The Arts Society Cavendish Art Class

Monday 27 October 2025

At the end of October 2025, Joan Matthews arranged a fantastic Art Study Day attended by about 20 members. The day was led by well-known local artist Pam Smart.

Whilst studying graphic design at University Pam won the Royal Society of Arts Student Design Award, which included a work placement in the design department at John Lewis in London and a travel bursary to explore arts and crafts in India! After travelling India Pam trained as a specialist teacher of art and design, working at schools in Manchester, Stafford and Chesterfield, completing her 24 year career as Head of Art at Chapel High School in Derbyshire.

Pam is now a full-time artist working from her home studio in Buxton. She is a member of the highly regarded Peak District Artisans and High Peak Artists and exhibits regularly with both groups. She had the honour of representing Buxton in a European touring art exhibition where eight of her paintings were selected and exhibited in Germany, France and Belgium and London.

We had a lot of fun adding texture and colour to the original designs, with enormous support and guidance from Pam.

The art card used was of the highest quality, and Pam had prepared each sheet with a basic colour scheme, which we were able to follow to our own choice. For example, some sheets were in shades of peach and yellow, allowing the student to create a personal interpretation of the subject.

Everyone had their own ideas of how their individual work should look and Pam used all her skills as an experienced teacher to encourage and assist in the development of our work.                           

Each member created a very personal interpretation of their chosen image. Some of these are shown here. They are not named, but each person who joined the day, will recognise their own work.

At the end of the day, Pam provided mounts for us to display our work.

We rarely have study days that involve us in being creative and this was exactly what we wanted after the long hot summer without the Arts Society. It was the most enjoyable day, and every member felt they had achieved something worthwhile.

Our thanks to Joan for organising the event and to Pam for being such a patient and enthusiastic tutor.

Sylvia Mckenzie