Avon Valley Artists is an offshoot of the former Saltford Art Group, now defunct. About ten years ago, I'm unsure of the actual date, it was decided by a group of us to continue painting together meeting on a Thursday. Initially we painted at Saltford Hall but then moved to the Church Hall in the old village. Saltford holds a Festival every two years and as part of it we put on an exhibition and sale of paintings. This is what happened this year.
With Jeanne our oldest member who is 90.
Originally we had 25 members, this being limited by the size of the room we painted in. We meet during the day in the morning so don't attract younger members, those at work during the day or looking after families. Some groups meet in the evening and so attract those who cannot paint during the day. Advancing age, we are all retired some for a considerable period, has taken several from us and others have dropped out for the same reason. We retain the fondest memories of them. Currently we have 17 members who put on the exhibition illustrated above. We are in gentle decline but have a good group of artists of a high standard for amateurs.
This group is different to most amateur ones in that we paint to a programme of subjects (mostly but not only in watercolour) put together by Jan and Yvonne, who together with Robert, manage the group. I've belonged to other groups but none do this, basically doing their own thing, and consequently tend to be less close. Everything and everybody has a shelf life and exactly how much longer we'll continue is an open question. Hopefully for a while yet. The exhibition was very successful with good sales.
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