This Special Interest day is being organised by The Arts Society Essex Area at Little Baddow Memorial Hall, Little Baddow, Chelmsford CM3 4TA

 Bookings £40 per person

PROGRAMME

10.00 Registration and Coffee

10.30 Lecture 1

11.30 Comfort Break

11.45 Lecture 2

12.45 – 13.30 Lunch

13.30 Lecture 3

Jamie trained at RADA and then worked for Kent Opera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, the RSC, the BBC and English National Opera. He has directed many new productions for leading UK festivals and our most distinguished musical conservatoires. His new opera productions overseas have appeared as far away as Reykjavik, Malta and Melbourne. Jamies was Associate Director on the original production of the hit musical Miss Saigon in the West End and on Broadway.

For more information and to make a booking please contact Megan Bashir:

E-MAIL meganbashir@gmail.com   Mobile: 07976 602166

This will be divided into two sessions - a lecture in the morning, followed by a break for coffee. Then "Magic at the Tables", with a two course lunch to follow. 

Please see Jean Jacobi at the July lecture if you wish to book and choose your 2 course lunch, which is included in the cost of £42.  

The timings for the Special Interest day are as follows;

10am                        Arrival

10.30 to 11.30        Lecture;  “Now you see him, now you don’t!”

11.30 to 12.00        Comfort break

12.00 to 1pm          Magic hour

1pm                        Bar opens

1.30                        Lunch is served followed by coffee and mints.

Lunch choice (Please pre order with Jean) 

Roast Beef and Yorkshire pudding or Salmon Steak  (plus veg) 

Apple & Blackberry crumble and custard or Hot cherries with Rossi’s ice cream. 

NB; Please let Jean know of any allergies or particular dietary needs well in advance)

The cost is £42.00 per person 

TAS Thames Estuary is organising a Special Interest day at Saxon Hall. 

Members who enjoyed his "Downton to Gatsby " and "The Glamour Years" lectures will be delighted to know that Andrew Prince is returning to the society.

Introducing two new lectures:

A Portrait of Jewels

Inspired by a visit to the National Portrait Gallery, Andrew wondered what had happened to all the spectacular jewellery worn by the Tudor, Stuart & Hanoverian monarchs.  He traces many of these spectacular pieces.

Catherine The Great

Andrew looks at Catherine’s collection of dazzling jewels, pieces of art and sculpture.

Andrew will also bring his collection of ‘Downton Abbey’ jewellery to display, for those of you who did not get a chance to look (and try on!) at the October meeting.

Programme for the day

10.30 am – 11.30 am …. Lecture One

11.30 am – 12 …. Coffee

12 – 1 pm …. Lecture Two

1.30 pm …. Lunch

The price for the day will be £40, which will include morning coffee, a two-course lunch with coffee/tea. (Veg option)

Please contact Jean Jacobi to reserve your space and choose your menu

Only a few places remaining.

 Please pay by bank transfer if possible: The Arts Society Thames Estuary : Account number: 15814860 : Sort code: 30-98-90

TAS Thames Estuary will be holding a Special Interest Day on Wednesday 22nd March 2023, at Saxon Hall. 

Howard Smith will provide a fascinating three-hour exploration of the creation of documentary films, photojournalism & advertising of people and their creativity and behaviour.

This is a nostalgic trip back to that time …within the living memory of many and in the recounted memories of others.  The changes that have taken place in the arts, class and expectations are vast and this Special Interest Day looks at that past and what influenced those changes.

From the breadth of material, there are many film clips from French, Edwardian and Soviet film makers and 1930s documentaries including the Night Mail with the poetry of WH Auden and music by Benjamin Britten and the 1936 Olympic Games. The Golden Era of the Transatlantic Liners with a snapshot of ‘Around The World In 80 Days’ will be the finale.

Tickets are available at £40.00 per person, which includes the two-course lunch followed by tea / coffee and mints. 

Tea and coffee will be available for purchase on arrival, as will drinks from the bar with lunch. 

This Study Day is hosted by Essex Area

Venue : Little Baddow Memorial Hall,   Chelmsford CM3 4TA

Cost    : £38.00 per person

PROGRAMME

• 10.00                  Registration and Coffee
• 10.30                  Lecture 1
• 11.30                  Break
• 11.45                  Lecture 2
• 12.45 - 13.30     Lunch
• 13.30 - 14.30     Lecture 3​

​The Bible gives us very little information about The Three Kings (The Magi) who came from the East bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh for Christ at his birth. All reference to them is housed in the opening chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel, and what information is given is surrounded by ambiguity and approximation. However, by contrast there is no shortage of music, poetry and art that has been inspired by these men, and this study day examines the impact of the Three Kings on the culture of later generations. 

 Please address enquiries to

Mrs Megan Bashir, Kumra Lodge, Kelvedon Hatch, Brentwood CM15 0JX.

Email: meganbashir@gmail.com        

Tel: 01277 374314

This Day of Special Interest is hosted by Essex Area

Venue: Little Baddow Memorial Hall,

Little Baddow, Chelmsford CM34TA

Cost : £38.00 per person

PROGRAMME  

•    10.00: Registration & Coffee   
•    10.30: Lecture             
•    11.30: Break
•    11.45: Lecture 2                         
•    12.45 -13.30: Lunch       
•    13 30 -14.30: Lecture 3

 How did the British view themselves and their subjects in the era of imperialism? How did imperial subjects view the British? This study day considers these questions by exploring a range of images, buildings, objects and art forms from across the British Empire. Beginning with a broad view of the empire and imperial art in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, we will then focus more closely on imperial India, examining the arts and architecture of the capital city of Calcutta, the ‘second city’ of the British Empire throughout the nineteenth century, and look at the life and art of one of India’s cultural giants, Rabindranath Tagore.

 Please address enquiries to: 

Mrs Megan Bashir, Kumra Lodge, Kelvedon Hatch, Brentwood CM15 0JX.

Email: meganbashir@gmail.com         Tel: 01277 374314

A Zoom Study Day hosted by Essex Area : Fee: £12.50 per device

The Marquesses of Bute are an ancient Scots family, whose traditional desire for privacy has made their legacy one of the great secrets of Britain’s heritage. Their ‘stately homes’ in Scotland, England and Wales include Cardiff Castle, Mount Stuart, as well as Dumfries House, the Scottish base of HRH The Prince of Wales. 

The Butes made a vast fortune from the Victorian coal industry, but chose to spend it on the restoration and re-building of their inheritance, creating some of the most spectacular and sometimes quirky interiors of the C19th.  

During the three lectures that make up this study day, Matthew, recently retired Curator of Cardiff Castle, will introduce the Bute family and take us through three centuries of artistic patronage and the architects and craftsmen who delight and amuse.

 Registration From 10.10

Lecture 1           10.30 – 11.30

Lecture 2           11.50 – 12.50

Lunch Break

Lecture 3           1.30 – 2.30

For information on how to register, send us a message using the Contact Us button

The Arts Society West Essex are organising this Special Interest Zoom webinar, and TAS Thames Estuary members are invited. The webinar will commence at 10.30 on 10th March 2021, and will end at 1.00 pm. 

This course covers three hundred years of great classical music from the first enduring opera, Claudio Monteverdi's L'Orfeo (1607) to The Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky (1913). The aim of the course is to give a clear understanding of the essential elements of music, to enable you to listen to classical music with fresh ears and greater understanding. A glossary of key terms will be provided, along with a suggested reading list.

The charge will be £10 for the morning, per device.

If you wish to attend, please email Diana Meteyard at  diana.meteyard@btinternet.com    for further details.

Important - please note that while we hope to present the scheduled lecture programme  for 2020 - 2021, this depends on the status of the Covid-19 outbreak and the restrictions in place at the time.

***Update added January 28th 2021: Given the current Covid-19 situation,  we will clearly be unable to schedule this Special Interest day for March - however we will do our best to arrange  with Julia for it to go ahead when we can - they say that anticipation adds to the eventual enjoyment, so we can expect to enjoy this event even more when it becomes viable. 

A much-awaited return visit by Julia Korner, who will provide a detailed lecture on painting and frame restoration and include a practical session.

ACTUAL DATES 11th January - 17th January INCLUSIVE

This on-line lecture will be available to members to view at any suitable time, during the one-week period, from Monday  11th January 2021 until midnight on Sunday 17th January 2021 via YouTube. This licence has been purchased by TAS Thames Estuary at no extra cost to members.

The lecture shows how 1950’s Britain lived, played, holidayed, worked and the eels they had to eat.

The link for this YouTube lecture has been sent out to TAS Thames Estuary members. We hope you will be able to take advantage of viewing this lecture at your own convenience over the 7-day period.  

Essex Area have arranged a seasonal presentation entitled  ‘Lifting Festive Music for Christmas ‘ with Sandy Burnett from 11.00 to 12.00.

This specially commissioned lecture is free of charge to Arts Society members in Essex to wish you all a Happy Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year.  

 Musician and broadcaster Sandy Burnett will share his selection of well-loved Christmas tunes. There will be a mix of carols, some of the finest classical Christmas music and a special focus on great American holiday tunes. Selections include the following: 

Tchaikovsky                            The Nutcracker (selections)

John Rutter                             Nativity Carol and Wexford Carol or Shepherd’s pipe Carol

Elizabeth Poston                    Jesus Christ the apple tree

Johann Sebastian Bach         Christmas Oratorio (selections)

Mel Torme                              Chestnuts roasting on an open fire

Tony Graham                          Get ready for Christmas (2020)

Eartha Kitt                               Santa Baby

Irving Berlin                             I’m dreaming of a white Christmas (+ online singalong) 

An email has been sent to TAS Thames Estuary members who receive our newsletters.

If you are not on our mailing list, please email thamesestuary@theartssociety.org or use the Contact Us tab from this website to request more information on how to proceed.  

Once you have expressed an interest, you can expect to receive the link a few days before the ‘lecture’. If you have not received it 24 hours before the lecture is due to start, contact us in the same way and we will forward the link.

The Arts Society West Essex have a Special Interest Day entitled ‘Art, Music and Literature in Russian Society’ with Rosamund Bartlett. There will be 2 zoom lectures: 

10.15 to 11.15 ‘Tchaikovsky, Chekhov and Levitan’

Coffee break

12.00 to 13.00 ‘How Chekhov took on Tolstoy 

The charge is £10 for the two lectures.  

TAS Thames Estuary members are welcome to join them.

You can pay by cheque or online transfer - an email giving full details has been sent to members who receive our email newsletters.  If you are not on our mailing list, please contact diana.meteyard@btinternet.com  who  will be able to give you all the information you need. 

This special interest day has been postponed due to the Coronavirus restrictions. We hope to bring it to you in early 2021. 

Many members will remember Julia's popular lecture to our Society in October 2018, "The Beauty of Frames". It was very well received, but Julia left us wanting more, especially concerning the processes and techniques that are used during restoration.

This Special Interest day will help to fill that gap, and I'm sure it will be popular - more details will follow closer to the time.

On this Special Interest day, James Russell explores couples in art.

Successful artists tend to be driven, so what happens when two of them set up home together?

Focusing on 20th century British art, this colourful lecture explores the lives and careers of notable artist couples, including Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, Ben Nicholson and Barbara Hepworth, and Julian Trevelyan and Mary Fedden. It will quickly become clear that, where artists are concerned, there are few rules. Love inspires creativity but so, sometimes, does the fading of love. One artist may begin in the ascendant only to see the other achieve greater success.

The private lives of artist couples are often startling and never dull, and the paintings and sculpture on show here are glorious. 

The day will follow our usual format of coffee available from 10.00 a.m. followed by two lectures before lunch, with a short break in between, and one lecture after lunch. 

Tickets costing £32.00, which includes coffee and lunch,  are available to members and their friends and family. Contact Jean Jacobi for further details by clicking on the 'contact us' tab and sending an email. 

Howard will be speaking about the illustrators of written works including the Rupert Bear and Dan Dare books; Eileen Soper’s Famous Five (Enid Blyton) illustrations; Thomas Henry’s Just William (R. Crompton) illustrations and Gwynedd M. Hudson’s Alice in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll) illustrations.

Tickets went on sale at the July meeting, costing £32 (to include morning coffee and lunch).

Charles Hajdamach is one of the top authorities on glass in the country. He has lectured in America, Canada, South Africa and Ireland and has written extensively on the subject from antique to contemporary studio glass. For 30 years he was in charge of the glass collections at  Broadfield House Glass Museum in Kingswinford, which he established in 1980, and which quickly became one of the top glass museums in the world

In the morning, Charles will speak on “2000 years of Cameo Glass”.

Throughout its 2000 year history is has associations with Caesars, cardinals, royalty, nobility, and a galaxy of brilliant cameo artists.

Apart from a few sporadic attempts to make cameo glass in Iran and China, the Roman process was lost for almost two thousand years until it was revived in the West Midlands town of Stourbridge in 1876 by John Northwood, who successfully carved a copy of the Roman “Portland Vase”. His assistant George Woodall became the greatest cameo glass artist of the late 19th / early 20th Century.

 After lunch, the subject moves on to “Champagne – “The Drink Divine”.

In this history of champagne, Charles deals fully with the industry from its origins, tracing the fluctuating fortunes through four centuries of changing tastes and economics -

• The fascinating social aspects including the champagne riots of 1911
•  its growing popularity in Britain from the 1660’s
•  the many promotional advertisements
• 18th and 19th century paintings showing people enjoying champagne.

He also shows how champagne has consistently maintained its exceptional qualities and eminence due to the integrity, loving care and traditional skills of some of the great owners of the noble houses including Moet and Chandon, veuve Cliquot, Pol Roger and Bollinger.  

The cost of the day including lunch and coffee, will be £30.00 per person.

This Study Day will aim to illustrate the many connections between music and art from the Medieval period to the Eighteenth Century, with a particular focus on Old Master paintings. Although music is often separated from the visual arts in the current day, many great artists were also musicians and took both disciplines extremely seriously. Paintings and sculpture illustrate how music was performed and consumed centuries ago, and allow us to glimpse into the past with both our eyes and ears.

As part of this lecture several pieces of music will be performed live on a lute.

As usual there will be three sessions, two before lunch and one in the afternoon.

1. Medieval to Renaissance

This lecture will explore the changes that occurred during the late Medieval period to the Renaissance, and how the rise of Protestantism and Humanism affected the purpose of music in art, religion and society. Paintings by Van Eyck, Holbein, Titian and countless others that feature musicians and musical performance will help us to navigate this period in both northern and southern Europe.

2. Baroque

Beginning in Caravaggio's Rome and ending in Vermeer's Netherlands, this section will deal with the various approaches that artists and musicians took to capture the emotional energies of the Seventeenth Century. Musical scenes feature heavily in both Catholic and Protestant art, yet their appearance often represented drastically different themes.

3. Music and Painting in the Age of Enlightenment

Despite the prominence of Opera in the Eighteenth Century, it was during this period that music making became a truly widespread activity in the home as well as the court. The increasing number of paintings, portraints and drawings of musicians and music - making from this century provide us with an unrivalled opportunity to investigate the significance of music in the age of reason.

First Lecture :  Medical Gold 

From Ancient Egypt to the Nobel Prize……

From earliest times man has linked the lustre of gold with the warm, life giving light of the sun.

This lecture illustrates four thousand years of the history of gold in medicine. The ancient Egyptians used it for its magico-religious properties.  Medieval alchemists strived to produce it as a source of eternal youth.

Today it is a substance used in medical instrumentation, investigation and cutting-edge therapies.

This talk illustrates how artists such as Rogier Van Der Weyden, Joseph Wright and Gustav Klimt, as well as numerous goldsmiths and instrument makers have defined medicine’s relationship with this most coveted of all the elements.

 Second Lecture: Doctor…what is wrong with me?

 This lecture illustrates how artists such as Ghirlando, Holbein and Barbara Hepworth have depicted the diagnostic journey of medicine.

 Third lecture:….A Medical "Antiques Roadshow" style quiz ….with audience participation

Tickets will cost £30.00, which includes coffee and lunch.

There’s a common belief that art crimes are carried out by elegant thieves who covet the objects that they take. This is a misconception. These lectures will examine what drives thieves to steal art. In most cases it’s for money. In the case of the Nazis, it was not just a power play, but a way to destroy a culture. We will look at the many different ways in which thieves steal art and what happens to the objects once they are returned.

This illustrated lecture charts the story of tea drinking since the 18th century. It was during the 18th century that the rituals of tea drinking were established. Tea drinking was both a private and public affair. The painter Hogarth is famous for recording middle class life and his images show us exactly how tea was drunk at the time. In the 19th century the paraphernalia associated with tea drinking mushroomed, from infusers to strainers and drip-catchers. Manufacturers had to cater for a mass market. The cafe boom of the late 19th century produced Miss Cranston's Teashops in Glasgow, designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Lyons Corner houses. All the large department stores had tearooms. At the seaside one enjoyed the tea-dance, while at sea the great transatlantic passenger liners, the Mauritania and Aquitania and later the Queen Mary were floating palaces, where everything stopped for tea at 4pm. During the twenties and thirties taking tea in style was a way of life. After a hard day shopping nothing was nicer than the relaxing atmosphere of a Lyons cafe and a nice cup of tea! This lecture combines social history with fashion and interior decorating. A wonderful selection of images will demonstrate the elegance of taking tea from the 18th century to the 1950s. 

Study Day tickets are all sold and a waiting list exists!

The City of London Corporation has been commissioning and acquiring art for nearly 350 years and now owns a vast and diverse collection. This talk covers the varied collection of works in the Guildhall Art Gallery and elsewhere in the City, along with the numerous sculptures on display in the street, and some of the rarely seen hidden treasures in the ancient City Livery Company halls. A chance to learn about the treaures of the City of London, and the wonderful Medieval Guildhall, from freelance lecturer Ian Swankie, who is a London tour guide, gallery guide and lecturer.

This is a full day at the Rochford Freight House, with lunch included. Tickets cost £30.00. and are available on our normal lecture days, or you can contact us on info@tedfas.org to find out more.

AN ESSEX AREA SPECIAL INTEREST DAY

Wednesday 28 September 2016 at Little Baddow Memorial Hall, Little Baddow, CM3 4TA.

In three sessions we will explore painterly but nonetheless moving aspects of the Great War and its memorials

Ticket price: £30 per head including lunch and all drinks.

For more information and contact details, please follow the link below to the page on the Essex Area Website

http://www.essex.nadfas.net/events/essex-area-day-special-interest-caroline-holmes-wednesday-28-september-2016-little-baddow

Plenty of local interest here!

2016 is the 1000th Anniversary of this Battle and Dr Newton argues that it is a more important date than 1066!  He last visited TEDFAS in 2006, speaking on the King of Prittlewell – Saxon Burial when he was part of the Time Team television programme on the discovery of our Saxon King.

Tickets cost £30.00 each, which as usual includes lunch and coffee.

Tickets for this study day are £30.00. which includes lunch and coffee.

From Shakespeare to the Royal Shakespeare Company Tickets costing £28.00, inclusive of lunch and coffee. Contact us to find out if any are still available

We will explore the fascinating history of the British theatre which for centuries has been at the heart of our life and culture. 1. BEGINNINGS - Medieval Mystery plays - The first theatres in Shoreditch - The Globe, 1599 - William Shakespeare and his contemporaries - Inigo Jones court masques 2. FROM RESTORATION TO VICTORIAN - Charles II, Nell Gwynn and restoration drama - The life and career of David Garrick - The growth of Theatre Royals outside London - Fairground Theatres and tsrolling players 3. FROM THE VICTORIANS TO TODAY - Penny gaffs and bloodtubs - The rowdy Old Vic and others - The life and career of Sir Henry Irving - Popular drama (music hall, circus, radio and television) - 20th Century theatre : the National Theatre, RSC and others