Monthly Meetings
Our monthly meetings are held at the Athenaeum, Boundary Terraces, off Campground Road, Newlands on the last Thursday of every month, excluding December. The meetings start at 7pm. Entry is R10 for members and R20 for non-members. Our library is open from 5.50pm to 6.50pm. Apart from interesting talks, demonstrations and competitions, we offer refreshments, coffee and tea afterwards, where artists can chat and share ideas with one another.
Future meetings
27 Nov – Eleanor Palmer competition and year end function
Previous Meetings
30 October 2025
Our monthly meeting on Thursday, 30 October was a burst of creativity and colour! We had the chance to test out Dala’s new Archival Canvas — made with Belgian pine and 380g linen — along with their Studio Acrylics, a pigment-rich, full-bodied paint with an exciting range of vibrant colours.
Everyone got hands-on, experimenting, laughing, and creating some truly beautiful artworks. 
A big thank you to Dala for bringing the fun (and the paint)!
25 September 2025
Sculptor Nanette Ranger gave a fascinating talk at our members’ meeting held on 25 September! Even for those who know little about sculpting, the presentation was engaging and easy to follow, with visual aids that really brought the process to life.
One can only imagine the creative journey from the first spark of an idea to the finished piece, and hearing about the symbolic meaning behind different elements of the artwork gave us a deeper appreciation of the artist’s vision.
28 August 2025
Our members’ meeng of August was held on 28 August 2925. As always this me of year it took the form of a crit
evening with the Selecon judges. This year Phillipa Duncan and Susan Proctor Hume gave of their valuable me to
come and answer quesons from arsts.
Thank you to all the arsts who brought in works for feedback and to the judges for coming out to address them. It is
always interesng to hear what aspects of our work can be improved. Some interesng ideas and opinions were shared.
Congratulaons to all the arsts who were selected for the Annual Exhibion, and especially to those who were awarded
Best of, Highly Commended and Commended. We look forward to seeing all the artworks together at the Richard Crowie
Hall at Kirstenbosch from 21 October unl 4 November.
We hope all the Fellows are working hard on their addional Fellow pieces. We are excited to see the result.
evening with the Selecon judges. This year Phillipa Duncan and Susan Proctor Hume gave of their valuable me to
come and answer quesons from arsts.
Thank you to all the arsts who brought in works for feedback and to the judges for coming out to address them. It is
always interesng to hear what aspects of our work can be improved. Some interesng ideas and opinions were shared.
Congratulaons to all the arsts who were selected for the Annual Exhibion, and especially to those who were awarded
Best of, Highly Commended and Commended. We look forward to seeing all the artworks together at the Richard Crowie
Hall at Kirstenbosch from 21 October unl 4 November.
We hope all the Fellows are working hard on their addional Fellow pieces. We are excited to see the result.
31 July 2025
On the evening of Thursday 31st July at our monthly members’ meeting we held the landscape, life and still-life competition. We had a lovely turn-out of members who entered some very beautiful paintings. The competition was held in two sections – one for more established members and one for new members, although, judging from the quality of their work, these new members could’ve just jumped right in with the oldies. We all had quite a tough time choosing our favourites, but after the votes were counted, these were the winners:
Established Members:
Land/Seascape:
1. Beth Lowe – A Moment of Light
2. Grazyna Janik – Warship Maintenance
3. Lynne Menge – Breakthrough
Life:
1. Audrey Innes – Kitty’s Repose
2. Margie Munroe – Ouma
3. Grazyna Janik – Cockerel in Blue
Still-life:
1. Karen Burns – Fragility
2. Mary Henry McMillan – Flowers Wildly
3. Mandy McKay – Little Spring Gems
New Members:
Land/Seascape:
1. Penny Webster – Living Water
2. Maureen Edgecombe – Zanzibar Fisherman
3. Corma Laubscher – Burnt
Life:
1. Maureen Edgecombe – Contemplation
2. David vd Spuy – Marek
3. Dalene Smit – Snoek Time
Still-Life:
1. Michael Wade – Still Life With Spider
2. Kira Chernotsky – Second Hobby
3. Michelle Hamman-Wright – Before the Event
Well done to all the winners and a very big thank you to our generous sponsors for the prizes.
Deckle Edge and Brush and Canvas donated gift vouchers, Ashley and Radmore donated acrylic liquitex sets and ETH Canvas donated canvases.
Thanks, as usual, to our hard-working council for organising the evening.
26 June 2025
On a rather cold and rainy evening on June 26, we held our monthly members’ meeting at the Athenaeum. Despite the weather we had a pretty good turnout of members who came to hear Marc Alexander speak about pricing our art and making a career of it.
Marc, himself an artist, teacher and erstwhile gallery owner, is very knowledgeable on the subject and had some important tips and insights to share with us. Besides putting a price to our artworks, he told us how to go about dealing with galleries and buyers, both ethically and confidently.
Thank you Marc, for an extremely useful and informative evening and, as usual, thanks to our council for organising it all.
29 May 2025
At the May SASA members’ meeting last Thursday evening we held our “Critique Night”.
Each year we invite our members to bring along a piece they have been struggling with, or perhaps a work that just needs a little guidance to reach completion. This year we were privileged to have Lyn Northam and Lesley Charnock, both well-known Cape Town artists, to do the critique for us.
They answered questions, offered insights and gave useful tips on improving technique, composition and application. It was a fun, relaxed and enlightening evening. We all left full of inspiration and new ideas for enhancing our own work.
Thank you Lyn and Lesley for sharing your time and expertise with us and thanks as well, to those members who were brave enough to put their work in the spotlight.
24 April 2025
On the 24th, the last Thursday in April, we held our monthly members’ meeting, with Solly Gutman – Senior Fellow of SASA – talking to us about scratchboard art. Solly told us about the history of the medium and the comparisons between old and new techniques. He took us through the process from start to finish. We learnt about the tools, instruments and equipment he uses, the preparation, tracing, scratching, finishing and addition of colour. Each step was illustrated by some of Solly’s beautiful artworks, positioned around the hall for just that purpose. Thank you Solly, for sharing your secrets with us.
27 March 2025
American cartoonist, Jan Elliot, was our guest for the evening at the SASA members’ meeting, on the 27th of March. Having “accidentally” found herself a holiday home in Muizenberg online, she now spends quite a lot of time in Cape Town, so luckily didn’t have to come all the way from Oregon!
Jan presented a talk, illustrated by a slide-show, taking us through the beginnings and progression of her career. Her comic strips now feature in various newspapers and magazines across the USA and she has also published eleven books of cartoons, which have been translated into several different languages.
Thank you, Jan, for taking the time to entertain us with your story and thanks, as well, to our council members for organising the event.
27 February 2025
The SASA AGM was held at the February members’ meeting on 27 Feb. The meeting was chaired by Solly Gutman, who did his usual excellent job, making sure the official part of the evening went very smoothly. The president’s address – a rundown of the past year’s events – was presented as a slide-show by SASA President, Irene Oxley and Mike Forrester, our treasurer gave a comprehensive report on all matters financial. We also voted to keep the current council members in office for a further year.
With all the formalities dealt with, we could get to the lighter side of the meeting – the drawing and sketchbook competition. There were some very beautiful entries, but after the votes were counted, Louise Van Wyk won first place and the trophy for her drawing and Sonja Frenz was in second place. Johanneke Strydom, who took 3rd place in the drawing competition also won the Ryno Swart trophy for her sketchbook.
Thanks, to Solly for officiating and to our council members for all their hard work. We only have half the required number of council members at the moment and the society cannot run without them. If anyone is willing to serve on the council, please email secretary, Louise Van Wyk – secretary@sasa-artists.co.za – your society needs you!
30 January 2025
On Thursday 30 Jan we had our first members’ meeting for 2025. Our “guests” for the evening were the “Best of” winners from the last selection weekend. Each did a demo in their winning medium, giving us a little taste of their creative process. We had Beth Lowe, painting her beautiful “found objects from a beach” in watercolour; Solly Gutman, who demonstrated his scratchboard technique; Corma Launcher painting a landscape in oils; Lyn Menge creating a “wavescape” with mixed media and Libby Harrison using acrylics for her impression of a Swedish summer garden.
Our members had a chance to go from one to the next, to see how they work and to ask questions that needed answers. It was a lovely, relaxed evening, both informative and inspiring. It’s always good to pick up pointers which we can use to improve our own work.
Thanks to our “demonstrators” and to our council members for making it happen.
