Councillor Ashworth was impressed not only by the quality of the work on display but also the variety.  "You must all be very pleased with the results", she said.

With 80 works on display, the exhibition is a little smaller than originally planned, largely because we gave up half of our allotted space to allow the council and the County Council to stage the eagerly waited Silverdale Hoard exhibition.  That exhibition has drawn record crowds and according to museum staff those crowds have also visited our show which is a bonus.

Along with our secretary, Colin Pickering, I am now in talks with the museum and the council about future exhibitions.  I am awaiting confirmation of the dates, but we will certainly be at the museum next year.  This is good news because it is without doubt our favourite destination for our annual show.

Peter Lovett-Horn