Ellon & District Art Group

Painting sessions are adjourned over the summer but we have been meeting at various venues to keep in touch. In July some members met at the Buchan Hotel for a very enjoyable lunch, and this was followed a fortnight later by a visit to Aberdeen Art Gallery. One of the highlights of this trip was the Book of Deer which is on display there until October, and is well worth a visit. This month saw us take advantage of the glorious sunny weather for a day out at Strichen Park, strolling through the woods and up to the Standing Stones, taking photos and sketching, and meeting later in the Coffee Shop for lunch.

The new term starts on Thursday September 1st, running through until December 1st. There will be no session on October 6th as we will be exhibiting for the whole of that week at the Pheasantry as part of the Haddo Arts Programme, Create – Regenerate – Rebuild.

We look forward to seeing members, and, hopefully some new faces with new ideas in September

The summer sessions finish at the end of June and we resume on Thursday September 1st. This term has flown by and we have been quite productive and thoroughly enjoyed a return to normality: long may it last The new committee is settling in, planning outings and preparing for the autumn exhibition at Haddo. We were delighted to be awarded a grant of £750 from Ellon Rotary, a very welcome boost to our funds.

We had the final session at the end of March when we held the AGM. It was well attended and we now have a new committee with some reshuffling of posts and two new members. The session finished with some socialising and sharing of snacks, which felt very refreshing after months of restrictions. We were also able to raise a donation of £70 for the Red Cross Ukrainian appeal. The summer sessions start on April 21st; we look forward to welcoming everyone back to a rewarding term of creativity

Whilst all of us have had to adapt over the last two years and try to maintain creativity without mutual support, one member in particular has undoubtedly made the most of the break. An unfortunate trip over New Year resulted in a serious break to Barbara’s ”painting arm”. Undeterred, she has been able to produce some beautiful pen and ink sketches with her other hand.

We look forward to welcoming her back to the sessions once she is able to drive

At last, we are back to Thursday sessions at the Kirk Centre, and very happy we are too. A good number of us made it along last week to the start of our new term and we are fervently hoping that it will be plain sailing from now on.

We are all now reluctantly becoming used to uncertainty in our lives; a salutary lesson perhaps for many of us! So, the best-laid schemes o’ Mice an’ EDAG gang a-gley, yet again; we will not be returning to our Thursday meetings on the 13th. We are hopeful for the 20th – but, who knows!

We have all been saddened to learn of the devastation wreaked at Haddo Country Park by the weekend’s storm; a huge number of trees blown down and so much damage done that will take a long while to repair. Inevitably this means we are not able to hold our exhibition on Sunday. Everyone had been inspired by the prospect and it would have been lovely to show our efforts to a wider audience. We are planning to hold the exhibition in the spring, and in the meantime, we will keep meeting on Thursday mornings to exchange ideas and inspire each other

Weekly meetings resumed some while ago and those members who have been able to return have enjoyed the inspiration and feedback which has been missing this last while. Some of us have not been happy to return while there is still a requirement to wear a mask during the sessions, and we look forward to welcoming those people back as soon as possible.

One of the highlights of our year has always been the annual exhibition, and it is two years now since our last one. We decided to put on a small event, exhibiting paintings and also to show a few of the projects that kept us going during Lockdowns:-

ELLON and DISTRICT ART GROUP EXHIBITION

SUNDAY DECEMBER 5th 10.30am – 3.00pm

THE PHEASANTRY, HADDO HOUSE