Thursday, 5 March 2026

Optional Theme 'Zoo'

The first of our optional themes for 2026 finished this week. 'Zoo' was the subject and any animal you would find in a zoo was allowed. The final piece did not need to depict the animal in a zoo but that option was available. Here are the submissions to date. Click any picture fo a larger view.

Monday, 2 March 2026

Leyland Library Exhibition 2026

We are so pleased to be returning to Leyland Library this year. The display will be running from the start of March to to the end of may. As space is somewhat limited we will be swapping out paintings over this time so everyone in the group has an opportunity to show their work on our home turf.

Click the image below to see a slideshow of the work currently on view or [CLICK HERE] to watch on YouTube.


Thursday, 26 February 2026

Harris Open Art 2026

Many of our members entered work into this years Harris Open Art Exhibition. Unfortunately none were winners this year. Mural artist Shawn Sharpe and art expert from the University of Central Lancashire Professor Peter Lloyd judged over 400 pieces of artwork submitted. Here are the winners...

In first place was a piece called 'How do you like me now?' by Minnie Kennedy.
Picture Credit; The Harris

The second prize went to Martin Junju for 'The Librarian'

Stephanie Harlow took third prize for 'I thought you were dying'

The exhibition is open until the end of April. [CLICK HERE] to visit the Harris Website. The Harris, Market Square, Preston. PR1 2PP

Friday, 16 January 2026

A New Year

This years calendar started off with our Annual General Meeting and open forum. Lots of excellent ideas and suggestions were mooted as to the direction for the group in 2026 and some of these have already been factored in to our activities.

More Workshops
Through the year we run a series of optional workshops that give members an opportunity to try something new and add to their skill set. By request we will be adding more of these popular activities to our programme for 2026.

Outdoor Sketching
Through the summer months we will be getting out and about around the area with some outdoor sketching and painting activities. Working from reference material and initial sketches is fine but being out in the field allows you to gain an atmospheric three dimensional feel to your art work you cannot get from a flat photograph. 

Demonstrations
This year we have the finances to plan three visits by professional artists to demonstrate and share with us their skills and techniques, 

Outings
A couple of years ago we started visiting art related venues from museums, galleries, exhibitions and even the zoo. This year we are planning a visit to the Lady Lever Art Gallery at Port Sunlight.


Committee Line up for 2026

Stephen Watson - Chair. 
Stephen  was elected to fill the position of chair after the sad loss of  founder member Joan Hassall as we neared the end of 2025. He has been with the group for fourteen years and admitted that Joan would be a hard act to follow but would do his best. The task of herding cats sprang to mind!
Paul Stanley - Secretary. 
When our previous secretary became ill just before the Covid lock down Paul stepped up to the mark to cover the secretarial duties. For five years he has done an exceptional job and we are honoured that he was willing to continue in the position for another twelve months.
Bryan Boxall - Treasurer. 
Bryan took over the role of treasurer at the beginning of 2025 following the sudden sad loss of Mike Ainsworth. Bryan keeps us in line financially and has even brought us into the 21st Century by introducing online financing.
Susan Redman - Committee Member.  
Exhibitions can take a bit of organising and Sue is top notch at handling the logistics and associated communications. She wears many hats and juggles umpteen tasks at once including the tea rota!
Mildred Dickinson - Committee Member.  
Mildred dives in and helps out other committee members in times of heavy workload and is always keen to get her hands dirty. Along with volunteer members she assists Susan with picture collating and hanging when exhibitions are organised. She is also a listening ear to the group.