Chair’s report 2023
Amazingly it’s been four years since we last had an AGM. How to sum up these years? Such a lot has happened around us, dominated of course by Covid. Just as the club was about to have our 2020 AGM, we were told the country was shutting down. And so we did too. The Memorial Hall was closed for nearly eighteen months.
But after a while, as we began to be allowed to meet outside, observing social distancing, Bridget very kindly suggested some of us could come and draw and paint on Monday mornings in her lovely garden. This we did, not all of us, and only in the summer time, but it really helped keep the group ‘alive’. Also helping to hold us together were Christine’s Monday morning emails, with her pictures and encouraging messages. Thank you to both of you. And thank you to Carolyn, who created a Facebook group for us where we could privately share pictures, work in progress, comments. That was really appreciated by those of us who felt able to use it.
Eventually, in September 2021 we started back, with masks and distancing, hand sanitiser and risk assessments. And gradually we returned to a new normal.
Over the past year and a half our membership has changed a little. We have lost a few members, for different reasons, and sadly our long standing Chairman, Wallace Spence, who was by that time an Honorary member, and had been in poor health for some time, died in July last year aged 95. We are still in touch with his wife Julie. But we are really pleased to have welcomed a total of seven new members in that time.
On June 27th last year we held our annual Trophy exhibition, which we dedicated to Wallace’s memory. Nearly all members entered pictures, and many of us showed additional works on tables around the room. it was lovely to see work we had been doing during the shutdown. Both Christine and Carolyn had been following online courses, very successfully! The Trophy winner this time was Jannice with her delicately detailed painting of ‘Great crested Grebes’. Runners-up were Alan, with ‘New York street scene’, Bridget’s sensitive portrait of ‘Thea’, and Richard’s ‘Classic wings to the air’. We had just three visitors, with votes for Jannice, Marie and Mark.
External exhibition opportunities have dwindled since Covid. So we were very glad that for two weeks in November we were able to have an exhibition in the Library at Park Farm, Allestree, largely thanks to the efforts of Jannice. It was a while in the planning, all sorts of obstacles came up, but eventually it came together. We used five display boards borrowed from Darley Abbey village hall, which were kindly transported for us by one of the library volunteers. On this occasion the club wasn’t required to pay for the hire or the carriage of the boards (or the hire of the library space), it was covered by the library’s funds. We shared display space with five members of the Watercolour Workshop group, who meet at the nearby Evergreen Hall, one of whom is a library volunteer and assisted with the project. Fourteen of our members put in at least one picture, and we made a really good display, 48 pictures in total. We decided to run a Visitors’ Choice competition, and also provided club contact details to possibly attract new members. And then Richard had the excellent idea of producing a catalogue, which we managed to do in very short time! All three Allestree Councillors came at the start of the exhibition, Roy Webb declaring it open. Two pictures were sold. The Visitors’ Choice winning picture was Jannice’s ‘Peacock Butterfly’, and runner-up was Mark’s ‘Here’s looking at Ewe’. There was a lot of interest over the two weeks, and we gained new members as a result, in fact Pat, Neil, Julie and Tracey have joined us since then.
Thanks to all who helped and exhibited, especially the library volunteers and staff. We would really like to do this again; to date though the Library’s position remains uncertain.
In normal years, we used to hold more exhibitions during the year. For very many years we had a regular weekend at Kedleston Hall, exhibiting in the garden Loggia. But things have changed and they can’t accommodate us there any more. There used to be events connected with St Edmund’s church, and then Duffield Arts Festival; none of these are happening. So we’re open to new ideas. There’s a scarecrow festival in September, is that a possibility? And a few of us are joining in an art and craft sale this Saturday morning, it will be interesting to see how this goes.
We have a website, and many of our members joined through this. But it was set up by former members and has seldom been updated, we really need some help with this.
.
We remain a friendly group, welcoming all abilities, and media, and soon we will celebrate our 50th anniversary, which shows we must be doing something right!
Thanks are due as always to our excellent secretary and treasurer Carol, and to Daphne for keeping our membership records and for tea-making. And to Jannice our vice Chair, to the movers of tables every week, and all members who keep the group going in our different ways.
All the committee members are willing to stand again, but we would welcome nominations or assistance from our membership.
Amazingly it’s been four years since we last had an AGM. How to sum up these years? Such a lot has happened around us, dominated of course by Covid. Just as the club was about to have our 2020 AGM, we were told the country was shutting down. And so we did too. The Memorial Hall was closed for nearly eighteen months.
But after a while, as we began to be allowed to meet outside, observing social distancing, Bridget very kindly suggested some of us could come and draw and paint on Monday mornings in her lovely garden. This we did, not all of us, and only in the summer time, but it really helped keep the group ‘alive’. Also helping to hold us together were Christine’s Monday morning emails, with her pictures and encouraging messages. Thank you to both of you. And thank you to Carolyn, who created a Facebook group for us where we could privately share pictures, work in progress, comments. That was really appreciated by those of us who felt able to use it.
Eventually, in September 2021 we started back, with masks and distancing, hand sanitiser and risk assessments. And gradually we returned to a new normal.
Over the past year and a half our membership has changed a little. We have lost a few members, for different reasons, and sadly our long standing Chairman, Wallace Spence, who was by that time an Honorary member, and had been in poor health for some time, died in July last year aged 95. We are still in touch with his wife Julie. But we are really pleased to have welcomed a total of seven new members in that time.
On June 27th last year we held our annual Trophy exhibition, which we dedicated to Wallace’s memory. Nearly all members entered pictures, and many of us showed additional works on tables around the room. it was lovely to see work we had been doing during the shutdown. Both Christine and Carolyn had been following online courses, very successfully! The Trophy winner this time was Jannice with her delicately detailed painting of ‘Great crested Grebes’. Runners-up were Alan, with ‘New York street scene’, Bridget’s sensitive portrait of ‘Thea’, and Richard’s ‘Classic wings to the air’. We had just three visitors, with votes for Jannice, Marie and Mark.
External exhibition opportunities have dwindled since Covid. So we were very glad that for two weeks in November we were able to have an exhibition in the Library at Park Farm, Allestree, largely thanks to the efforts of Jannice. It was a while in the planning, all sorts of obstacles came up, but eventually it came together. We used five display boards borrowed from Darley Abbey village hall, which were kindly transported for us by one of the library volunteers. On this occasion the club wasn’t required to pay for the hire or the carriage of the boards (or the hire of the library space), it was covered by the library’s funds. We shared display space with five members of the Watercolour Workshop group, who meet at the nearby Evergreen Hall, one of whom is a library volunteer and assisted with the project. Fourteen of our members put in at least one picture, and we made a really good display, 48 pictures in total. We decided to run a Visitors’ Choice competition, and also provided club contact details to possibly attract new members. And then Richard had the excellent idea of producing a catalogue, which we managed to do in very short time! All three Allestree Councillors came at the start of the exhibition, Roy Webb declaring it open. Two pictures were sold. The Visitors’ Choice winning picture was Jannice’s ‘Peacock Butterfly’, and runner-up was Mark’s ‘Here’s looking at Ewe’. There was a lot of interest over the two weeks, and we gained new members as a result, in fact Pat, Neil, Julie and Tracey have joined us since then.
Thanks to all who helped and exhibited, especially the library volunteers and staff. We would really like to do this again; to date though the Library’s position remains uncertain.
In normal years, we used to hold more exhibitions during the year. For very many years we had a regular weekend at Kedleston Hall, exhibiting in the garden Loggia. But things have changed and they can’t accommodate us there any more. There used to be events connected with St Edmund’s church, and then Duffield Arts Festival; none of these are happening. So we’re open to new ideas. There’s a scarecrow festival in September, is that a possibility? And a few of us are joining in an art and craft sale this Saturday morning, it will be interesting to see how this goes.
We have a website, and many of our members joined through this. But it was set up by former members and has seldom been updated, we really need some help with this.
.
We remain a friendly group, welcoming all abilities, and media, and soon we will celebrate our 50th anniversary, which shows we must be doing something right!
Thanks are due as always to our excellent secretary and treasurer Carol, and to Daphne for keeping our membership records and for tea-making. And to Jannice our vice Chair, to the movers of tables every week, and all members who keep the group going in our different ways.
All the committee members are willing to stand again, but we would welcome nominations or assistance from our membership.