The chair announced that we are now on Facebook at, facebook.com/redditchart as well as our website, redditchart.co.uk.

She went on to launch our Artist of the Month competition before introducing Chris Christoforou to talk on “The Beauty in your backyard”.

In his workshops and classes, Chris encounters students who struggle to find subjects for their artwork. His advice to them is to look closer to home and to sketch at every opportunity.

Unsuitable magazine photographs are commonly used as references and Chris encourages the creation of references, either by sketching or the use of a camera.

Domestic and exotic animals and wildlife of all descriptions feature in his art and Chris has access to these through his contacts with sporting and preservation organisations.

He showed us examples of his paintings of native birds and animals and the references that inspired them, explaining that many of the sketches and photographs were obtained very close to home, even in his own garden.

He discussed the importance of sound composition and effective lighting in a painting and, where necessary, he edits his reference photographs so that they provide the appropriate environmental setting for his subject. This was an intriguing and entertaining presentation, which Chris concluded by kindly presenting one of his wildlife prints as a prize for our artist of the month.

The meeting at St Luke’s Memorial Hall, Evesham Road, Headless Cross on May 6 saw Max Hale demonstrate “Horses in Pastel”.