THE PRESIDENT of Keighley Art Club, Geoff Mitchell, is our only member who recalls distant open days held in a church hall in Highfield Lane.

Therefore on Wednesday July 10 the “Roots and Shoots” café on Cavendish Street will host Keighley Art Club’s first modern venture of an open day, from 5pm to 9pm.

Here you can meet members and chat, see some of our paintings, and ask questions.

The original suggestion by our member Jeanette Bray has been implemented by the art club’s newly-appointed exhibition secretary Rod Tickner, who is one of the artists who rotates his work at the café.

Rod has also reorganised the club’s permanent exhibition in Keighley Picture House on North Street.

Roots and Shoots’s new owner Javed Iqbal has kindly agreed to open the café out-of-hours for one day, initially, to enable a show of all standards of our club’s artwork in watercolour, acrylic, pastel or pencil.

Members who live as far apart as Oakworth, Silsden and beyond meet weekly to build on their talent and to learn in a friendly atmosphere, at Keighley Healthy Living’s premises in Scott Street.

Roots and Shoots deals in health products, and its café is vegan and gluten-free, using products from local suppliers.

Javed will be on hand on July 10 to provide refreshments during the extension of time he has granted Keighley Art Club.

Rod said: “This is a new sort of development for the club, with members being able to showcase what they do in a relaxed café environment.

“The café is within easy reach of the bus and train stations for people returning from work or waiting to meet someone, and it is convenient to have a snack and a chat.

“The café is based at 18-20 Cavendish Street.”

We can answer questions about membership or art, and can discuss some of the methods used in our paintings or talk about our weekly programme.

At the end of the day, if people just enjoy some refreshments and look at our work, and learn about the club, we will have achieved our objective.

By taking our work outside the usual meeting room we can extend our audience.

Any constructive criticism will be gratefully received from outsiders, and we look forward to hearing information on current market tastes and our style of work.

Most of the original artworks will be for sale, or people can enquire by calling 01535 669914

Keighley Art Club will meet every Wednesday during the summer months if anyone would like to attend. A charge is made.

Material from our recent joint exhibition with Bingley Art Society at Cliffe Castle Museum appears on the Keighley and Cliffe Castle Facebook pages.

Bingley Art Society and Keighley Art Club after many years held joint exhibitions of members’ work at Cliffe Castle Museum in Keighley.

Earlier this year they came together to create the latest display of paintings and drawings, many of which reflected the local area and its heritage.

The works on display varied in medium and style, allowing the viewer a glimpse into the way that the clubs encourage and help develop the skills of the individual members.