Coffee, tea and ?lino cuts

I’m breaking with convention today. This might come as a shock, but I’m not going to write about food. Today I’m going to write about art.

I’ve been helping to promote the first Cookham and Maidenhead Arts Trail in recent months and the event finally took place over the weekend. Completely organised by the artists exhibiting at the trail, the Cookham and Maidenhead Arts Trail came into being when a cooperative of like-minded artists felt there was enough creativity in the area to warrant a local trail. There are trails in Wokingham, Buckinghamshire, Henley but not one for Maidenhead.

I went to see some of the artists on the weekend and I was so impressed by the quality of work and pleasure that I got from going around and visiting and talking, drinking tea and eating biscuits with these women who I’d met only once before. Seeing them in their homes, displaying their art and talking about their work was a splendid way to spend my Saturday morning.

The coverage in the Maidenhead Advertiser was great, and the feedback from the artists is that the weekend was a success.

I bought a few things from Beryl Tilley and her daughter Sara Muzira who both work in the lino cut medium which is one of my favourite styles. I was very tempted to buy one of Sarah Luton’s still life pieces inspired by allotments and of course there’s Harriet Brittaine’s delightful still life pieces and her 100 paintings in 100 days project which has resulted in some really striking work.

All in all a great weekend, I met some wonderful people, some truly gifted people and they’re all right here in my neighbourhood. So let’s raise a piece of cake to congratulate the success of the very first Cookham and Maidenhead Arts Trail!