Meetings
Friday Evening Meetings
The meetings are held on the last Friday of the month. Start time is 7.00pm for chat and refreshments, followed by a demonstration of technique by an artist, a talk, a guided practical session or an opportunity to have artworks appraised.
Admission is free to BAS members. Visitors and guests are welcome – the entry fee is £5.00.
Come & Paint – Thursday Afternoon Meetings
A friendly, informal group meet up in the Bridport Fellowship Hall every 2nd Thursday afternoon of the month. 2.00pm – 4.00pm. Members bring along some art to work on or different materials to show colleagues. There will be a guest tutor or life drawing model for some sessions. Light refreshments are included.
2026 Prices for Come and Paint
Visitors and guests are welcome.
Standard session: Members: £4.00, non-members £6.00
Tutor led session/life model: Members £6.00, non-members £10.00
If anyone wishes to join the Society on the day of either meeting, they will be eligible for discounts.
Meetings Venue
Meetings are held in the Bridport Fellowship Hall, 4&5 Kings Square, East Street, Bridport, DT6 3QE.
The hall is located to the rear of East Street car park and offers convenient parking. It is fully accessible. Venue details >
Annual General Meeting
The AGM is held in March. The formal business of the AGM is combined with a social gathering. The Chairman’s annual report and the audited financial accounts are presented, and the officers and committee for the coming year are appointed. All members are invited to attend the AGM and have the opportunity to discuss topics of interest with the committee.
The Society holds a competition for the John Marlow Memorial Prize: members are invited to take to the AGM a work of art on a pre-defined subject and submissions are judged by a local artist.
Meetings Programme 2026
8 January 2026
Thursday Afternoon
Come & Paint – Life Drawing session with professional model Sophie Larter
There will be several timed poses with this clothed model.
Read more about Sophie: Sophie Larter Bio. PDF
Please bring own equipment and materials. If using charcoal or pastels, ensure that furnishings and carpet are adequately protected.
It is best to arrive a little earlier to allow for set up.
30 January 2026
Friday Evening
Art Appraisal with Trudi Ochiltree
BAS members are invited to bring along a piece of work they have completed or are working on for a helpful critique by Trudi.
This is always a well attended and popular event with great interaction with members.
27 February 2026
Friday Evening
A talk/demo by Gill Silversides -“It’s not what I expected!”
Share Gill’s artistic journey through glass! An inspirational talk which will encourage artists to be more adventurous in their practice – this may not necessarily mean a move to working with glass but perhaps to adopt a different approach to what can be achieved in their chosen medium.
Gill will talk about her latest work with glass and bring along examples. This will be an introduction to the workshop she will be holding in March.
If after the meeting people feel inspired, they can sign up for her workshop. Go to the Workshop page for further details.
Read more about what to expect along with a brief bio: BAS Gill Silversides Talk and Bio>
12 March 2026
Thursday Afternoon
Come & Paint – Life Drawing session with professional artists’ model Sophie Larter
There will be several timed poses with this clothed model.
Read more about Sophie: Sophie Larter Bio. PDF
Please bring own equipment and materials. If using charcoal or pastels, ensure that furnishings and carpet are adequately protected.
It is best to arrive a little earlier to allow for set up.
27 March 2026
Friday Evening
AGM and Marlow Prize Competition
The Theme for the 2026 Marlow Prize : A Different View/ Perspective
BAS members are free to interpret the theme in any way they choose!
Members are invited to bring along their submissions – one per person. Prizes are awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd choices.
This year’s guest judge: Trudi Ochiltree. Trudi is an experienced artist and tutor and ran a successful workshop for BAS in 2025. Trudi Ochiltree Artist and Art Tutor, Lyme Regis
View all three of last year’s winning pictures in the Gallery
9 April 2026
Thursday Afternoon
Come & Paint – a tutored session with Brian Smith – Morandi’s Magic
Known as “the monk”, Giorgio Morandi was a reclusive artist who never left his native town of Bologna and rarely ventured outside his house. Perhaps because of this, he produced the most beautiful and intimate still life paintings using the most ordinary objects often found lying around in his studio. Using his ideas of limited palette and sensitivity to form we will explore how we too can make the ordinary into the extraordinary and bring a reflective nature to our art. Bring any materials and an open mind!
Read more about the session: Morandi’s magic with Brian Smith. PDF>
Find out about today’s tutor and BAS member: Brian Smith Bio. PDF>
24 April 2026
Friday Evening
A talk/demo by Stephen Yates
More information to follow.
Read more about Stephen: Stephen Yates Bio. PDF
Workshop in June
14 May 2026
Thursday Afternoon
Mount cutting demo with Charles T Maher
“I started making my own mounts soon after I started painting as I could easily get ready made frames from a shop in Birmingham, so I bought myself a basic mount cutter and over the years I have upgraded to the one I have now with which I can cut 40” boards.
For this session, people could bring in paintings and I would cut the mount to suit, I will probably be able to cut about 3-4 mounts at an approximate cost of £5.50 per mount, which will include tape & stiff paper backing, so the mount will be frame ready.”
For this session, the mount size will be 25 inches x 16 inches so the pictures have to be smaller that this.
BAS will email members nearer the time about how best to proceed in order that Charles is not inundated with requests!
Read more about Charles: Charles T Maher Bio.PDF
11 June 2026
Thursday Afternoon
Come & Paint – a tutored session with Karen Hodgson – Chinese Brush Painting
Karen will demonstrate the technique by painting some simple flowers, bamboo and insects.
If some member have previous experience of brush painting, she will add to the complexity of these topics.
Attendees will practise loading and controlling the brush, as it is not the same as water colour painting; also double and treble loading the brushes
with both colour and ink.
Read more about Karen: Karen Hodgson Bio.PDF
Materials and equipment – what you will need to bring: Karen Hodgson Chinese Brush Painting – materials and equipment
26 June 2026
Friday Evening
A talk/demo by Jack Dickson – Portraiture
Jack has participated in Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year in 2020, appeared on the BBC series Make it At Market in 2023. Most recently he took part in series four of BBC One’s Extraordinary Portraits with Bill Bailey in which he painted Rizwan Javed MBE.
Read about Jack’s art practice and more, here: Jack Dickson Bio. PDF
As a follow up to this demo, Jack will be holding a full day’s workshop for BAS in September. Go to the Workshops page> for more information.
9 July 2026
Thursday Afternoon
Come & Paint – a tutored session with Trisha Hayman – Natural History Watercolour
More information to follow
31 July 2026
Friday Evening
Cathy Taylor – demo – Seascape paintings with acrylics and/or oils
More Information to follow
10 September 2026
Thursday Afternoon
Come & Paint. Part 2 of Stephen Yates Workshop
25 September 2026
Friday Evening
A talk by Claire Nuttall – Working with Dinosaurs!
More information to follow.
8 October 2026
Thursday afternoon
Come & Paint. A practical session with Tracy Linwood – ‘Pumpkins’
More information to follow.
30 October 2026
Friday Evening
A talk by Ben Molyneux – Manifesting Life Through Art
When Ben started to manifest his novels into his life he realised the power his creativity had over his life. So, when Ben started to paint he knew the potential and pitfalls at his fingertips. When his paintings started to manifest around him, Ben took a new approach to his art, to work with it to create harmony in his life but also to understand his life through his artwork.
In this talk, Ben will share his story of manifesting through both painting and writing and how to unlock your creativity, free yourself from preconceived ideas about how to be successful as an artist and give you an idea of what your art is telling you about yourself.
Read more about Ben: Ben Molyneux. Bio. PDF
12 November 2026
Thursday Afternoon
Come & Paint – Life drawing session with professional artists’ model, Sophie Larter
There will be several timed poses with this clothed model.
Read more about Sophie: Sophie Larter Bio. PDF
Please bring own equipment and materials. If using charcoal or pastels, ensure that furnishings and carpet are adequately protected.
It is best to arrive a little earlier to allow for set up.
27 November 2026
Xmas Social
The committee extends an invitation to all members of Bridport Art Society to attend the Christmas Party in Bridport from 7.00pm. Pop in and meet fellow members, have a drink and a mince pie (alternative nibbles also available!)
Venue: The Fellowship Hall
Come and Paint in 2026
Summary of dates:
2026
- 8 January
- 12 February
- 12 March
- 9 April
- 14 May
- 11 June
- 9 July
August Break
- 10 September
- 8 October
- 12 November
- 10 December
Updates will be published in the BAS Newsletter which goes out to members. If you have any queries, please use the Contact Us form to get in touch.
