Dear Friends, welcome to our spring bulletin 2026.
Welcome to the Spring Bulletin, we hope you will enjoy these articles, the workshops and visit the current exhibition: HAPPY at the Hatton.
‘I can’t draw, I’ve never painted…’ How many times have I heard these phrases when I taught art. And sadly still do from visitors to an exhibition or casually from adults in conversation.
The human race has been making marks, drawing and painting since time immemorial. The ability to create an image, make a statement, represent beauty or tragedy, an event, a figure, a landscape, a mood or feeling… is a vital skill our society should value and nurture. We need all creative arts but art and design cannot be underrated; it benefits our health, our economy – our lives.
‘Every child is an artist; the problem is to remain an artist as we grow up.’ Picasso
‘Drawing is not what one sees but what one can make others se.’ Edgar Degas
‘Remember ‘Drawing is putting a line (a)round an idea.’ Henri Matisse
The current exhibition HAPPY! was developed with the Jerwood Collection and curated by the gallery’s young people group L-INK. It concerns how artists ‘become’ artists and the joy of making art. The Jerwood collection is a private collection, which is lent to emphasise ‘a broader understanding, interpretation and enjoyment of modern and contemporary British art’. This exhibition also references Victor Pasmore’s 1957 ‘Art Education’ exhibition at the Hatton.
Children from 3 schools were inspired by the Jerwood collection. They may or may not go on to study art, but their interest and enthusiasm here reflects the joy they have obtained through this.
This year we are celebrating the naming of the Hatton gallery after Professor Hatton; this reminds us of his great contribution both as an artist and an art educator. We’re delighted that Dr Melanie Stephenson has agreed to contribute a series of articles to our bulletins this year to celebrate the centenary of Richard George Hatton’s death and the naming of the gallery.
We all enjoy, respond to, question, are inspired by art. Some visitors may now even rethink their own art education and revisit their ability to draw and paint, to express their own ideas! Search for your inner child, but most of all be HAPPY!
Why not join one of our workshops! And ENJOY!
Geraldine Morris-Dowling
Chair of Friends of the Hatton
This bulletin contains contributions by:
Ruth Bond, Maggie Bassendine, Josephine Cousin, Jess Dare, Jo Duncan, Vinita Gurjar, Vivien Jackson, Julie Louhi, Keith Merrin, Geraldine Morris-Dowling,Roger Newbrook and Dr Melanie Stephenson.
If you would like to write an article for us for use in a future bulletin; maybe a review of a workshop, talk or an exhibition you have seen, please contact us, by emailing FothChair@gmail.com or drop us a line of our Facebook page: facebook.com/friendsofthehatton.
If you have stumbled across this page and are not yet a member of the Friends of the Hatton, you might consider joining us.
You can read our Spring 2026 Bulletin online or…
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Friends of the Hatton 