The Art Exhibitionists Newsletter No 10 – 28th August 2026

🌿 FRIDAY 28 AUGUST – LET THE FESTIVAL BEGIN!

THE DAY HAS FINALLY ARRIVED! 🎨🌿

After months of planning, painting, organising, meetings, emailing and consuming probably rather more coffee than is strictly necessary…

The Lindengate Festival of Art & Gardens is OPEN!

From today, Friday 28 August, through to Monday 31 August, we're open 10am–4pm daily.

We’ve been busy transforming six acres of Lindengate Charity’s beautiful therapeutic gardens into a haven of art, nature, creativity and community.

Come and explore the gardens, discover the brand-new Japanese-style Water Garden, meet our wonderful artists and makers, enjoy live music and demonstrations, have a go at a creative masterclass — and, of course, indulge in some very necessary tea, cake or even some lunch!

And that's before we've even mentioned the art… there is plenty of that to feast your eyes upon!

🎟️ £10 on the door

Under 16s go FREE

Your ticket gives you access to both the Art Festival and all six acres of gardens for the whole weekend

And the best bit…

💚 50% of all entrance fees go directly to Lindengate Charity

Helping support its incredible work improving mental health and wellbeing through nature, gardening and friendship.

Come for the art. Stay for the gardens. Leave inspired. 🌿🎨✨

🎨 MASTERCLASSES AT LINDENGATE

Each session offers a generous taster in a different creative medium, led by a professional artist and open to all skill levels.

FRIDAY 28 AUGUST- today!

Draw Your Own Pet with Mel Cairns

Join award-winning artist Mel Cairns for a fun, fast-and-loose ink illustration workshop. Bring along an A5 photograph of your dog or cat and learn how to create an accurate pencil sketch before bringing your pet to life with brush pens, ink and vibrant alcohol markers.

You'll mount your finished portrait, ready to fit a 10" × 12" frame and proudly display at home.

SATURDAY 29 AUGUST

Oil Pastel Class with Jan Gaska

Explore oil pastels as a portable, expressive medium for drawing from life, inspired by the farmyard setting, rustic barns, farm machinery and characterful buildings.

Watercolour class with Paul Chappell

Learn how to choose a strong subject, use light and shade to add drama and create luminous wet-in-wet washes in this fast-paced introduction to watercolour.

SUNDAY 30 AUGUST

Cyanotype Workshop with Blue Fern Art

Discover the beautiful blue world of cyanotype printing using sunlight, natural materials and simple techniques to create your own unique prints. No experience needed.

Paper Cutting Workshop with Imogen Gulliford

Create a beautiful framed negative-space initial using layered paper-cutting techniques to create depth and dimension. Suitable for beginners. Leave with a framed, completed piece of work.

MONDAY 31 AUGUST

Paint a Traditional Canal Rose Mug with Kat Gaska

Learn the traditional art of canal rose painting and decorate your own enamel mug to take home. Suitable for beginners.

Drypoint Etching and Collage with Liam Biswell

Explore drypoint etching, an etching press and chine collé techniques to create unique prints on paper and fabric. Suitable for all abilities.

🎨 CREATIVITY ISN'T JUST FOR GROWN-UPS!

We've decided it simply isn't fair for the adults to have all the creative fun.

Our Children's Masterclasses include:

🎨 wet felting & dry felting
🖌️inky painting
🌈acrylic painting
🔤Circus Letter
🎭graffiti art
🖨️printing

And for our younger visitors, there are magical Stories & Puppets, jelly bean and treasure chest workshops inspired by enchanting children's stories.

Most workshops are suitable for children aged 8+, with age recommendations clearly shown when booking.

Forgot to book? Don't panic!

We've opened up a few extra spaces for on-the-day bookings, so come along and take a chance. You never know — you might just unleash a brand-new passion! 🎨✨

🌿 SEE THE GARDENS THROUGH DIFFERENT EYES

If you're coming to Lindengate, don't just wander through the gardens — come and discover their stories.

The guided garden tours take place every day at 11am and 2pm, giving you the opportunity to explore the six-acre site with people who know it best.

Discover the different gardens, hear how volunteers have transformed the site and find out how they tackle everything from difficult soil to waterlogged ground to create beauty throughout the year.

And don't miss the brand-new Japanese-style Water Garden.

Whether you're a serious gardener, a plant lover or simply someone who enjoys beautiful places, there's plenty to discover.

🌱 GARDENING, BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT…

We're particularly excited about our horticultural programme this weekend.

Every day at midday, Andy, CEO of Lindengate and Head Gardener, and Jacqui will be hosting informal drop-in garden chats.

Come along, listen, ask questions or simply enjoy a chat with people who are passionate about gardening and the remarkable work taking place at Lindengate.

And on Monday afternoon, we have something rather special…

🌿 “NOT GARDENERS' QUESTION TIME”

2pm–3pm

Join Katie, Head Gardener at Chequers, alongside Andy, Katie Horgan and other horticultural experts for an informal, entertaining and hopefully slightly unpredictable gardening Q&A.

It's free — but booking is required.

Bring your gardening questions. Bring your gardening dilemmas. Bring the thing you've always wondered but been too embarrassed to ask.

We're looking forward to finding out what happens!

Katie will be talking from 2pm-2.30pm before delving into answering your questions with the rest of the panel.

🥂 SO… WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

If your idea of the perfect Bank Holiday involves beautiful gardens, original art, live music, creative workshops, good food, good wine and a leisurely wander somewhere rather special, we think we've got your weekend sorted.

Come for the art. Stay for the gardens. Leave inspired.

BOOK our MASTERCLASSES ONLINE NOW

Stuff We Did

Stewart celebrated his birthday like the young whippersnapper he insists he still is — going slightly wild at Junkyard Golf before enjoying a family day of eating, laughing and general birthday-related merriment. Naturally, none of this stopped him from dutifully running at silly o’clock in the morning and then walking the dog. What a hero! 🏌️♂️🎂🐕🦺
Lucy went to France and experienced something truly extraordinary: water falling from the sky! ☔️😂 After weeks of glorious sunshine, she’d almost weeks of glorious sunshine, she’d almost forgotten what rain looked like. Luckily, she survived the experience and returned safely to tell the tale!
Stewy enjoyed a good old-fashioned pub crawl around London before heading off to watch Bolton frustrate QPR and remain unbeaten in the Championship. And, naturally, one simply cannot end a pub crawl just because the football has finished, especially if you are celebrating… so it was back to the pubs for Stewy! 🍻⚽️🍻
Liz escaped to Pembrokeshire for a family week in a charming fisherman’s cottage, where the days were spent beachcombing, eating fresh fish and admiring spectacular sunsets, while the evenings were reserved for stargazing. A perfect combination of sea air, good food and, most importantly, absolutely no need to check her emails! 🌊🐚✨
Lou tackled a very long bike ride (for her!) around the Gulf of Morbihan in Brittany on an electric bike, while everyone else heroically battled along on pedal power. They may have had the fitness, but she had the battery… and they really ate her dust! 🚴♀️⚡😂

Fun but Utterly Pointless Art Fact

Vincent van Gogh once painted a picture… of his own room — three times.

His famous The Bedroom shows the room he rented in the Yellow House in Arles. But rather than simply painting it once and moving on with his life, Van Gogh created three versions of the same scene between 1888 and 1889.

Why? Because the first version was damaged, he painted another — and then created a smaller copy for his family.

So, if you ever find yourself taking three nearly identical photographs of your living room because you can't decide which one is best, remember:

Van Gogh did it first.

A Little Game of Spot the difference

Bedroom in Arles (October 1888). Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

Vincent van Gogh, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

This is the second version of the three oil paintings van Gogh did on this subject, created in Saint-Rémy, in early September, 1889.

Vincent van Gogh, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

English Bedroom in Arles (final version, end September 1889). Oil on canvas, 57.5 x 74 cm. Musée d'Orsay, Paris

Vincent van Gogh, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The three versions are currently in Amsterdam, Chicago and Paris, meaning Van Gogh's bedroom has managed to become considerably more well-travelled than most people's.

TTFN - love the Art Exhibitionists Team