What a great little exhibition we put together this year. The work displayed was varied in terms of subject matter and media. We had; paintings (oil, acrylic, watercolour), prints (drypoint, monoprint, etching, collagraph), photographs, drawings, collages and (for the first time in ages!) sculpture.
Thanks to all of our contributing artists: Jill Arthey, Mike Attewell, Michael Browne, Iona Carter, Paul Clarke, Caroline Coode, Jo Cousin, David Crawford, Suzi Firenzi, Peter-Ashley Jackson, Mark McGovern, Geraldine Morris Dowling, Roger Newbrook, Eric Nicholson, Dorian Pritchard, Brenda Procter, Judith Ramsay, Colin Shield, Jean Tinsley, Catherine Vittori and Linda Willcox. It was lovely to hear some of the stories from behind your pictures, in particular the leopard with chicken pox, the two sparrows in New York and the feisty mackerel! Special thanks must also go to the Nigel and Burnie from the University for their help, advice and use of their equipment to hang and take down the exhibition. Hazel Barron-Cooper and the rest of the fantastic Hatton crew who helped us out and directed visitors to the Hatton to our exhibition in the Ex Libris Gallery. We really appreciate it.
We had almost 300 visitors over the eleven days of the exhibition. We sold three pieces and have recruited some new members to the Friends family.
It was good to be able to showcase some of the work produced during our workshops in the exhibition again too. The workshops which are organised by Jo Cousin, are a really central part of Friends’ membership activities.
This was the first Friends’ exhibition I have been involved in coordinating and hanging. I was surprised how much time and effort went into it, partly because previous exhibitions were so expertly and seamlessly managed by the formidable partnership of Richard and Marion Thompson. My heartfelt gratitude goes out to you both in retrospect for all the unseen (to me) work you put in behind the scenes to previous exhibitions.
Roger Newbrook
Friends of the Hatton 