Exhibition, art demonstrations and member workshop dates 
Please check out our events page, where you'll find the dates of initial activities planned for 2024. There's much to look forward to, kicking off with a demonstration by Gail Mason in January that will feature screen printing and painting and will be open to guests as well as members. You can find out about Gail's work by visiting her website.

Our Saturday workshops for LAG members only, which were introduced in 2023, have proved a popular addition to our activities so we will be holding these again in 2024. The first workshop of the year takes place in February; it will be given by Melissa Wishart and focus on oils.

More dates will be added to our events page in the weeks/months ahead so do check back regularly to see what's new.

Our last life drawing session of 2023 - a brief review
As 2023 drew to a close, at the end of November we were treated to a life drawing session, featuring a lovely model, Joy, who was making a repeat visit to our art group. It was quite a challenge, not only from a drawing/painting perspective but also from a warmth standpoint - it was a very cold evening and the hall's heating wasn't working. Joy was wearing traditional dress, brightly coloured, but designed for warmer weather. Our thanks go to Joy for modelling, for being so obliging, and braving the cold.
Here are a selection of the artwork produced on what was a very enjoyable night.

So, with a few days' left in 2023 and as 2024 approaches, all that remains to say is happy New Year.

Christmas Frolics, fun and games
Sticking to tradition, the last meeting of the year is an evening of entertainment, with the highlight being the judging of our annual Winter Art Competition.

The evening kicked off with the competition, which involves members painting their own version of a well known painting chosen by the LAG Committee. This year the painting selected was 'Train Landscape' by Eric Ravilious (suggested by Chris Crosby), an apt choice consisting of views out of a train carriage showing rolling hills and a Wiltshire white horse. You can see all the entries on the Winter 2023 Art Competition gallery page - the 15 entries are very varied and we all enjoyed seeing what others had produced. Voting was very difficult! Mike Wilson's version was voted the clear winner. His take on the original painting included a touch of humour and was very well executed  - congratulations to Mike. Read more about this on the Winter 2023 Art Competition page.

Painting by touch (or guesswork)
For some light relief after the voting for our winter art competition concluded, we played a game! Whereas previously we've held a quiz, home-made pictionary, and a beetle drive, this year the game involved picking up a paintbrush. Sounds easy for a bunch of artists? Not so much, especially when wearing a blindfold!

The task
We divided into two teams, let's call them Team A and Team B. On the stage in the hall were two makeshift easels with a sheet of paper taped to each one. A few feet away from each easel were two tables; on top of each one were paints, paintbrushes, and a small box containing cards. On each card was written the name of a body part - head, eyes, mouth, hair, arm, legs, torso! Yikes! The task for each team was to paint a picture of actor, Daniel Craig. Daniel, in the unlikely event that you ever hear about our game, we can only apologise for our renditions!

Each team member took a turn to step up to the table, take a card from the small box containing the name of a body part, and paint it on the sheet of paper. Blindfolded. 

As you'd expect, this turned out to be hilarious. And the end results look absolutely nothing like Daniel Craig at all. Look at the pictures below and judge for yourself. 

Our thanks to Joy Tickell and Kay Smith for organising this, and for guiding us up to the boards to do our worst. We had a lot of fun!

Christmas meal for members
As part of our year end activities we got together for a Christmas meal at La Flambe, in Sutton Benger, and all agreed it was a great evening - consisting of excellent food, excellent company, and a lot of laughs. A big thank you to Tracy Warne from us all for organising the event so well.

And finally, we wish you all a peaceful Christmas and happy New Year. 
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LAG meetings resume for members on Thursday 4 January, 2024.