Art Classes
Our classes for members were alternately led by well-known local artists - Ria Cornall and Fatima Pantoja. Unfortunately Ria is rather busy at present, so will not be running any more this year but Fatima is very keen to continue. The classes usually take place on Monday afternoons, 12.20 to 14.50, for 4-6 weeks. This is an opportunity for developing artists as well as more experienced, to learn, enhance and improve skills under the guidance of a talented and popular tutor. If you are interested in joining any future classes, please enquire at the next monthy meeting, or send an email to our Secretary for details (see Contacts page).
May to July - with Fatima Pantoja
Returning students, as well as new people joined these classes. As in previous courses, they tried out various subjects and media, including pastels, charcoal, watercolour and ink, acrylics, sometimes combining them, and using a variety of other materials and tools to create interesting images. They also looked at examples of work from various artists for inspiration. Planned as a 6-week course, everyone was so engaged that Fatima extended it by one week more to consolidate learning. One of her students praised her, saying:
"Fatima is fantastic to encourage creativity outside of comfort zones and particularly when something is new and feels unsuccessful. She's a marvel at overcoming disatisfaction with outputs and getting you to persist via clever advice and nudges." AM
The photos below are from a life drawing class, using charcoal and pastel, with professional model, Katie.
March 2026 - with Ria Cornall
Ria encouraged us, in this 3-week course, to 'paint large' - larger than we normally would. We started with a warm-up exercise, making random marks, using a variety of mediums and tools, on large sheets of paper - for just 2 minutes - then passing it on. We worked round the group until we had all worked on it. Then we looked at our creations, talking about what we enjoyed about the process and results - or not!
Next, Ria helped us plan out our main compositions, making preliminary sketches and thinking about our inspiration, the main aspects and focal point, colour and tone etc before starting our piece. She encouraged us to play and experiment at every stage and to try and give the work some energy, using bold strokes and gestures. If we were 'stuck', Ria would give that one piece of advice that enabled us to move forward. Sometimes we needed several pieces of advice!
We all created something different, working out of our comfort zones, some on large surfaces and some staying with their favoured size but experimenting with techniques or subject matter. Some had not completed a piece of work at the end of 3 weeks, but had been helped in knowing where to go next. At the end of our final session, we shared our pieces and talked about what we had learned and enjoyed.
Moira commented on a previous course, 'Ria is a super teacher but above all encourager, helping each member to develop their own skills and individual pieces of art. Ria's tips and helpful ways of making you look at your subject/work, added up to an enjoyable course and personal achievement.' This certainly applied this time too!
Photos of some of the varied and interesting art work produced with Ria's guidance are below.
The 'warm ups'
