Swansea Art Society

Obituary: George Jowett [1916-2009]

We are sad to report the death of George Jowett, who died at the beginning of the week after a long illness.

George was a former chairman of our society and was an active member for over 50 years.

His contribution to the 'Friday' group has been appreciated by all those who attend and he will be sadly missed.

He will be especially remembered for his willingness to help fellow artists and he is pictured here in 2007 at one of our Summer Sketching sessions at Singleton Park, offering his own brand of support and encouragement and passing on his wide experience and knowledge to others.

His funeral service will take place at 2pm on Thursday 17th September, at St. James Church, Uplands and afterwards at Morriston Crematorium.

 

Obituary: Marie Tate [1930-2009]

We were saddened to hear of the loss of another of our members, Marie Tate, who died peacefully on March 12th, 2009.

Her daughter in law, Alida Tate wrote to the Society after Marie's funeral..... "Marie enjoyed spending time with her art work, and loved being part of the Swansea Art Society.  I know that she always considered it a priviledge talking to and spending time with the other Members, sharing ideas and gathering inspiration from them.  'Showing' at the Exhibitions was always a real treat.  On her behalf, I thank you for the many happy years she enjoyed with you all."

Obituary: Queenie Cooper [1921-2009]

It is with sadness that we report the death of Queenie Cooper, who has been a member of the Swansea Art Society for over 20 years.

She was a talented artist, as well as being proficient at flower arranging and embroidery.

She will be remembered by society members for her great sense of humour. We are indebted to her also for her willingness to help out at our organised events over many years, which she always managed in her quiet and unassuming way.

Obituary: Dr. Pip Knight-Jones

We were saddened to hear of the death of one of our members, Phyllis Knight-Jones.

A Marine Biologist by profession, in her younger days Pip used to SCUBA dive for Tube Worms as part of her research and then make detailed pen and ink drawings of them.

These drawings have appeared in several publications and in many exhibitions staged across the world. In the early 1970s she progressed into painting in a wide range of media and genre.

She had solo exhibitions of her artworks throughout Wales, most recently at the Caernarfon & Blaenau Ffestiniog Libraries (2004) and the Ceri Richards Gallery in Swansea University (2005).

She will be remembered fondly by those members who knew her as a quiet, sincere, intelligent and thoughtful person who was driven by a desire to do what is right and good by everyone she came into contact with.

Her funeral is at 11am on Tuesday 20th January at Swansea Crematorium.

Raymond Fry [1928-2008]...

We were saddened to hear the news recently that Raymond had passed away and we extend our sincere condolences to his family and many friends.

He was a well liked and respected member of our society for many years, at both personal and artistic levels.

We are hoping that we can soon add more photographs of his artworks to his online gallery to help us remember his artistic talent.

Obituary: Noire Frame (1933 - 2008)...

News of the sudden death of SAS member Noire Frame was a shock to all those who attend the Friday Group painting sessions.

She will be fondly remembered for her joie de vivre and infectious laughter and her many varied anecdotes about her world-wide travels and experiences.

Her prowess as an artist will also be sadly missed, as all those members who attended her demonstration on 'ink & wash' techniques will agree.

We are in the process of trying to obtain images of more of her artworks to add to her gallery on this site.

Fondly Remembered...

We were saddened to hear of the sudden passing of popular society member Frank Claybrooke and our sincere condolences go out to his widow Beryl, her three daughters and their families.

Frank was one of the presenters of the entertainment component of the recent AGM and he can be seen in this role in the AGM photo gallery of the evening's proceedings.

He will be particularly remembered for his great talent of painting churches and in 2005 he completed a booklet entitled 'Sketching Gower Churches'.

Some of these sensitively-drawn watercolours can be viewed in Frank's Memorial Gallery on this website.

Paddy Griffiths Tribute...

Members were sad to hear recently that Paddy Griffiths had passed away - she will be remembered as a true stalwart of the Society, who had acted tirelessly as Secretary for many years.

She is pictured here (on the right) discussing entries for our 88th Annual Exhibition, held at the Glyn Vivian Art Gallery, with two other society members.

This photograph is reproduced courtesy of the South Wales Evening Post.

Remembering Irene Bache (1901-1999)...

After publishing the blog post last September about Paul Bennet's request for more information about Irene's artworks, we have managed to locate several of her watercolours, which are currently held in private collections.

We are grateful to the respective owners for allowing us permission to photograph them for display in a special memorial gallery on this website - most of the artworks depict scenes of Swansea and the surrounding districts.

Irene, whose self-portrait is featured here, was formerly Head of Art & Craft at Swansea's College of Education and also served for many years as Vice President of the Swansea Art Society.

In Loving Memory...

Two of Swansea Art Society's stalwart members, Arthur Picton and Lawson Oakey, sadly died last month.

Both are remembered with great affection and several Society members were in attendance at their recent funerals.

To ensure that their passion for art is not forgotten, we are in the process of compiling a collection of their artwork images and it is planned to make these available for viewing in special memorial galleries on this website.