Monthly Meetings

These are held on the second Wednesday of most months at St Georges Hall, Tiverton. Doors open at 6.45pm, for meetings between 7.00pm and 9.00pm.

These meetings include demonstrations, talks and critiques of members’ work by professional artists.

We have a tea/coffee break at about 8pm for members to chat and socialise, for about 20 minutes.

There are no meeting in August and November’s meeting hosts the AGM.

(Information for guest speakers regarding projector connection and internet can be found here.)

Meetings for 2024

DateTitleSpeaker
January 10thLandscape DemoHester Berry
February 14thPainting Demo – “Snow s not just white”Phil Creek
March 13thCritiqueRay Balkwill
April 10thLine and wash watercolour made simpleJohn Hoar
May 8thAcrylics – The sea, the sea!Lynda Kettle
June 12thExpressive FloralsLisa Parkyn
July Reg Cull Memorial Prize Critique
September
October
NovemberAGM
December

January 10th landscape demo by Hester Berry

Hester Berry constantly challenges herself to engage in different means of expression, exploring ways paint can represent effects such as light, time, movement and climate. She uses marks as economically as possible, distilling the image/feeling/moment into what is necessary, so that through objective representation there is enough room for subjective interpretation.

She has won or been short-listed for numerous awards including the Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year, BP Portrait Artist of the year, Sky Portrait Artist of the Year, Biscuit Factory Young Artist of the Year, Ken Doughty Art Prize.

February 14th Painting snow demo by Phil Creek

Phil Creek, BA (Hons), ATD, SWAc was born in Cambridgeshire, England. He received his Honours Degree in Fine Art Painting from Manchester University before undertaken post-graduate study in the History of Art and Design at Birmingham University.
After a career in art education, he now concentrates full-time on his painting. Phil is a founder member and Trustee of the Devon Arts in Schools Initiative (DAISI) and, more recently, Trustee and Honorary Academician of SWAc.

His paintings are inspired by the landscapes, seascapes and townscapes of the southwest of England and Cape Cod, USA where he visits each year to work in the coastal towns of Eastham, Wellfleet and Truro. He has also made many paintings of The Jurassic Coast with its varied landscape, weather and coastal resorts.

His sketchbook work is predominantly small scale and undertaken in gouache directly responding to place, time and light in the outdoors. These initial en plein air studies are developed into paintings either on the Cape or in the studio in East Devon using oils or acrylics. He is particularly inspired by coastal light and in portraying how people inhabit and relate to the natural landscape and built environment. www.philcreek.co.uk

March 14th Guest artist critique by Ray Balkwell

Image of Devon artist Ray Balkwill

We are pleased to welcome back Ray Balkwill. Ray is a strong advocate of painting en plein air, with his main objective being to capture the mood and ‘spirit’ of a place. Living as he does on the coast, it is little wonder that the wide-open spaces of sea, estuary and sky have been the mainspring of his art.

The March meetings are one of the best attended meetings during the year. March is when we have the “Critique of Members’ Work” by a guest artist. It is always constructive to have another pair of eyes view your work and suggest other options that you could take with your work.

So please organise a piece of your artwork that is unframed or unfinished, that maybe you have been struggling with or would like some advice on how to further improve it and bring it along to the March meeting.

April 10th Line and Wash Watercolour made simple by John Hoar

John Hoar is a prize-winning watercolourist who has had over 50 one-man shows in England and Ireland. His dynamic impressionistic style is based on simplifying the painting process. He often paints en plein air using only a small number of brushes and a limited palette. John strips a scene down to its basics and interprets it as a loose dynamic watercolour.

John has had several instructional DVDs published by Town House Films. Simplifying Line Wash and Watercolour. Line Wash and Watercolour. Watercolour without Tears. Simplifying Watercolour and Watercolour Fast and Free.

May 8th Acrylics – The sea, the sea! by Lynda Kettle

We welcome back local Sidmouth artist Lynda Kettle. She is a professional painter, painting in watercolour, pastel, oil and acrylic. “I enjoy painting mainly natural surroundings, landscapes and seascapes”.

Her style has evolved from a fusion of her theatre and tv design skills with her dramatic flair, which has produced a highly individualistic approach with stunning clarity of detail. Her works to date have followed two main themes; environment depicting light and shade, distinct and often dramatic images; and richly lit provincial subjects inspired by her travels in France and Italy.

June 12th Expressive Florals by Lisa Parkyn

Lisa Parkyn is a contemporary abstract artist based in East Devon – a far cry from the wilds of her African childhood. Lisa has always painted since she could hold a brush. Her grandmother painted the sparse expanses of the Namib dunes and her mother still paints in Botswana.

After a career in graphic design in South Africa and London, she settled in Devon to raise a family and focus on painting. She has since been inspired by the untamed landscapes surrounding her – the Jurassic coastline, the vastness of Dartmoor and the Devon countryside throughout the seasons. Her studies in design, psychotherapy and world travels all influences her art as well.

Her work includes references of landscape, flowers and figures and is linked to intuitive drawing, mark-making, layering as well as expressive and gestural brushstrokes. She primarily creates with acrylics, pastels, charcoal, and collage on canvas, paper, or wood.


The Reg Cull Memorial Award: £25, awarded at the July meeting, by the invited guest, for the best black and white drawing or painting submitted that evening. One submission per member.

The Alan Rigby Award: £25, awarded for the best picture developed from sketches and photos from the sketching days and painting holiday.

Sales Table Held at the May and October meetings. Members’ ‘Bring and Buy’ of art materials, books etc. No commission.


Information for guest speakers

Below are the connections that our projector can use for connection to external devices, please note, no Bluetooth or wireless.

Internet connection (or lack of)

Please note, the hall does not currently have any internet connection via WIFI or hard cable. Therefore if your presentation is cloud based, you will need to down load a copy to your device.