For the first time, we held a Private View from 4 – 6pm on the Saturday. Also, another first for us; refreshments were available on the Saturday afternoon and, after the 10 o’clock Mass, all day on Sunday.
| Since last year, we have gained two or three new members to our Group. One new member, Marion de Souza, has taken a number of photographs of the exhibition. | |
The models of birds made in papier-mache, tin iron filings and cotton wool enhanced our display of work this year. These were made by Jane Alldis who did a degree in Theatrical Design and many people found her work very challenging. Many other media were used such as encaustic, computer manipulation, scraperboard, wood cuts, as well as acrylic, watercolour and ‘our old friend’ mixed media. Altogether, over 250 exhibits were on show. The Vice President of the Society of Catholic Artists (SCA) Patrick Pike, came from North London to view the exhibition and was very impressed by the variety of work on show. He wrote an article about the Group for the SCA magazine. In addition to praising the creativity involved, he felt it was a most welcome social occasion.
Thanks for the success of this exhibition must go to many people:- We thank first of all Father Murtagh for his continued support of the Group throughout which made the whole venture possible. Our grateful thanks go also to Jim O’Donnell, Rob Adams, Peter Appelby and Ian Bennett. Ian supplied us with a wonderful platter of delicious sandwiches for lunch, and dealt with the refreshments until Sunday evening with the aid of some kind helpers.
Also, many thanks to Ron Head who led the tiring job of collecting and returning the stands the exhibits stood on. We must also not forget Eddie Williams who, despite being about to move house, gave a whole morning up to help put up the larger paintings. Apologies to anyone whose name has not been mentioned, but our grateful thanks goes to all of you who helped ensure the success of this exhibition.
We were glad to welcome Mike Elcome, the Minister of the Baptist Church, who came along with his family and seemed to enjoy the exhibition and also knew a number of people there.
Finally, we hope all of you who came enjoyed the exhibition and we thank you very much for your support. We are sure you will be just as supportive when we have our third exhibition in 2005!
Maureen P. Coffey, Deborah P. Bennett