New English Art Club | Events Programme 2026
- - Times vary | Mall Galleries
Free with gallery admission, no booking required (unless stated otherwise)
EVENTS PROGRAMME
The New English Art Club presents a series of special events to complement the NEAC 140th Anniversary Exhibition:
Exhibition Tour with Louise Balaam
Thursday 11 June, 12pm to 1pm
Louise Balaam NEAC will give a guided tour of the exhibition at lunchtime.
About the Artist
Louise Balaam is an abstract landscape artist who lives and works in Kent. Her work is heavily inspired by an emotional response to the natural world. Her process is to draw outside, soaking up the experience of being in the environment, and then take that inspiration back to the studio to paint, aiming for a direct and intuitive response to the experience of being in the landscape.
Watercolour Painting Demo with Neil Pittaway
Thursday 11 June, 2pm to 5pm
Neil Pittaway NEAC will be in the gallery in the afternoon where he will demonstrate watercolour painting: 'The way I capture landscape in watercolour'.
There will be plenty of opportunity to ask questions and talk to Neil about his work.
About the Artist
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; St. Paul’s Cathedral Library, London; Guild Hall Art Library, London; The Arts Club, Dover Street, London; the D.H. Lawrence Museum and Birthplace, Nottingham; the Indian Institute of Contemporary Art, Mumbai, India; and H.M. The Queen, the Royal Collection Trust and The Collection of Heritage Malta. In Neil’s work travel, discovery, the Enlightenment, Gothic revival, satire and historical heritage, are used to create a labyrinth of visual histories.
Still Life Painting Demo with Abigail Burton
Friday 12 June, 1pm to 4pm
An opportunity to join Abigail Burton as she creates a still life painting in the gallery.
There will be plenty of opportunity to ask questions and talk to Abigail about her work.
About the Event
Abigail Burton will give a painting demonstration exploring the expressive and abstract potential of drapery. Working from direct observation of a simple still life involving fabric, Abigail will discuss how drapery can suggest unseen forces, emotions, create ambiguity and atmosphere, and act as a powerful tool for abstraction: grouping shapes, simplifying forms, and manipulating edges in ways that echo peripheral vision.
Abigail's approach will be responsive and perceptual, beginning with large abstract shapes of carefully mixed colour and an emphasis on key edges and the overall visual rhythm of the image, before gradually developing the forms into this structure.
Still Life Painting Demo with John Dobbs
Saturday 13 June, 1pm to 4pm
John Dobbs NEAC SWLA will be in the gallery in the afternoon where he will demonstrate his unique style of capturing a still life.
There will be plenty of opportunity to ask questions and talk to John about his work.
About the Artist
John Dobbs works mainly in oils, either direct from life or from drawings. He trained as a Draughtsman in electrical engineering before becoming a full-time artist in 2003. He was awarded the NEAC Drawing Scholarship in 2012, and was elected a member of the NEAC in 2015. He was also elected a member of the Society of Wildlife Artists in 2019, having shown with them for the past three years. He has shown with the Royal Institute of Oil Painters since 2010 as well as the Royal Society of British Artists. He has also previously exhibited in The Discerning Eye and Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize.
Portrait Painting Demo with James Bland
Monday 15 June, 2pm to 5pm
Spend the afternoon in the gallery watching James Bland paint a series of portrait sketches.
About the Artist
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. He has written a book, Portrait Painting: Abstraction, Storytelling and Mood, published by Crowood Press on 9th June that is available to buy here.
Oil Painting Demo with Jason Line
Tuesday 16 June, 2pm to 5pm
Jason Line NEAC will be in the gallery in the afternoon where he will demonstrate his unique style of painting a still life in oils.
There will be plenty of opportunity to ask questions and talk to Jason about his work.
About the Artist
Jason Line is a painter and has exhibited widely in the UK and abroad. Solo exhibitions include ‘From the Studio’ at MARCH Fine Art, San Francisco in 2021 and ‘Setting the Scene’ at 155a Gallery, London in 2023. He will be having a second exhibition at 155a gallery later this year. Open exhibitions include the BP Portrait Award, National Portrait Gallery, The Discerning Eye, The Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize, The Royal Society of Portrait Painters and The London Group. He has exhibited with the New English Art Club (NEAC ) for many years and was made a member in 2021.
John Nash: The Landscape of Love and Solace
NEAC Annual Lecture 2026
Tuesday 16 June, 6pm to 8pm
Lecture start: 6.30pm
Andy Friend, the giver of this year’s NEAC Annual Lecture, has written a well researched book on the life of John Nash entitled The Landscape of Love and Solace. John and his brother Paul, both early NEAC members, will be the subject of Andy’s lecture, in which he will rescue John from the unfair tendency to consign him to Paul’s shadow. Despite some stylistic similarities and a temporary overlap of concerns during the war, they are very different artists, as Andy will make clear... Read More
How to Book
Tickets £10, or Free to Friends of the NEAC and Mall Galleries
Tickets include free admission to the NEAC Annual Exhibition 2026 (normally £7) and a complimentary drink
Still Life Painting with Michael Weller
Thursday 18 June, 1pm to 4pm
Michael Weller NEAC will be in the gallery in the afternoon where he will demonstrate his approach to still-life oil paintings.
About the Artist
Michael Weller studied librarianship in Manchester and realised early on he didn’t want to be a librarian. Life-drawing cheered him up. Later he did a degree in Fine Art and studied portrait-painting at Lavender Hill Studios and drawing and painting with the New English Art Club. In 2015 he won the Le Clerc Fowle Medal for a group of outstanding paintings at the Royal Institute of Oil Painters’ annual exhibition, and the Winsor & Newton Award for a painting at the NEAC Annual Exhibition.
Sketchbook Studies and Painting Demo with Robert E Wells
Saturday 20 June, 1pm to 4pm
An opportunity to join Robert E Wells NEAC RBA as he embarks on sketchbook studies and oil vignettes throughout the afternoon.
Feel free to participate in the activities, or come along for a chat!
About the Artist
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 of British Artists, he regularly exhibits his work in solo shows. His book, The Return to Zoar, will be published in November.
