Programme
Venue: Woodhouse Eaves Village Hall, 50a Main Street, Woodhouse Eaves,
LE12 8RZ. 7:15pm for 7.45pm
There are no Lecture Meetings in July and August
We have a Special Study Afternoon arranged for Wednesday 17th July at the
Village Hall Woodhouse Eaves at 15:00 to 16:30.
Two local artists, Helen Rhodes and Kate Gibbs will be
giving talks on how to make a living as professional
artists. Kate uses a Lino Cut Printing technique to produce
themes inspired by nature. There will be an exhibition of
their techniques and artworks with some items for sale.
Refreshments, tea, coffee and cakes will be provided
throughout the afternoon included with the entrance fee.
The entrance fee of £10 will include a raffle entry to win
one of two artworks by the artists. Book your tickets in
advance by filling in a Registration Form at our next
regular meeting to avoid disappointment. There will be a
limited number of tickets available at the door on the day.
How to make a living as a professional artist - An afternoon with Helen Rhodes and Kate Gibbs
17th July 2.30.-4.30pm Woodhouse Eaves Village Hall, entry from 2pm. Tickets £10.00
Drinks and cake and the chance to win a piece of artwork all included in the £10.00. Booking form available
from spwspiers@aol.com
New membership year 2024/5
12th September 2024
Brian MacDonald
Treasures of the Black Tent: Treasures of the Black Tent - Antique Tribal Rugs
& Dowry Weavings of the Persian & Central Asian Nomad
The audience is taken on a journey beginning in Outer Mongolia in the 5th century BC
and follows the 11th century migrations from Turkmenistan, the cradle of weaving, into
the Caucasus, Persia and Afghanistan.
You will be introduced to the nomadic tribes of these countries and their woven rugs,
carpets and dowry bags, with particular emphasis on those of the 19th century and
earlier. These tribal weavings illustrate the skill of the women who produced exquisite
works of woven art, using vegetable colours and age-old designs whilst living and
travelling in primitive conditions and hostile landscapes.
10th October 2024
James Wright
In Search of Britain’s Oldest Pubs
Numerous claims are made to be Britain’s oldest
pub from all corners of the isles. Pubs have been
the beating heart of communities for centuries
and there are firm regional rivalries when it comes
to competing for the very oldest boozer.
Is it ever possible to come close to identifying
which establishment has been serving up the
beers for the longest?
Belper Arms, Newton Burgoland This pub dates back to the 13th century and claims to be the
oldest in Leicestershire. Stephen McKay Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0
14th November 2024
Rosamund Bartlett
The Culture of Ukraine
This lecture tells the multifaceted Ukrainian story through
the shared culture which binds its diverse people
together, including the sacred art and architecture of Kyiv
inherited from Byzantium, the rich legacy of the
Cossacks, and a treasury of poetry, painting and song.
We will also look at the key role played by folk culture in
the years before Ukraine's emergence as an independent
nation, whether "red icons" on glass or the country's
remarkable embroidery tradition, which had a surprising
influence on avant-garde art.
Ukrainian embroidered womens shirt from Rivne region. Навка.
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
12th December 2024
Barry Venning
Giles Cartoons: Christmas with Giles, Grandma and the Family
For a great many members of The Arts Society, the cartoonist Carl Giles was as much a
part of the festive season as the
Christmas tree, crackers and the
Queen's Speech.
So popular were the Giles annuals as
Christmas presents that they helped to
make him Britain's best loved, most
successful and wealthiest cartoonist.
The talk looks at Giles's life and work
with a particular emphasis on his
seasonal cartoons, particularly those
featuring Grandma and the Giles
family. They include some of his
funniest cartoons but, as the art
historian William Feaver pointed out,
they also demonstrate that he had few
equals when it came to representing Britain in Winter.
9th January 2025
Simon Seligman
Debo-Mitford Cavendish. Duchess & Housewife 1920 to 2014
Deborah Devonshire, the youngest of the Mitford sisters and
wife of the 11th Duke of Devonshire, was hefted by marriage
to one of Europe’s greatest treasure houses, Chatsworth.
In the second half of the 20th century, in partnership with her
husband, she imbued it with a spirit, elegance and sense of
welcome that transformed it from being the worn-out survivor
of decades of taxation, war and social change into one of the
best-loved, most-emulated and popular historic houses,
gardens and estates in the country.
Deborah Mitford. CC William Acton, Public domain
13th Feburary 2025
Chantal Brotherton-Ratcliffe
The Overshadowed
Have you had this experience? You go to a gallery, an exhibition and are stopped dead
by an unknown picture: you look at the label and find you have never heard of the
artist. How does it come about that there can be such wonderful painters of whom we
have never heard?
This lecture will consider some of the many reasons for a good artist’s obscurity, from
the brevity of his life to the misfortune of his being born and working in the shadow of a
larger reputation, such as Leonardo or Rembrandt. But above all it is an excuse to spend
an hour gorging on beautiful paintings, finding hidden treasures.
13th March 2025
Anna Warrillow
Britain as Workshop of the World. The Great Exhibition of 1851 and the
Establishment of the V&A.
This lecture focuses on the design impact of the Great Exhibition and the need for a
'legacy institution' in the form of the South Kensington Museum.
We look at the building as a work of art and explore the work of William Morris, Fredrick
Lord Leighton and other influential designers of the Victorian Age.
10th April 2025
Bertie Pearce
Charles Dickens - The Man & His Life through his characters
Charles John Huffam Dickens brought into the world a
staggering array of wonderful characters with orphans,
starving children, misers, murderers and abusive school
teachers among them.
People such as Mr Micawber, Fagin and Abel Magwitch
remain in one’s literary psyche long after the books are
put down.
Largely self-educated, Dickens possessed the genius to
become the greatest writer of his age with 15 major
novels and countless short stories and articles.
In his lecture Bertie Pearce looks at the life and places of
Dickens through his characters. The talk is interspersed
with readings of this works. A truly Dickensian
experience.
Charles Dickens in his Study (1859), painted by William Powell Frith (1819–1909)
wikidata:Q955750
8th May 2025
Christina Faraday
The Magic of Portrait Miniatures
In this lecture, we consider the most intimate art of the Tudor
age: the portrait miniature or ‘limning’.
We trace the genre from its origins in illuminated books to its
celebrated blossoming at the Elizabethan court.
We explore the distinctive techniques and material ‘special
effects’ of this peculiarly English craft, consider the lives and
careers of the most famous miniaturists, and reveal how the art
form inspired the most brilliant poets of the age.
Portrait of Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton (1573-1624) by Nicholas Hilliard
Miniature painting, sometimes thought to have been the dedicatee of Shakespeare's sonnets
(1573-1624). Public domain
12th June 2025
Sally Hoban
The Arts & Crafts Movement in the Midlands
(Includes where to see them, which may prompt outing ideas)
Many people are familiar with the national designers of the 19th century Arts and Crafts
Movement such as William Morris and Charles Ashbee. But the Midlands made a huge
contribution to the movement as well.
Designers at The Bromsgrove Guild of
Handicrafts for example produced the
exquisite wrought iron gates for Buckingham
Palace.
This lecture sets the work of these Midlands
designers in the context of the national Arts
and Crafts Movement using examples of
jewellery made by Arthur and Georgina
Gaskin, stained glass by Florence Camm,
ceramics from the Ruskin Pottery and more.
It also reveals the best locations in the region
to see examples of local Arts and Crafts
Movement design.
Buckingham Palace Gates with Royal coat of arms. Photo: Elliott Brown Creative Commons
Attribution-Share Alike 2.0
11th September 2025
Bill Powell
The Day the Music Died.
On February 3, 1959, rock and roll
musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens,
and J. P. The Big Bopper Richardson
were killed in a plane crash near Clear
Lake, Iowa, together with the pilot,
Roger Peterson.
Conspiracy theories abound. What
really happened?
Buddy Holley headstone. Photo Jeebasmoka. Public domain
9th October 2025 – TBA
13th November 2025
Julia Musgrave
The Bloomsbury Group. The Art of Vanessa Bell
Avant-garde painter, designer, decorator, inspired colourist,
mother and muse, Vanessa Bell was the warm heart of the
Bloomsbury Group, a set who Dorothy Parker once described as
“living in squares and loving in triangles”.
Navigating the tides of sexual and artistic revolution with
tolerance, irreverence and wit she had a central role in the social
and aesthetic life of Bloomsbury; alive to their love affairs,
romances, passions and pleasures, and refreshingly uninterested
in politics.
She was the sister of the writer Virginia Woolf, wife of the critic
Clive Bell, and counted the painter Roger Fry and the artist
Duncan Grant among her lovers.
Vanessa Bell (sister of Virginia Woolf). Photo:George Charles Beresford. Public domain
11th December 2025
Sarah Lenton
300 years of Christmas in Covent Garden
Christmas spectacles, slapstick, and
beanstalks have been drawing crowds to
Covent Garden since 1737.
John Rich, the first manager of what is now
the Royal Opera House, was a fine dancer,
mime, and special effects man and he (and
his successors) developed all the well
known features of the London Christmas
season. Even now principal boys, fairies,
and Harlequin are alive and well on the
ROH stage.
This lecture pulls together the whole
performing tradition and brings it up to
date with the latest Christmas offerings at the Royal Opera House.
Royal Opera House, Gzen92, Creative Commons
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