April Demo

The next Friday evening demonstration will be held on 12th April in Market Hill Rooms from 8.00 to 10.00pm when Ernie Butler will be demonstrating ‘Seascape in Oils’.

Ernie Butler was trained by William Calladine, who was apprenticed to the last living Dutch Old Master -Jan Hendrik Everson.  He was taught the techniques they used including the Flemish technique. He has also studied the methods used by other artists including Turner and Constable. These skills are clearly evident in his paintings, which display a feeling of emotion, atmosphere and light.

Ernie is honoured to be a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He teaches, demonstrates and has also been funded by the Arts Council of England on projects.  He works in oils, charcoal, pencil and ink and his paintings can be found in international collections and exhibitions.

Examples of Ernie’s work can be seen on his website.

Cambridgeshire International artist – Ernie Butler

Free admission for Royston Arts Society members; £4.00 fee for non-members on the door , no pre-booking required.

March Demo

The next Friday evening demo will be held on 8th March in Market Hill Rooms from 8.00 to 10.00pm when Heather Miller will be demonstrating ‘Floral scene in Acrylics’.

Heather started to paint seriously after moving to Abu Dhabi in 2001. The change of culture and scenery awakened a creative spark and her artistic journey continued back in the U.K.  

Inspired by a love of nature, Heather’s aim as an artist is to engage and intrigue the viewer and draw them into her work.  She explores colour and light in each painting, conscious of how these elements lift the spirit and encourage connection with the subject. Her paintings are an emotional response to what she sees rather than a facsimile. 

Heather demonstrates to art societies around the UK and exhibits at The Mardleybury Gallery, The Corner Gallery, The Park Gallery in Cheltenham, Fisherton Mill, Landmark Arts, The Bath Art Fair and various art shows. 
Examples of Heather’s work can be seen on her website.

https://www.heathermillerpaintings.com/
Free admission for Royston Arts Society members; £3.00 fee for non-members on the door , no pre-booking required  

February demo

The next Friday evening demo will be held on 9th February in Market Hill Rooms from 8.00 to 10.00pm when Anne Blankson-Hemans SWA will be demonstrating  “Still Life In Oils”.

Anne studied Fine Art at the College of Art, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Ghana. She is a multi-award winning artist and has been exhibiting her work on a regular basis since 2007. Her paintings have been exhibited at the prestigious Mall Galleries in London, in annual exhibitions by the Royal Society of British Artists (RBA), and the Society of Women Artists (SWA) with her works being in collections in the UK, the USA, Japan, China and Australia 

Anne has also been selected to take part in two BBC TV programmes; ‘Show Me the Monet’ (BBC2, 2012) and ‘The Big Painting Challenge (BBC1, 2015). In addition, her works have been featured in a number of publications including ‘The Artist’, (July 2015), and the glossy French publication ‘Pratique des Arts’, (June 2017).
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Anne sketches and paints ‘en plein air’ around the UK and abroad to collect material for her paintings. She then develops her larger finished paintings in her studio.

You can see examples of her watercolour painting on her website

ANNE BLANKSON-HEMANS FINE ART – Anne Blankson-Hemans Fine Art (annebh-art.com)

Free admission for Royston Arts Society members; £3.00 fee for non-members on the door, no pre-booking required.

Next Demo

The next Friday evening demo will be held on 12th January in Market Hill Rooms from 8.00 to 10.00pm when Caroline Furlong will be demonstrating “A Rural Snow-scene in Watercolours”.

Caroline started her artistic journey on a birthday present weekend watercolour course at Flatford Mill. Loving it so much she took more courses in subsequent years which then led her to take the leap of starting her own small art group in her village to teach others the skills she had developed. Caroline now has her own studio where she teaches watercolour techniques and has also returned to Flatford Mill as a tutor. She is also running workshops for art groups, giving demonstrations to art societies, promoting products for companies and showing in galleries. Caroline loves painting, both indoors and out and her favourite topics are landscapes, street scenes and coastal areas.

You can see examples of her watercolour painting on her website Caroline Furlong

Free admission for Royston Arts Society members; £3.00 fee for non-members on the door, no pre-booking required.

Exhibition success & half-price membership offer

Royston Arts Society held its Annual Autumn Exhibition in Royston Town Hall over the weekend of 29th September to 1st October as part of the Royston Arts Festival. From all points of view, the event was the most successful in a decade. We displayed a total of 330 paintings and 515 greeting cards created by 65 artists. Sales amounted to almost £4000 and two thirds of the exhibiting artists sold something.

  

The exhibition was very well received by the visitors and the favourite picture award was won by Tina Bone for her painting entitled “Blue and Gold Macaws and Swamp Hibiscus” (see picture).

Members of Royston Arts Society can enter paintings into both the Autumn exhibition and the Online Members’ exhibition plus the ongoing exhibition in Royston Library.

They can also attend painting sessions twice per month and an art demonstration given by a professional artist most months.

At the moment, new members can join RAS for half price; £12.00 for adults and £7.00. This membership will run until 31st March 2024 giving new members ample time to sample the art demonstrations and painting sessions; also to exhibit some work in Royston Library.

For joining details click HERE

November activities

The next Friday evening demo will be held on 10th Nov in Market Hill Rooms from 8.00 to 10.00pm when Ann Massing will be demonstrating the art of East Asian Ink and Watercolour and the subject will be “The Four Friends : Plum Blossom, Wild Orchid, Bamboo and Chrysanthemum”.

Chinese brush painting, or ink painting, also known in Japan as  sumi-e, is an expression or reflection of the painter’s personality through a unique art form that has been practiced for over 1,000 years.   Ann has been painting in this style since a trip to China in 1986. She was born in Indiana, raised in Illinois USA and now lives and works in Cambridge where she has a studio at St Barnabas Press.   Her work is mostly inspired by the natural world and our relationship to it.  Ann also makes prints, having become captivated by the techniques involved and their possibilities for self-expression. 

Ann’s excellent website including examples of her work can be found here;   Ann Massing | East Asian ink and watercolour painter and printmaker

FREE admission for Royston Arts Society members; £3.00 fee for non-members on the door, no pre-booking required.

The next Royston Library changeover will take place 3.15 to 4.00pm on MONDAY 6 November  – click HERE for guidance on hanging requirements.

Our next Tuesday afternoon practical sessions will be on 7th & 21st November from 2.00pm to 4.00pm in Market Hill Rooms.

 

Autumn Exhibition 2023

Royston Arts Society’s Autumn Exhibition is one of the most popular events in Royston Arts Festival and for many years has been a highlight in Royston’s cultural activities.

The 2023 exhibition opens in Royston Town Hall (SG8 7DA) on Friday 29 September, 7.30-9.30pm; and continues on Saturday 30th & Sunday 1 October, both 10.00am-5.00pm.  ADMISSION is FREE.

As in previous years, the 2023 exhibition contains entries from both RAS members and other talented local artists, with a wide variety of affordable art.  More than 330 framed and unframed paintings, together with greetings cards, will be on show and available for purchase.  Visitors will be invited to vote for their favourite picture, with a prize for the artist whose painting receives most votes. The exhibition is sponsored by Johnson Matthey plc and the Royston Town Mayor’s Community Trust Fund.

For further information email secretary@roystonarts.org.uk  or tel. 01763 261808.

Coming shortly …..

(click on an event for details)

July Demo

The next Friday evening demo will be held on 14th July in Market Hill Rooms from 8.00 to 10.00pm when John Tookey, whose demo’s have always proved popular, will once again be visiting us.  The time his subject will be “A Street Scene in Pastels”.

John trained in Graphic Design and Fine Art at the Sir John Cass School of Art in London and then worked as a graphic artist in a number of advertising agencies before taking up painting full time in 1986.

He works mainly in watercolour, pastel, oil and sometimes acrylic, working mainly in his studio from sketchbooks but also outdoors when possible.  His approach to pastels is to overlay them on watercolour under paintings to create a vibrant impression rather than a producing a photographic likeness.

John has exhibited with the numerous Institutes, Academies and Galleries, authored various articles for leading Art magazines, and has won multiple awards for his pastels.  His work can be viewed on the websites of the Pastel Society as well as the Mall and Hunter Galleries.

FREE admission for Royston Arts Society members; £3.00 fee for non-members on the door, no pre-booking required.

June Demo

The next Friday evening demo will be held on 9th June 2023 in Market  Hill Rooms from 8.00 to 10.00pm when Phil Biggs will be making a welcome return visit to paint a ‘Traditional Landscape in Watercolour’.

Phil started off with the intention of studying graphic design but after a foundation year at college he spent the next twenty years learning how to paint in watercolour, studying the old masters and developing his own style.  He is influenced by Turner, James Fletcher-Watson, Ted Wesson, Edward Seago etc.

He now paints en plein air when he can using only the classic tools of pencil, brush and quality paints and papers.  You can see examples of his fantastic watercolour painting on his website HERE.

Free admission for Royston Arts Society members; £3.00 fee for non-members on the door, no pre-booking required.

Exhibitions & Demonstrations

Our  2023 Members Online Exhibition is now open and will run until Saturday 27 May 2023.

Just click on the exhibition poster to the right (below for mobiles) and that will take you to the exhibition website where you can view and buy over 100 original artworks at very reasonable prices.

The next Friday evening demo will be held on 12th May 2023 in Market  Hill Rooms from 8.00 to 10.00pm and will feature ‘Accidental Artist’ Jo Brown painting a ‘Bird Portrait in Acrylics’ (click on poster to the left or below for mobiles).

Jo is a qualified Veterinary Nurse by training and with a special interest in birds and is drawn to producing paintings inspired by the natural world.  Based in Cambridgeshire, she spends most of her time outdoors in the countryside, gaining inspiration from the simple things in life and the beauty of nature.

Jo is a member of Royston Arts Society and has had work exhibited both in the UK and also in Times Square, New York, where her NFT of a kingfisher was selected to help represent the diversity of NFT art. You can see examples of both her acrylic and digital art on her website.

Free admission for Royston Arts Society members; £3.00 fee for non-members on the door, no pre-booking required. A list of forthcoming RAS demos can be found to the right or below for mobiles.

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