2ND OCTOBER 2025 - EYE ARTS GUILD AGM

As you can see, the turnout for the AGM was not high this year.  Only 15 members came, not a great number out of the total membership, but all our newest members came, and participated in the Show and Tell.
We are saying 'Goodbye' to a number of committee members this year, not that they are leaving EAG, just the committee, after years of diligent service.  Ian C, Harriet and Sally T are stepping down.  Lesley has completed her three years as Chairman, and now becomes vice-Chairman, to assist Maggie-Anne (unanimously 

voted in) as the new Chairman.  Jackie was elected Secretary, and Avril has become the new Membership Secretary. 
Lesley gave us her final Chairman's Report, which will be available to read on the Chairman's Messages page shortly. 
There was a review of the Summer Programme just past and the new Winter Programme was discussed.  Members are invited to make suggestions for the 2026 Summer Programme; a form will be available on the noticeboard at meetings. 
Finances are healthy, but it has been identified that using SumUp (the credit card machine) for paying for workshops or weekly fees is not economic, so members will be asked for those to be paid for in cash.  Sumup can be used for annual subscriptions and for payments for pictures and cards at exhibitions.
There was some discussion of exhibitions, both those we held this year and future possibilities, which are under discussion by the Committee and the Exhibitions sub-committee.
Finally, our new Chairman, Maggie-Anne, gave us a Chairman's Project to be delivered at the Christmas Party, 'JOYFUL' to counter the dark and gloomy news from around the world.  For the benefit of new members who have not participated in a Chairman's Project before now, the project does not have to be completed, but is presented with an explanation of the thinking behind the work, and maybe workings leading to it, on the designated date.

Now we move on to the 'Show and Tell'.  Lesley went first, with a landscape of The Pennings in Eye, on a day with a constantly changing sky.

Next came Ian C. Following Andrew Harrington's pastels workshop in the last Winter Programme, Ian has started using pastels again following a 20 year break.  He brought in some examples of what he has done this summer, most with his signature angry skies - quite difficult to find those this summer!

Then Sally P showed us a group of Gelli prints she has worked on, with first prints and 'ghost' prints and she talked about the difference between them.

Josie had a full sketchbook to go through...

Now we come to the first of our new members present, Barry.  He showed us a labour of love that has taken him over a year to compose.  It is a collage of Leiston Abbey.  The walls of the abbey are made from newsprint, which is extremely effective, and the detail of the vegetation in the foreground works very well. 

Angela had two examples of oil and cold wax paintings, showing the two different types of subject she has been working on.  The first is called 'The Last Supper', the right number of people, but no food, to reflect the news from  terrible conflicts around the world.  The second is a landscape, catching the light in a field with a view beyond.

Frances has made a copy of a gilded painting she sold, featuring peacock butterflies, and a painting from a photograph of a deer and bird, with her own additions of printed ferns and surroundings.

Diana has not been able to participate in person in the summer programme, but very inventively, has used Street Scene and photographs from Country Life to create collages of some of the summer's venues.  Below are Pulham Market, Felixtstowe Ferry and The Handyman in Eye. 

Jackie came across this wonderful scene in Pulham St Mary, beautifully rendered in watercolour.

Here is the work shown by Laurens, our newest member.  The first two are copies, some time ago,  of portraits by other artists, and the third is a portrait of Laurens's son.  They are all in oils.

Ian J showed us the sketches he has produced during the summer at lots of different venues; Flixton, The Laburnhams, Thrandeston, Orford, Felixstowe, Bungay, to name a few.  Finally, his granson, with a huge carp that must have been quite something to land!

Having seen Maggie-Anne's trees full of fruit last week, here are an apple and a pear, beautifully drawn in pastel, shiny and delicious.

Avril brought us two works.  The first is a textile piece, using a canvas from the 2023 Chairman's Project 'Where on Earth are we Going?' that depicted a turtle snared plastic.  The second uses imagery from the Flixton engine 'graveyard' and employs gilding very strikingly

Harriet wasn't able to join us, but sent a sketch, done at the end of a day at Orford, in ink, which she completed in 10 minutes, and is very effective.

I spent some time earlier in the summer making abstract collages for an exhibition, using gelli prints,  the sheets I had rolled my brayer on and magazine and newspaper images.  This was the last one I did. It is titled 'Out of the Trees'

Next week the winter programme starts.  Jackie will be in charge of the Still life and model.  Don't forget to check the 'Stop Press' before setting out, just in case...
Blogger to be confirmed - check Stop Press for that as well.