“I will never be a Picasso but enjoy what I do and feel I have developed with experience over time,” says Bernard Downes, talking about his experience of attending regular Art Club classes at Westbury Arts Centre.
Westbury Art Club is offered twice a week, Mondays and Wednesday afternoons. It is an untutored class, running through the year. It is ideal for those with some experience who want the space and time to do their own art, in whatever medium they wish, such as watercolours, oils, acrylics, inks etc, using their own materials.
Bernard took early retirement from his role as a financial advisor in 2016 and had not done any art before then. He took art classes run by Milton Keynes Council and an oil painting course at Westbury. He enjoyed both of these so when he saw the Art Club advertised in 2022 he decided to go along,
Bernard says that what he particularly enjoys about the Art Club is that the people are friendly, the setting is relaxed and conducive to creating art, and it is nice to be able to dedicate a specific time to art.
His advice to others thinking about going to Art Club is: “Give it a go. Art club is unstructured which may not suit everybody but equally may suit others and allows each person to create their art in totally different styles.”
Having been retired for seven years now he advises:“ When you retire is important to try new things, stay active and stretch yourself mentally and physically. Travel, explore and look forward to the future rather than dwell on the past.”
Attending the Westbury Art Club is a relatively easy and low cost way to try something new and stretch yourself throughout the year. Find out about the next sessions at: https://www.westburyartscentre.org.uk/workshops
