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The Studio Group
“Warm colours, warm hearts” – By Roy Storey
For me, it’s two hours of fun at “The Studio
Group.” I’m one of a collection of ancients
who gather every Wednesday morning at
The Fold to paint – and talk!
It’s not just about painting, it’s just as much
about friendship. The group consists of ten
members, but for various reasons only seven or
eight of us manage to attend each week.
As only three of the members are men; it’s not
difficult to visualise what it’s like as soon as the
group gets together. Silence is a rare commodity.
Someone arrives a little late, due we are told to a
massive traffic hold up in the High Street.
Another late comer –“Impossible to get a spot to
park.” Another – “I had to go back, I couldn’t
remember if I’d turned the oven off”.
The ailments and disabilities are reported, and
invariably the sorry state of the NHS is
discussed at length.
But painting gets done and some excellent work
produced, as all are enthusiastic.
Pictures are entered into several art exhibitions
and some do get sold. Quite a few pictures can
be seen on the walls of waiting rooms of doctors
and dentists in the area and a couple of the
members have had paintings accepted by
leading galleries in London.
We are a happy, cheerful group who all enjoy the
camaraderie and we could rightly adopt a motto
like – “Do it while you can, whatever it is.”
And so say I!
The Thameside Woodturners Club
By Brian Pitcher, Secretary
What does membership of Thameside
Woodturners mean to me
My interest in wood, the beauty and
diverse colourings of the grain, the
qualities of the various soft and
hardwoods and above all the almost infinite
number of uses to which this wonderful
material can be put started at a very young age.
After a lifetime working long hours my
woodworking was restricted to making
furniture for my home, toys for my son and very
extensive DIY projects. As I approached
retirement the thought of having much more
time to develop my passion for wood into a
more creative hobby was very exciting. After a
little research and with the help of a friend I was
introduced to Thameside Woodturners who are
based at the Fold in Billericay under the
umbrella of Billericay Arts Association.
On my first visit we were treated to a
demonstration by an experienced turner who, in
two short hours, transformed a very ordinary
log of wood, which you might see alongside a
log-burning stove, into a very elegant urn that
would grace the most upmarket of
mantelshelves. As the urn was passed from hand
to hand after the finish had been applied I was
truly impressed by the almost mirror-like, silky
and very tactile finish on the wood. I was
hooked, I would love to be able to do that and I
was determined that I would.
As a guest on that first night many of the
members approached me and offered to help me
to get started. With their help and within a
remarkably short time I was able to handle the
40 Billericay Town Guide