All Derby Sketching Clubs and plus ones are invited to our annual club lunch. The venue is Mickleover Golf Club, Uttoxeter Road, Mickleover DE3 9AF. Price is £26.50 for 3 courses or £22.50 for 2 courses. Please select your menu choice when you book (at any session or contact us on email). Payment in advance please.

Menu options as follows:

Starters:

A    Leek and Potato Soup topped with crispy onions served with a freshly baked roll (v) (gf)

B    Smooth Chicken Liver Pate, Melba toast and Caramelised Onion Chutney (gf)

C    Duo of Melon, Parma Ham and Balsamic dressing (gf)

Main Course:

D    Slow cooked Blade of Beef with Red Wine Bourguignon (gf)

E     Grilled Fillet of Seabass, Baked Ratatouille finished with a Tomato and Chive Sauce (gf)

F     Oven Baked Chicken Supreme with a Wild Mushroom, Madeira and Cream Sauce (gf)

G    Baked Stuffed Pepper with Roast Vegetables and Red Pepper Sauce (gf) (v)

All served with a selection of fresh vegetables and potatoes

Desserts:

H   Mixed Fruit Crumble with Creamy Custard (gf)

I    Citrus Tart with mixed Berry Compote and Cherry Sauce

J   White Chocolate and Raspberry Cheesecake with Fruit Sauce and Chocolate Shavings (gf)

Tea, coffee or de-caff coffee with after-dinner mints

(gf) denotes that this can be made gluten-free on request.

The National Gallery is currently celebrating the work of Derby’s answer to Caravaggio: Joseph Wright.

All Wright’s best known pieces are included. This is a rare chance to see the master’s work shown in one place. Wonderful to see this Derby artist’s work at the National Gallery in London.

Wright of Derby – From the Shadows is on display until 10 May. Tickets are £12.

https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/exhibitions/wright-of-derby-from-the-shadows

On 17 October local artist and tutor Denise Cliffen was our guest for a landscape workshop with a difference. Denise Cliffen was a semi-finalist in Sky Landscape Artist of the Year in 2022. She has exhibited with the Royal Society of British Artists and Royal Society of Marine Artists. She runs Easel Weasel Art Workshops in the Peak District. Working on black A3 paper, the landscape scene is sketched on with chalk pastels then the acrylic paint applied in short brush strokes creating an almost mosaic effect.