Art in Woodstock Festival

I spent a day in Woodstock on Thursday manning 'The Art Wall'. A great idea 'The Wall' was sponsored by several companies and constructed by a local building company. Children of all ages were given the choice of paints or felt pens and left to show their artistic talents on the wall.

The whole festival is run by a committee who organise the advertising, venues, handling of the art works and the invigilating duties of the artists. This year there were 60 artists in shops, galleries and hotels within Woodstock. I was exhibiting three of my paintings in the 'Real Wood Company' shop.

It is an ideal location as many visitors are in the town to visit Blenheim Palace, so the footfall is good as is the timing since it is half term and many people welcome it as a day out with their children. Perhaps next year some other members of SAF will apply although it is quite a distance to transport work. Maureen Toomey

Big Draw at the Artrix

Found myself on the way to the Artrix at Bromsgrove on Saturday with Steph and Jackie, we were about to become involved in the 'Big Draw'. Carol, a fellow SAF member met us there. After setting up our equipment such as paper, crayons, paints, scissors etc. we spent the next four hours helping children of all ages to express themselves with art. Steph and Jackie had put together teaching boards with Picasso portraits and then the children used these as examples to put their own collages together in the Picasso style. Carol experimented with paint and I did experimental drawing. It was an exhausting day but extremely satisfying.

Two of the Picasso Portraits

The artworks produced on the day will be on display at the Avoncroft Museum as part of their Big Draw between the 26th and 31st October. Maureen Toomey

The SAF Informal Get Together

The first Thursday of each month and Solihull Artists Forum hold an informal get together in the coffee bar at the Art Complex, (new members are always welcome) this month we did a look back on the Arts Trail although at times it was difficult because there was a large crowd in the café all waiting to see the 60s pop star Joe Brown in the theatre. In other words a little bit load.

As a member of the forum I spent Saturday and Sunday driving like mad round all the artist studios, it was great to see the work in the flesh so to speak. I have uploaded the photos of the day to my Flickr site so that anybody can download the images full size http://www.flickr.com/photos/johngarghan/sets/72157624950109147/

John Garghan

Woodbridge Gallery Exhibition

Yesterday Stephanie Adams and I attended the private view of the Artists International exhibition of paintings and ceramics at the Woodbridge Gallery, Moseley, Birmingham. The group was formed by artists who are from or have resided outside the UK and this geographical diversity shows in the works on display. Solihull Artists Forum member Usha Khosla had some of her new pots on show, coloured at the rim with a beautiful aquamarine glaze.

Some of the paintings by AI member Ann Gibbons

The exhibition, held on 2 floors, continues until Sunday 10th October. For more details Tel. 0121 449 5581 - Jackie Mackay