New English Art Club | Events Programme 2025

The New English Art Club presents a series of special events to complement the NEAC Annual Exhibition 2025:

Thursday 12 June, 2pm to 5pm

Neil Pittaway will be in the gallery in the afternoon where he will demonstrate watercolour painting. There will be plenty of opportunity to ask questions and to talk to Neil about his work.

Neil Pittaway was born in Wakefield, Yorkshire in 1973. He studied at Cheltenham School of Art from 1993-96, the University of Bradford from 1996-1998, the Royal Academy Schools, London, 1998-2001 and the University of Huddersfield, 2003-04. Neil is a Member of the New English Art Club (NEAC), the Royal Watercolour Society (RWS), the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (RE), Associate Member of the Alpine Club, London, and an exhibiting Member of Leeds Fine Artists (LFA). His work is in public collections including the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford; Bankside Gallery, RWS & RE Collection, London; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; and more. In Neil’s work travel, discovery, the Enlightenment, Gothic revival, satire and historical heritage, are used to create a labyrinth of visual histories.

Friday 13 June, 10:30am to 4:30pm

An opportunity to join Robert E Wells as he embarks on sketchbook studies and oil vignettes throughout the duration of the day. Feel free to participate in the activities, or come along for a chat!

Robert E Wells is a Yorkshire-born artist, known for his cityscape paintings as well as rural landscapes and figurative works. He finds inspiration in the unusual aspects of everyday life, encouraging the viewer to create their own narrative interpretations of his often ambiguous and sometimes conflicting imagery. Member of the New English Art Club and the Royal Society British Artists, he regularly exhibits his work in solo shows. His book, Robert E. Wells In Perspective, was published in 2018.

Saturday 14 June, 1pm to 4pm

Spend an afternoon in the gallery watching James Bland paint a series of portrait sketches.

James Bland is a graduate of Canterbury Christ Church University and has received numerous prizes including the Visitors' Choice Award in the 2014 Threadneedle Prize, and the Doreen McIntosh Prize at the NEAC Annual Exhibition. He has works held in many public and private collections both at home and abroad.

Sunday 15 June, 1pm to 4pm

Watch Laura Smith doing a three-hour demonstration of painting flowers in oils. From paint mixing to brush handling, Laura will be delighted to answer any questions you might have about how she tackles this fleeting subject matter.

Laura Smith is a London based painter and one of the newest members of the NEAC. She studied at the Slade and the Royal Drawing School. She teaches at Heatherley School of Fine Art and is passionate about the benefits of drawing from great paintings as a way of unlocking their secrets.

Monday 16 June, 1pm to 4pm

A three-hour demo by Andrew James which will include some preparatory drawing beforehand, and an hour's Q & A after the demo.

Based in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, Andrew James was winner of the Carroll Foundation Award in 1998, BBC's Star Portraits in 2005, the Changing Faces Award in 2013 and the Ondaatje Portrait Prize in 2024. Andrew was elected to the Royal Society of Portrait Painters in 2002 and its Vice President in 2008. He was elected a Member of the New English Art Club in 2017.

Tuesday 17 June, 1:30pm to 4:30pm

Join Julia Hawkins in the gallery as she sketches a portrait in oils.  

Julia Hawkins is a figurative artist based in Surrey, her modern impressionist style is well-recognised and works are sought after by collectors both in the UK and internationally. A Member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters and the New English Art Club, she is a regular exhibitor at the Mall Galleries as well as in private galleries. Her work has been selected for the Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize and Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Prize. Julia also shows her works with Chelsea Art Society and locally where she lives. Julia is as an experienced art teacher and in recent years has taught public courses at the Royal Academy, the St Ives School of Painting in Cornwall and the New English Art Club. She is a guest tutor at The Art Academy London, New School of Art, Penn Art School and Chiswick Art School.

Wednesday 18 June, 1pm to 4pm

Listen to Peter Clossick talk about processes, aspects of visual language, and his practice, as he draws a figure model in the gallery.  

Peter Clossick studied at Camberwell School of Art and Post Graduate at Goldsmiths. He is also a member and past president of The London Group. His paintings engage on the encounter between viewer and object as a conversation, through scale, texture and form to prompt an immediate visceral response. He has exhibited widely and was recently runner up in both The Lynn Painter Stainers and Columbia Threadneedle prizes.

Friday 20 June, 1pm and 3pm

Julie Held will give guided tours of the exhibition throughout the afternoon.

Colour is central to Julie Held’s practice, expressing the poignancy of her lifelong preoccupation with the powerful yet fragile cycle of life. She works with traditional materials – drawing and painting being the mainstay. Her working methods are various, including working from memory and imagination, the basis of which is drawn from things observed. She studied at Camberwell College of Arts and the Royal Academy Schools, and she has exhibited widely in Europe.

Grid images (left to right) by Neil Pittaway, Robert E Wells, James Bland, Laura Smith, Andrew James, and Julia Hawkins