Artistic talent of Cookham and Maidenhead to be showcased in 15th arts trail

Painters, etchers and sculptors will showcase their work at the Cookham & Maidenhead Arts Trail 2024, on September 14 and 15.

The trail is free to all and around 46 artists will display their work across 23 venues.

The event, now in its 15th year, aims to promote visual arts and encourage participation, as well as showcase the artistic talent in the area.

Jill Chadwick is chair of the committee and a glass artist on the trail herself.

She told the Advertiser: “Artists get to meet customers and when you meet them face-to-face, you get feedback which is usually very motivational and can influence the direction your work takes sometimes.

“Ultimately, you make some sales and commissions which is even better. For the artists, it’s a good opportunity to be out there and be known for people to enjoy the art.”

Most artwork is hosted in artists’ homes and studios, but multi-artist venues include St Piran’s School, St Luke’s Church and Braywick Leisure Centre.

The event promotes a range of abilities with amateurs and professionals of ‘varying standards and years of experience’.

“We’ve got a whole variety of different backgrounds of people who have come into this space,” Jill added.

While painters work across all mediums – oils, acrylic, watercolours – other materials include glass, textiles, ceramics and jewellery with a wide variety of themes.

Jewellery, ceramics and glass are on display in the foyer cabinet at Norden Farm Centre of the Arts and examples of work by various artists can be seen at Chancellors in Queen Street.

Jill said some visitors use the Cookham & Maidenhead Arts Trail as a ‘jaunt’ to see different places in Maidenhead while others want to ‘experience the whole thing’.

“We get people who are interested in art themselves – perhaps artists interested in engaging with that community," she said.

“Then you get people looking for something specific – whether it’s a gift or homeware – or people that are just curious.

“We get a lot of return visitors which is lovely and by and large, the feedback we always get is that people enjoy it.

“They’re surprised by the quality and the amount of talent in the local area. We always seem to get really good feedback.”

Phyllida Shelley, artist in residence for Friends of Cookham Abbey is once again running creative workshops based on the ongoing excavation of an 8th century monastery near Holy Trinity Church.

Her works based on the archaeological dig by University of Reading students and staff will be on display at the Holy Trinity Parish Centre.

Talking about her methods, she previously told the Advertiser: “I’m not just walking through a field, thinking about how beautiful it is on the surface. I’m walking through it, and thinking about the trenches, and what they found and what else might be there.”

The Cookham & Maidenhead Arts Trail is open 10am to 5pm with refreshments, demonstrations and original work for sale.

The venues span a five-mile radius and are welcome to people of all ages.

The locations and artists can be seen on a trail map online. To view it, visit www.camat.org.uk/art-trail-map