On 19 June a coach party of DSC members and guests visited this year’s City of Culture, Bradford. The sun shone for us as we first went to Cartwright Hall located in the beautiful grounds of Lister Park. Along with more modern art we enjoyed an exhibition of David Hockney’s paintings and drawings including some seldom-seen earlier works. There was time to sketch the building and its lovely landscaped grounds before moving on to the UNESCO heritage site, Salts Mill in Saltaire. Money was spent in their art supplies and art book store on the ground floor. Elsewhere within the mill was Hockney’s ’20 Flowers for 2025′ and a textile and audio installation by Ann Hamilton. There was a Burmantofts Pottery exhibition and old photos of the mill in its working heyday. Saltaire was a joy to explore.

On Friday 20th June we welcomed Stephanie Sian Coley as our guest demonstrator. Steph is a very experienced artist and tutor. Within the 2 hours she produced this stunning collage from her imagination using various materials that she collects. She also incorporated art materials, some of which we were unfamiliar with. The demonstration was really inspiring as were the examples of her other types of work which she brought in to show us. Steph is also an accomplished portrait artist and enjoys creating detailed drawings with architectural themes. She was happy to answer questions as she went along and in the break. We’re hoping to see her take part in some of our club sessions in the future.

Well done and thank you to everyone who contributed to our annual Trophy Exhibition in Markeaton Park Craft Village. It was a great show attended by around 500 visitors  over the May bank holiday. The standard of work was fantastic. We had some excellent feedback from the public and from our guest judge Jeremy Bournon. Tony Hall’s Self Portrait won the Trophy prize with Highly Commended awards going to: Che Tyrell ‘Waiting for Eddot’, Lesley Griggs ‘The Meadow’, Maggie Percival ‘Someone Likes Tolkien’, Elaine Bainbridge ‘ Path Above Chatsworth’, Tony Deeming ‘Derbyshire Winter’ and Larry South ‘Two Girls Fishing’. Maggie Percival’s ‘Homeward Bound’ won the Visitors Choice Award. 

We sold some artworks and many, many greetings cards! 

President’s Night on 11 April celebrated Joe Read’s service to Derby Sketching Club. Joe was presented with portraits created by our talented portrait artists when he recently sat for them. He and Jane must be rearranging their wall space at home now. Put very much on the spot, Joe gamely supplied stories for our speed-drawing challenge, won by Tom Burley. There was an art and presidents quiz with remarkably no clear winning team. So well done everyone! The room was decorated with old photos from Joe’s years as Chairman and with A1 reproductions of Joe’s art work. We had a delicious buffet and a bar. Joe is now Honorary President of Derby Sketching Club. He was presented with a card signed by everyone and a gift of art materials. Thank you to everyone for your contribution to President’s Night, it was a fun evening. And thanks to Joe for all his years service. Some photos of the evening…