The Village Artists Group

AUTUMN SALE AND EXHIBITION OF WORK

TREAT YOURSELF OR BUY YOUR CHRISTMAS PRESENTS EARLY!

The Village Artists' Group based at Stoke-sub-Hamdon will be mounting an exhibition and sale of work at Stoke-sub-Hamdon Memorial Hall on Saturday November 10th 2007 from 10.00am to 5.00pm. (Refreshments will also be available - so take your time to browse over a cup of tea or coffee and home made cakes).

This one day sale will include drawings and paintings - both imaginative and representational - in a wide variety of media including oils, acrylics, watercolours and pastels. It will provide local people with a unique opportunity to purchase original paintings at very competitive prices.

For further information contact Anne Couchman on 01935 825385

The Village Artists Group warmly welcomes anyone who has an interest in drawing and painting. The present members are of all ages and come from all walks of life. They have two things in common: a keen interest in painting and drawing, and a belief that talent and achievement can be developed and enriched by the mutual encouragement of each other's work. A few of the group have had some formal training but most have not - some are beginners. Twice a year exhibitions are held and a children's art week is organised for August with their own little exhibition.

The group meets three times a week at The Memorial Hall, Stoke sub Hamdon (Beginners are welcome to join us):

Mondays - 9am to 1pm
Thursdays - 7.15pm to 9.30pm (Tuition available on one Thursday each month)
Fridays - 10am to 12 noon

Subscription is Ł14 per term (10 weeks) for all three sessions.
There is no compulsion to go to all three! We are very keen to encourage more young people to join the Thursday evening sessions, so instead of paying the full subscription, students would only pay Ł7.00 per term.

Each year a number of evening demonstrations and Saturday one day workshops are held. Non members are welcome. If you would be interested in seeing what we do before committing yourself, please come along to any session and talk to any of the members. Feel free to bring your paints or pastels and join in with us!

In July each member receives a programme for the following year listing the subject that will be the focus for each week. For example a very few are listed below just to give you a taste:

Autumn term:	watercolour portraits, acrylic abstract still life, geometry in paintings, pastel flowers
Spring term:	hands and feet, fantasy, movement and motion
Summer term:	local scenes, fauvism, impressionism in the style of Sickert or Monet

Should you prefer it, all members are free to pursue their own work during the sessions and need not abide by the planned programme.

History of the Village Artists Group

The Village Artists Group started in 1996 and it gets involved with a lot of community events. One of our best exhibitions was in the year 2000 where we had a twelve foot freize drawn depicting industry in South Somerset over the millenium. Visitors to the exhibition were asked to paint a small section - even Paddy Ashdown did a little! This freize is on display at South Petherton Hospital and was used as the basic design for one of four 8 foot stained glass windows. Village Artists were involved in the designing of all four windows together with South Petherton Youth Club and the Junior School. It is well worth a visit to see these windows as the colours are wonderful.They were all put together by Glasswood, who are based in Barrington. David and Adrian Hussey who run the business were extremely kind and helpful, letting us spend many hours choosing the colours of the glass and they involved the Youth Club in cutting the glass.

A very successful exhibition was held at the end of June in Norton sub Hamdon which coincided with Norton's Garden Open Day and Village Artists made a contribution from the exhibition to this event.
Martine Wardill's watercolour 'The Standoff' was voted best in show.