PIRBRIGHT ART CLUB was 25 years old in October 2024! Created by art tutor Maggie Read, as a way of continuing art sessions for her students during the long breaks between Adult Education terms, it has become a thriving and successful club. All our meetings have taken place at Lord Pirbright's Hall on Pirbright Green (GU24 0JE) since we opened. LPH is also the venue for our exhibions and we staged our special 25th Anniversary Annual Exhbition at the end of 2024 with a superb display of paintings by our members. A few of our founder members are still taking an active part in the club activities. We have a reputation for excellence for the quality and presentation of the work on show at our annual exhibitions.
We attract a wide range of artists, from beginners to professionals, through Maggie's art workshops and demonstrations, via our website and by word-of-mouth. Maggie is a qualified tutor with many years experience teaching all aspects of drawing and painting in most media.
There are two separate groups in the club - Leisure Artists and Exhibiting Artists - each meeting for tutored drawing and painting sessions once a month. Members of both groups come together at our exhibitions, outdoor summer painting days and social events.
Welcome to our website - best viewed on a laptop or tablet!
CLUB NEWS
Julia Douetil was presented with a lovely printed book of her Churchyard Chronicles stories. Julia wrote these stories every month for twenty years, for the local Parish Newsletter - Perinews! She edited the newsletter for all that time and recently retired.
We were asked if our artists would illustrate some of the stories - many members took up the challenge! See the full article and photos on our NEWS page.
25th ANNIVERSARY EXHIBITION - 2024
On Saturday November 30th and Sunday December 1st we staged a special 25th Annual Exhibition at Lord Pirbright's Hall. There were many visitors on both days and a good many artworks, including several framed paintings, unframed folios, prints and cards were sold over the weekend. Our "Small Pictures" table was particularly successful, featuring small framed works at affordable prices that buyers could take away on purchase seeming to be popular with our visitors this year!
As well as the Art Exhibition, the event had further attractions: a Xmas Cafe serving refreshments all weekend and a Craft Market on the Saturday, selling many handmade gifts and produce in time for Christmas. In addition there was a raffle on each day and the winners of our lovely hampers were delighted!
A truly successful 25th Anniversary Exhibition for the Club.
WINNER: PUBLIC VOTE FOR FAVOURITE PICTURE!
Colin Wood's watercolour painting "Larkin on TV" won the favourite picture at the exhibition, as voted by the public. Colin sold the picture, which is shown here, during the exhibition.
Second place was also taken by Colin, with his atmospheric painting "The Edge of All Things". This painting is currently on show at the Quince Cottage Gallery. Another of Colin's evocative watercolours, entitled "No Birds", has been selected and is currently showing at the Mall Galleries R.I. Watercolours exhibition (see News page for more details).
(The photos below were all taken at the Exhibition!)
RAILINGS EXHIBITION 2024
Pirbright Art Club's annual Summer exhibition, known as the Railings, because the artwork is displayed on the railings outside Lord Pirbright's Hall, Pirbright, took place on Saturday July 27th this year. There were many pieces of superb and original artwork on sale. See our Exhibitions page for more photos of the day.
Scenes from the 2024 Railings Exhibition
DORSET ART HOLIDAY
Maggie Read took a group of artists on a short art holiday to Bridport, on the Dorset Coast in early July 2024. Artists drew and painted scenes in West Bay, Charmouth, Lyme Regis, Symondsbury, as well as scenes from Bridport’s weekly market. The week was very successful, with many paintings completed as well as sketch books full of drawings. A typical Dorset coastal scene is shown here and many more pictures are on the Activities page.
PIRBRIGHT VILLAGE FAIR
Pirbright Art Club participated in this year's Pirbright Village Fair, held on Pirbright Green on Saturday June 8th. The fair was a great success and we managed to sell a couple of framed paintings and several mounts, cards and prints. This year's village fair had the Paris Olympics as its theme and several members managed to find the French spirit to add to the festivities. The two paintings were sold by Maggie Read and by Steve Wells - Chris Webb sold one of his prints - they are all shown below - see the Exhibitions page for further Village Fair photos.
Maggie Read's painting "On the Rocks!"
Steve Wells's painting "Old Harry Rocks"
Chris Webb's print of his painting "Quaint Street in Poole"
QUINCE COTTAGE GALLERY
In November 2022, we were delighted to be asked to put up a rotating display of our members' work at the lovely new gallery space in the former Pirbright Post-Office - Quince Cottage Gallery.
The proprietor, Lindsay Graham, has decided to open up her empty shop to showcase local creative talent, with Pirbright Art Club featuring as the main group of artists, as well as other local makers and craftsmen. This may now prove to be a long-term project and we were pleased to be able to use our own exhibition screens to hang our work in the lovely bow-front window.
This new venture gives us a great opportunity to have a permanent display of artwork that changes frequently. There has been lots of interest in the Gallery and we have sold many paintings, including all of those shown below. Our members should contact Maggie if they wish their work to be included.
Janet Moore's Oil Painting "Great Chanfield Manor Gardens, Wiltshire"
Frank Fuller's Oil Painting "Pirbright Pond"
Steve Wells' Oil Painting "Till the Cows Come Home"
Jenny Griffith's Oil Painting "Red Path"
Sue Pallot's Oil Painting "Horsing Around"
David Hardcastle's Watercolour Painting "Pirbright Shops"
Colin Wood's Watercolour Painting inspired by a Larkin poem
Maggie Read's Oil Painting "Constantine Bay"
Colin Woods Watercolour Painting "The Glare of Sure Extinction"