SWAS meet on the 3rd Friday of the month at Katherine Semar School, Ross Close, Saffron Walden CB11 4DU. The hall is open from 7pm. We start promptly at 7.30pm, finishing at 9.30pm. Entrance is £2 for members and guests are warmly welcomed, £5.
We have a refreshment break, with tea or coffee provided. There is an opportunity to see the artist’s work close up and to socialise with members and friends. Members can also borrow books from the Saffron Walden Art Society library, available at Friday meetings.5
Click on the pictures below if you would like to see the artists website, if they have one.
2024
Friday 15th November - Oils, People, Naomi Tomkys OBE
Naomi lives and works in Cambridgeshire. Her inspiration comes from the day-to-day moments that make her smile. Naomi’s work straddles realism and impressionism with changing looseness of brushstroke reflecting the tales being told. Naomi uses traditional oil painting techniques including chiaroscuro, imprimatura, mass tone and glazing to explore her subjects. A limited classical palette, primarily focussing on skin tones, results in a controlled, explorative and joyous body of work celebrating colour. Although her subject matter varies, a merging of past and present plays a significant part in all of Tomkys’ work acting as shorthand for our cultural familiarities. Each painting reflecting a cinematic approach to her own interests in dynamic composition, nostalgia, and storytelling. “My aim is to reflect a sense of personality in my paintings by collecting drawn people and inviting you to see what you will. I want my work to muster a familiar happiness, to laugh at the small things and feel a little warmer”.
2025
Friday 17th January - Japanese Woodblock, Laura Boswell
ZOOM event, members only
Laura Boswell is a landscape printmaker working exclusively with linocut and traditional Japanese woodblock. She has trained in Japan, studying woodblock printmaking with master craftsmen, and her work is inspired by Japanese style and design. She is an elected member to the Royal Society of Painter Printmakers. Japanese woodblock printing is a beautiful art that traces its roots back to the eighth century. It uses a unique system of registration, cutting and printing.
Friday 21st February - Critique, Sonia Villiers
Members are invited to bring an artwork for positive and constructive feedback. Sonia won the 2019 Mayor’s Choice Award at the inaugural Invitational Cambridge Art Awards. She has been exhibiting with Cambridge Open Studios for the past 20 years and Cambridge Drawing Society for 14 years, also working as a committee member for both. She was Chair of Cambridge Open Studios in 2021/22. Her work can be viewed in over 25 galleries and shops including Primavera, The Museum of Cambridge, Church Street Gallery, Saffron Walden Tourist Information Centre, Nantais Gallery in Linton and The Old School Gallery, Whittlesford.