By Kay Drury
The Runnymede Art Society (RAS) was founded in 1965, with members from all around the Borough of Runnymede. The Society, which has just under 100 members, normally meets weekly at The Hythe Centre, Thorpe Road, Staines, where members of all artistic abilities enjoy an afternoon of drawing and painting using a variety of media. Unfortunately, Covid-19 has meant that members have not been able to meet since the middle of March, and have had to cancel three planned exhibitions.
The lockdown for Covid-19 has affected people differently. Some have had more time to spend painting at home and have been very productive, others have been demotivated by no meetings, demonstrations from professional artists, and training workshops that normally take place each year. Members had hoped to be able to get out-and-about during summer, when the normal outdoor painting sessions take place, many along the riverside and in local beauty spots, but due to the restrictions on numbers of people, sadly that didn’t happen either. Many are also missing the work done within the community, supporting charity events, helping with local special needs group and sharing their love of art with those less fortunate.
To try to make up for this lack of physical contact and encourage people to try to get back to normal, RAS has decided to hold its annual Autumn Exhibition online. Some of the paintings will be available for sale, giving people a chance to buy a unique piece of art for a bargain price, without having to leave their homes, which could be the ideal solution to this year’s difficult Christmas shopping problems!
Chairman of the Society, Kay Drury, who lives in Chertsey, explained: “We are hoping to get as many people as possible viewing our exhibition.
Just to demonstrate how many talented local artists there are using an amazing variety of styles and media. Normally at our exhibitions, we ask members of the public to vote for their favourite painting and the artist receiving the most votes is awarded the Society’s coveted “Autumn Shield”. We hope to replicate that and get at least as many people viewing online as we would have in a location in a hall.”
The exhibition also has two themed awards. The President’s Cup is presented by RAS President, Ray Ibbetson. The theme is ‘A Local Scene’ – a painting of somewhere within a 25-mile radius of the Runnymede area making many paintings familiar to local residents. The Joy of Art Award presented by Vice President, Joy Doleman has a theme of ‘Pets’.As Joy explained, “This year the theme will be Pets, such as budgies, parrots, cats and dogs.
Mainly because, without my little dog, I wouldn’t have seen a soul (apart from my daughter outside the window) from 15th March until 10th May when lockdown was slightly eased (7 weeks)! Archie was my sole companion and reason to get up in the morning!”