Dear Members,

First of all I should like to wish you all a very happy and prosperous New Year.

Our Christmas party was, once again, a great success. I think that everyone will agree that it was a very enjoyable and memorable evening, thanks to the delicious food provided by Denise and the wonderful entertainment provided so selflessly by all involved. We give our thanks to everyone who gave their time so willingly once again.

No sooner has Christmas passed and we are starting to prepare for the Easter Exhibition. With this in mind, please find enclosed the Rules for the Exhibition, an Entry Form, four Labels and Reminder Notes. The Reminder Notes are to be given to your friends to remind them of the date and time of the Exhibition.

We will also have Car Stickers and Posters available in Thie Ellyn shortly; please can everyone take a few to display in cars, local shops, supermarkets, waiting rooms and wherever else you can think of. This provides excellent advertising for the Exhibition all around the Island. If you are unable to get to Thie Ellyn, please give me a ring and I will post some out to you.

Please bear in mind that we MAY have to hold back one exhibit due to space restrictions. When completing your Entry Form, please place your exhibits in order of preference. When you hand your exhibits in, please be prepared to add your name to the rota for manning the Exhibition. This is good fun and a great way to get to know other Society members. Remember that this is your Exhibition, please try to help out for at least one session.

Handing in Day will be on Saturday 4th April between 10am and 4pm at the Villa Marina. Again we will require plenty of volunteers to help with the hanging. The Exhibition will run from Thursday 9th to Friday 17th April. Collection of unsold paintings will be from 1.15pm to 4pm on the 17th.

Our raffle prize this year will be very kindly donated by our own Vice President David Byrne, and we are very grateful to him.

The Artist, in Nelson Street, the Art Gallery in Bucks Road and the Creative Shop in Strand Street, all offer a 10% discount on materials and framing to members, just show your membership card.

In preparation for the exhibition we will be holding a ‘Painting Party’ on Sunday 22nd March to tidy up and paint the exhibit peg boards. Everyone is encouraged to come along at 9.30am to lend a hand! Please remember to bring your own paint brushes or rollers and we will provide the tea and biscuits.

We are currently in the process of arranging our Summer Painting Week and full details will be issued as soon as they are available.

If anyone has still not paid their annual subscription, can they please send their payments or completed Standing Order forms to the Membership Secretary, Mr Stuart Houghton, 9 Ashlar Drive, Union Mills, IM4 4LJ. Use of the Standing Order forms makes it impossible to forget to renew your subscription and also reduces the amount of work required by our Treasurer and Membership Secretary.

We are currently updating the Membership database and would like to include member’s e-mail addresses if available. Can members with e-mail addresses please visit our website www.isleofmanartsociety.com and send a website contact e-mail to Mr Stuart Houghton so that we can collect these e-mail addresses easily.

So get those paintings finished, we look forward to seeing you all at the Exhibition, if not before.

Kind regards,

Jackie Kelly (Hon Sec) Tel: 407402 / 824817