Box Art Group is an enthusiastic group of amateur artists of all standards who meet weekly in the Village Hall. You do not need to live in Box to belong and many of our members live in the Stroud five valleys.
Formed in 1983, the Group was inspired by our founder, the late Edward Payne, renowned for his stained glass windows. He had his studio in the village and his love of art in all its aspects was infectious. He encouraged all who joined the Group to pursue an individual style.
The group meets each week from September to June on a Thursday afternoon from 1.45 to 4.15pm, with a much needed tea break at 3.00 pm. We enjoy a variety of activities each week and our members are involved in their own work, portrait painting and still life. During the current Covid 19 pandemic, we strive to provide a safe environment to meet and ask our members to comply with this.
Members usually base their work on photos, sketches or other sources, for example books in the Group’s library using a variety of media, including watercolour, pastel, acrylic, water mixable oils charcoal, pencil or pen and ink. Some members use mixed media to create abstract works. Examples of work can be seen on this web-site. We hold a 3 day annual exhibition in the Village Hall, usually in October. This gives us an opportunity to showcase and sell our work.
We do not struggle to work alone as we have two tutors who work on a two-week cycle and help with advice and constructive criticism. In addition there are regular competitions which inspire adventurous work and creative responses to the challenges set by the tutors!
We are very fortunate to have a Portrait Group, possible the only one in our area. We have a group of regular sitters who are paid a small fee for their time, but we are always on the lookout for more people. If you are interested, please contact the Group at boxartgroupuk@gmail.com
In addition to our weekly sessions, we have recently started outdoor drawing and painting, usually on mornings, subject to weather! A small group meet in a local spot for an hour or two.
The Rainbow is the members’ newsletter where current work can be shown and information on meetings exchanged. This is distributed when needed, but usually every month. This started as a weekly newsletter during lockdown in 2020/21 and was a way to keep members together during the long break from meetings.
Occasionally we have workshops or demonstrations led by visiting tutors, these are usually professional artists who can guide us further in our work. Each year, when the hall is unavailable because of the local pantomime, we have an outside visit and recent visits have been to the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and Nature in Art.
There are currently some vacancies for new members. If you are interested or want to find out more, you can contact us by email
peter@lyonspace.co.uk Pete Smith (Chairman)
jillharwooduk@gmail.com Jill Harwood (Secretary)
Our galleries
We are very fortunate in having been able to capture a selection of the works produced by members of Box Art Group in digital form, and this collection is now available on the Box web site. Some of these may be available for purchase.
To look at some of the work produced by individual members just click on the names below: