Eating Together at Arts Together

"Thought for the Day" on Radio 4 last Thursday highlighted, for me, the importance of our Arts Together group lunches every week, and that they could not happen without our brilliant volunteers. You can listen here Thought for the Day

Jeff 

Halfway

We passed the half way point yesterday. Here are Sue and Mel celebrating in the shade at Whitchurch near Pangbourne.

It was a gruelling walk with lots of steep slopes and much too hot, but with any luck the most difficult part is over.

You can follow our progress here http://www.autumnchicken.blogspot.co.uk/ 

Margaret - volunteer fund-raiser for Arts Together 

Charity Stall at MoCA

The current total for sales and donations from the MoCA (Museum of Contemporary Art) Charity Stall is £344.20p. Hopefully we may get a few more pennies over the coming weeks. Thanks to everyone who visited and contributed goods for sale.

Where can we take it next?

Jeff, Julia and Keith

Amesbury Mosaic

 Designed and produced by artist Joanna Dewfall, the mosaic celebrates some of the unique history of Amesbury. The centre panel was entirely made by Joanna and depicts key historic features. The border was produced by local people during workshops.

For more information about the artist visit: www.dewfallmosaic.co.uk

Joanna Dewfall - mosaic artist

Here is Joanna - one of Arts Together's favourite artists - showing off her mosaics in Salisbury. But who is that with her?

£250... and still counting

The Arts Together charity stall set up by Julia and Jeff for their Open Studios exhibition raised almost £250. But we are still counting the pennies and the stall is now part of the Bradford on Avon Community Sports Event so maybe we will find a few more customers amongst the table tennis fans.

The Open Studios was a great success and very positively received. You can catch a glimpse of what it was like here www.artspark.net/openstudios

Jeff

Uphill All The Way

On Saturday (12th May) Sue, Mel and I will start our attempt at the Thames Path - Over 180 miles which we aim to complete in 3 weeks. As my wise old mum used to say - 'she's old enough to know better'. Too right I am, but if not now, when? 

I've called myself 'autumn chicken' for the very good reason that someone very dear to me recently referred to me as 'no spring chicken' - which confirmed my resolve not to conform to the ageist stereotypes and to give it my best. 

The B&Bs are all booked and we're praying it will stop raining. Any normal person contemplating spending this much on holiday accommodation would have opted for the Caribbean - not 3 weeks getting blisters in the rain, but hey ho, life's too short to be 'normal'. Any way the water wings are already packed and I'm as excited as I usually am on Christmas Eve.

I hope we'll raise a bit of money for my 2 charities: Bone Cancer Research Trust and Arts Together Wiltshire, enjoy the companionship of friends and family who will be joining us on the way, and most of all that it will all be a lot of fun and something to tell the grandchildren around the fire on dark winter nights. 

You can follow our progress here http://www.autumnchicken.blogspot.co.uk/

Margaret - volunteer fund-raiser for Arts Together

EAC Over-60s Art Awards

• Awarded by Elderly Accomodation Counsel.
• Annual.
• Nine prizes of up to £250 across categories such as still life, watercolour, drawing and photography. The work of around 100 finalists has been displayed in full-scale exhibitions at varying locations. The format for 2012 has not yet been determined.
• Eligibility limited to amateur artists – those who have not made their living mainly through the sale or display of work.
• Aims to celebrate the creativity of older amateur artists.
• http://eacartawards.org.uk

Mask making in Devizes

Bead necklaces at Devizes

An outbreak of hats in Marlborough

"This is the hat that I shall wear if ever I am invited to a Royal Garden Party. Meanwhile I shall enjoy it in the company of my friends."  Gwen

 

We had such a fun and relaxed meeting with everyone milling around (or millinering around) having their photos taken and admiring each other's hats, then settling down in 2 groups for our annual Consultation and Feedback session. 

Julia, Annet and I were out in the sunshine with Margaret, who led a very efficient and stimulating discussion and kept us really well focused. No easy task!

Juliet

More Pewsey News

We had great fun with Belinda making artifacts on an Egyptian theme - see post below. Most recently we have made cake stands with Jane Johnson and have been delighted with the end products.

There was an exhibition this month of 'What's on in Pewsey' and we decided that this was a good opportunity to spread the word about Arts Together and hopefully attract some new members for the group. 

We all bought in samples of a wide variety of projects which we put on display. The overall effect was very impressive and quite a bit of interest was shown creating a chance to talk to many people about Arts Together.

Ffion