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Desford and Peckleton Art Club.
A small and friendly art group based in Leicestershire.
Club News and Updates
February 21st 2024
Visiting Artist: DJ
DJ gave us a lively and informative demonstration in oils, painting a tree from a less than usual angle. He shared a range of tips on colour mixing and techniques on paint application especially the use of spatulas for quick results.
His picture was completed in less than two hours, which shows us all that an evening session’s painting can achieve the same outcome. A very worthwhile evening.
You can follow his art on www.artbydj.co.uk
August 9th 2023
Visiting Artist: Sue Gardner
It was lovely to welcome Sue to our club and she inspired us enormously with her work.
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July 19th 2023
Outdoor painting at Kirkby Mallory Church
On a warm July evening, several members visited Kirkby Mallory Church, which is tucked away in a secret corner of the village, next to one of the entrances to the racetrack. The evening light was enchanting, cutting through the trees and catching the church, churchyard and fabulous memorial to Ada Lovelace. She was the renowned Victorian mathematician and daughter of Lord Byron, who, as a child, lived at the now demolished Kirkby Hall. On completion of various works of art and with fading light, several members retreated to The Mallories for some liquid refreshment. It was a very productive evening - as the sample of work illustrates.
February 15th 2023
Member workshop - Graham Luker
Graham hosted our first member workshop of 2023 and he really got us challenged! We looked at layering watercolour washes to create depth of tone using figures as our subject. Graham guided us brilliantly through the process and we used a wet on dry technique using just one colour and looking for the light, mid and dark tones.
February 8th 2023
Visiting Artist - Andy Shore
It was fascinating to watch Andy's process using the airbrush to spray different colours of a cellulosic ink through multiple stencils, gradually building up the image layer by layer, colour by colour then refining it with the tiny details.
Preparation is really key, with all the stencils meticulously pre-cut from thin MDF boards and numbered, the colours pre-mixed & loaded into the individual spray guns. As this type of ink dries the minute it hits the paper, it's possible for Andy to switch from colour to colour without delay - which also enabled him to produce both pictures for us within the space of one evening!
November 9th 2022
Visiting Artist - Richard Holland
It was lovely to welcome Richard to our group for a very insightful oil painting demo. Richard talked to us about how he layered his oil paint and left layers to dry so that he could add in highlights at a later date.
We really enjoyed our evening and enjoyed seeing a painting completed in just 2 hours!
October 5th 2022
Visiting Artist - Heather Griffin
We were very pleased to welcome Heather back to the group for a really insightful demo and workshop. Heather's animals are full of personality and she challenged club members to create alongside her as she began her new piece.
More information about her art can be found at www.heathergriffinart.co.uk
August 10th 2022
Stoney Cove Outdoor Sketching
Clear blue skies and bright evening sunshine brought out 11 members and partners to Stoney Cove, a deep flooded quarry that is well known for its diving centre. We managed to find some excellent viewpoints and some shade as the heat was prey
intense. Nemo’s, the on-site pub, provided seating and a welcome cool drink or two. As the sun dropped down, we were presented with some strong reflections and deepening shadows over the water and surrounding rock faces. All-in-all, a very peaceful couple of hours spent on a near perfect evening. Some of our sketches can be found below.
July 13th 2022
Visiting Artist - Eric Watson
Eric worked in a range of pencils to show how
images of animals can be developed. He showed a
range of his work and took us through some more
detailed work illustrang how to build secons
using several colour layers
June 29th 2022
Visiting Artist - Vic Bearcroft
Vic made a return visit to give a demonstraon
in pastel. He worked up an image of a wolf in
howling mode, set against a misty forest
background. He paid parcular aenon to
seng out the dark areas in the inial stages.
June 15th 2022
As part of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, Desford and Peckleton Art Club have been busy compiling a ‘Big Picture’ of the Queen based on the photograph by Cecil Beaton taken in 1953. Club member, Lorraine Richardson who coordinated the project explained, “a copy of the photograph was enlarged and then I divided the image in to 16 pieces. A piece of the photograph was given to the members involved in the project and they had two weeks to complete their section”.
Rebecca Veebel-Williams, who painted one of the pieces, said “when you are working on your own individual piece at time, it starts to look like an abstract painting but the most rewarding thing is the unification of all the painted pieces at the end”. Each piece consists of a small piece of canvas, pre-cut and then the requirement was to paint in acrylic paint for consistency. Every section shows the personality of each artist and their interpretation of their square.
The final piece titled, ‘A Life Less Ordinary’ will be exhibited at the Atkins Gallery Open Exhibition in Hinckley which runs from 11th July until 12th August.
The club wanted to mark the occasion of the jubilee and after a discussion, the idea of the Big Picture was formed.
June 8th 2022
A small group of Club members gathered on a breezy and bright summer’s evening at Peckleton Church, where the choices for sketching and painting were very varied. The church makes a strong central feature surrounded by its churchyard filled with interesting trees and memorials. Looking out from the churchyard gave wonderful vistas across the surrounding countryside with sheep and horses in abundance. The nearby farmhouse and outbuildings provided another source of interest.
The evening light was exceptional, striking long shadows to give strong contrasts and bright colours. Ever-changing, large cumulus clouds brought extra drama to the sky. Initially, a stiff breeze gave a vibrant feeling of movement within the trees and long grass. The evening ended with a much calmer feel as the sun began to set behind some high cloud.
A brilliant outdoor event at a truly delightful location.
Thank you, John, for setting this up, and to all who have shared their pictures from the evening.
Graham Luker
May 11th 2022
Visiting artist, David Wilcox, demonstrated a watercolour of a Flamenco dancer. He worked in near A4 size, which was quite large for a watercolour, beginning with background colours to identify the light areas within the picture. Moving around the whole picture, he steadily built up areas of abstract shapes as the form of the dancer slowly emerged. Using a limited palette of mostly reds and purples, the final details were added in.
It was interesting to see him use a very simple set of brushes and paints to produce a very effective and dynamic work.
May 2022 - Exhibition Round-up
We had a very successful Spring exhibition and it was lovely to see so many visitors. There were lots of positive comments about the quality of work and it was great to see the sun shining and visitors making the most of our pop-up cafe.
Winner of the 'best in show' public vote was Neil Rollinson, with his beautiful lady in red painting. this is the second win for Neil as he was also successful in our winter exhibition. Well done Neil - great work!
Graham Luker's woodland scene was voted 'best picture' by club members and very well deserved too.
Prizes were awarded by Kay Alexander MBE, who joined us on the Sunday. We thank her very much for attending and helping to congratulate the worthy winners. Photos below show Neil and Graham receiving their award from Kay Alexander.
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February 2022
The club started the New Year with its first visiting artist: Leanne Ellis. She demonstrated watercolour with castles as inspiration. There were techniques of how to create shadows, clouds and the effects of bringing the foreground closer.
It was a great evening and Leanne was very engaging and entertaining in her delivery. Leanne and her artwork she completed on the night are shown below.
