BY KAY DRURY, CHAIR
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 decided to hold its Autumn Exhibition online.
Viewers were able to vote for their favourite painting, with an award of the Society’s prestigious Autumn Shield being made for the painting with the most votes. Two other awards were also made. The President’s Cup was awarded by RAS President Ray Ibbetson, which had a theme of “A local scene”. This was awarded to Bob Mapledoram for his painting of Englefield Green. The “Joy of Art” award from Vice President Joy Doleman had the subject “Pets”, which was awarded to Linda Blackwell for her painting of “Tess, Border Terrier”. Linda’s beautiful painting also won the public vote and was awarded the Autumn Shield. The exhibition was a great success for the Society’s first attempt at an online exhibition.
However good it is to see work displayed online, nothing beats being able to actually see paintings “in the flesh” and the Society, supported by The Egham Chamber of Commerce, is now planning to hold a display of its work in a shop window at 90 Egham High Street. The shop will not be open for trading, but paintings displayed will be available for sale, by phone, email, or through the RAS Facebook page, giving people a chance to buy a unique piece of art for a bargain price, which could be the ideal solution to this year’s difficult shopping problems.