The Royston Arts Society Autumn Exhibition was held over the weekend of 25^th to 27^th September 2026 in conjunction with the Royston Arts Festival.

It was by far the most successful exhibition we have held in recent years.

We recorded 970 visitors over the exhibition; the average over the previous four years was 744. This is no doubt due in part to the good weather but also the impact of Royston Arts Festival attracting lots of people into Royston.

A total of 55 artists exhibited 355 paintings and 574 greetings cards. Over 80% of the exhibiting artists sold something. The average over the previous four years was 63%, so this is quite a stunning result!

A total of 82 paintings were sold at the 2026 exhibition.  This is double the average of 41 over the last four years.

The total value of paintings and greetings cards sold at the exhibition was 66% higher than the average over the last four years

The record sales were achieved by the much the larger number of sales of “affordable” paintings in the price range up to £200.

Royston Arts Society would like to thank the following organisations and individuals for their help in making this exhibition such a success.

Our sponsors, Johnson Matthey and the Royston Town Mayor’s Community Trust Fund, and the nine local businesses who advertised at the exhibition. Click here to see the list.

Royston Town Council for their help in providing the premises and storing our exhibition screens over the last 50 years or so. Without their support the exhibition would not be possible.

The 30 or so RAS members and others who worked over a period of 4 months to organise the exhibition, help set things up, man the exhibition while it is open to public and the take everything down again.

The 55 artists who exhibited their work at the exhibition.

The 1000 or so residents of Royston and the surrounding villages who attended the exhibition.

On behalf of Home-Start Royston, Buntingford & South Cambs we also thank visitors for donating £137.92 to a collection for HSRBSC during the exhibition.

Many thanks to all of you!!!!

Let’s hope that we can have another equally successful exhibition in 2027!!

Artist Demonstration
13 November 2026
Alice Thomson
Cambridge Street Scene in Mixed Media

This artist demo will take place on 13 November 2026 in Market Hill Rooms, Fish Hill, Royston SG8 9LB (map). The demo will start at 7.30pm and end at 9.30pm.
Free for members of Royston Arts Society – Non-members £4.00 payable in cash on the door.
No need to book!

Living and working in Cambridge, Alice’s work is inspired by this beautiful city, and surrounding countryside.

With a degree in Illustration from Harrow Art College, her work developed as ‘reportage’ drawing directly and spontaneously from life. She carries a sketchbook and camera constantly with her, and aims to capture a place and its essence. She uses effortless, but sensitive use of line, mark making and color with an expressive quality. She works in a combination of collage, ink, printing, crayons and paints, (gouache, oil and acrylic) sticks and pencils to add layers to add interest to her compositions until it feels complete.

Her work is represented by Cambridge Open Studios, Cambridge Contemporary Art , The Gallery Norfolk, Cromer, and the Cambridge Drawing Society (of which she is a member). She qualified as a teacher in Art and Design, having gained a PGCE at Cambridge University in 2006 has worked in several schools over the past ten years and now teaches from her home.

Artist Demonstration – 10 July 2026
Jill Winch
Fruit and Veg in Graphitint & Coloured Pencils

This artist demo will take place on 10 July 2026 in Market Hill Rooms, Fish Hill, Royston SG8 9LB (map). The demo will start at 7.30pm and end at 9.30pm.
Free for members of Royston Arts Society – Non-members £4.00 payable in cash on the door.
No need to book!

Jill initially trained as a graphic artist, but in later years she studied botanical painting. This enabled her to study plants, flowers, fruits and vegetables and to depict them in a variety of mediums. After Jill’s initial studies, she attended the Chelsea Physic Garden where she gained her Diploma in Botanical Painting. Jill is a member of the Society of Botanical Artists (SBA) and exhibits at their annual exhibition in London. She won the Daler Rowney Choice Award at the SBA exhibition 2012 for her painting of the Medinilla Magnificat.

She currently teaches her subject to different art societies and holds regular classes from her Garden Studio in Hertfordshire, where students are surrounded by the many beautiful flowers and plants, which the students are shown how to paint, both in watercolour and coloured pencils.

Artist Demonstration – 12 June 2026
Monica Alikoviene
Animal Painting in Oils

This artist demo will take place on 12 June 2026 in Market Hill Rooms, Fish Hill, Royston SG8 9LB (map). The demo will start at 7.30pm and end at 9.30pm.
Free for members of Royston Arts Society – Non-members £4.00 payable in cash on the door.
No need to book!

Monica Alikoviene is a Cambridge based artist who finds inspiration in emotions, nostalgic memories, and the often-overlooked moments of everyday life.

Painting is her way of preserving these fleeting experiences, holding on to the feelings and stories that might otherwise fade.

Working in oils, Monica uses an indirect painting method, carefully building up transparent layers to create an illusion of depth and luminosity.

She is a very active member of the Cambridge Drawing Society and regularly exhibits in their biannual shows. In 2024, her work won the Public Favourite Vote at their Spring Exhibition with her lovely oil painting of a cat. That same year, she was a finalist at the Art Unlimited International Competition and exhibited at The Malthouse Gallery.

Her paintings are now held in private collections across Europe and the United States.

Artist Demonstration – 8 May 2026
Nicky Hunter
Spring Flowers in Watercolour

This artist demo will take place on 8 May 2026 in Market Hill Rooms, Fish Hill, Royston SG8 9LB (map). The demo will start at 7.30pm and end at 9.30pm.
Free for members of Royston Arts Society – Non-members £4.00 payable in cash on the door.
No need to book!

Nicky went to art college in Shropshire to study a Diploma in Art & Design. Then she completed a degree in ‘Textiles & Surface Pattern Design’ at De Montfort University, Leicester.

Her career began as an embroidery designer in the bridal industry. Designing embroidery used her illustration and colour skills, but painting was always her first love.

She developed a real passion for painting with inks, and watercolour and explored this fully, coming full circle in 2018. Her original love for fine art and painting took precedence again over design.

Returning to painting as an art, rather than a design medium, she undertook additional fine art training through intense one to one tuition in 2020 with a much admired fine artist and tutor, and developed her fine art skills and own style further.

This led to her artwork being represented in galleries nationally and tutoring around the UK. Since 2017, she has been hosting painting workshops, enthusiastically sharing the joy of working with watercolour.

Artist Demonstration – 10 April 2026
Rod Bastable
A Landscape in Pastels

This artist demo will take place on 10 April 2026 in Market Hill Rooms, Fish Hill, Royston SG8 9LB (map). The demo will start at 7.30pm and end at 9.30pm.
Free for members of Royston Arts Society – Non-members £4.00 payable in cash on the door.
No need to book!

Rod Bastable is a Bury St Edmunds based artist.

He spent his formative years in a rural environment, which provided the base for his artistic interests. His father worked as Head Gardener on the Stanley House Estate in Newmarket, ‘the home of horse racing’, which is reflected in Rod’s current artworks.

He attended Great Yarmouth College of Art and Design for his Foundation Studies. He proceeded to study landscape and portraiture. The works of Michelangelo and Turner were to provide his inspiration, as were the words of Vasari and Ruskin.

Working in a range of media, he has had many one-man shows and a wide range of commissions in both portraiture and landscape. He combined a career in the Engineering world, while at the same time experienced success as an artist. In 1985 he exhibited at the Royal Academy.

He paints in acrylic, and on smaller works he prefers to use soft pastel on Ingres faced card, because of the grainy, particle pixelated effect.

Members’ Exhibition 2026

Affordable Art by Local Artists

The RAS Members’ Exhibition is returning to Royston Museum (map).

The exhibition opens on Thursday 12 March and runs through to Sunday 19 April 2026.
The museum is open 10am to 4pm from Thursday to Sunday.
There are over 100 framed and unframed paintings on display from 28 local artists. They are all for sale at affordable prices.

Exhibition Preview

Exhibition Catalogue

We look forward to seeing you at the exhibition!
Please share this post or email with friends and family

Artist Demonstration – 13 March 2026
Naomi Tomkys
Cambridge Punting in Oil Paints

This artist demo will take place on 13 March 2026 in Market Hill Rooms, Fish Hill, Royston SG8 9LB (map). The demo will start at 7.30pm and end at 9.30pm.
Free for members of Royston Arts Society – Non-members £4.00 payable in cash on the door.
No need to book!

Naomi Tomkys grew up in London where she attended Central St. Martins School of Art. She now lives and works in Cambridgeshire. Tomkys engages with a broad range of subject matter from tourists punting to festival goers. She portrays a world of authenticity reflecting moments in time as joys and idiosyncrasies of daily life.

Tomkys has shown in group and one-man shows both nationally and internationally. Her work is held in public and private collections in Paris, Chicago, LA, New England, Dubai, Kuwait and Zurich.

Tomkys won the Arts Council Creative Process Award, The Oppenheim-John Downes Memorial Trust Award and the ArtBoxy grant to attend the Swissartexpo 2025. In 2025 Tomkys also exhibited at the Florence Biennale and was shortlisted for The British Art Prize.

Currently, Tomkys is the 2026 D’Albret Collection artist in residence based in Steckborn, Switzerland.

“I imagine what strangers walking past do, who they love and what’s in their pockets.
My work is a development of this simple daydream.”

Royston Arts Society
Annual General Meeting 2025

The RAS Annual General meeting was held in Market Hill Rooms, Royston on 15th January 2026.

The Chairman, Richard Clayton, summarised the events and activities that the Society held during 2025.

It was a very successful year:

The number of RAS members has risen above 100

The three exhibitions organised by RAS were very successful – a total of 81 paintings and 238 cards were sold during the year

The artist demonstration programme was very varied and of high quality

The opportunity to paint the still life setups at the regular painting sessions was very popular

Wine, fruit juice and nibbles were enjoyed by everyone present.

We also ran a small competition for the best “Animal Magic” painting. There were seventeen entries and the winner was “Boo” by Sonya Day.

With a wide range of exhibitions and meetings planned for 2026 the Society is looking forward to another rewarding year.