'Perspectives' was the fifth Stroud Life Drawing group exhibition and, in many ways, it was the best yet. A record number of artists included some of their work, more pictures were hung than ever before and, helped by some fine Spring weather, more people came into the gallery than in previous years. The standard of artistry too, was at an all time high and this is evident in the photographic record on this page. Sadly, the high level of artistic skill on show did not translate into a high level of sales but Perspectives was never meant to be a commercial exhibition. Conceived as a showcase for the abundant talent which exists in the Stroud Life Drawing group, it was a great celebration of a shared passion for drawing, painting and making. That said, how Karen Green's wonderfully executed botanical studies did not sell at such a reasonable price I will never know. Pat Kattenhorn's exquisite watercolours too, were worth every penny of the low price she put on them and the same could be said of countless other works on display.

It is not possible to acknowledge everyone's contribution to the exhibition but Gareth's sculpture of two figures, undertaken especially for the show, was an excellent example of bas-relief stone carving which added greatly to the interest and variety of work on display. Clare's large scale figure drawings in chalk and charcoal manage the considerable feet of combining power and presence with beauty and elegance; they gave a definite wow factor upon entering the gallery. Jim's glazed earthenware bowls, one of which sold, were again much admired. Emma's amazingly realistic portrait of a young man was also very highly regarded; it reveals an artistic maturity way beyond her years - triple A* when marked as coursework? Rebecca's outstanding, sensitively blended portrait of her daughter contrasted strongly with Simon's daringly direct response to the model. His still evolving technique of painting bold strokes of acrylic straight onto un-primed plywood panels is underpinned by sound observation and fearless enquiry. Numerous other works spring to mind for their sheer quality, including Pat's Maori face, Liz's dog and portraits, Ed's little gems of ethereality, Andy's digital bots, Louise's lusciously loose figures, Emma's multiple donkeyscape ( I think I've coined a new word there!), Craig's Superman comic strip, Caroline's portrait and sunset, Lucia's lettering, Michael's digital transformations..........I could go on. Sorry to everyone whose work has not been mentioned.

This year I was privileged to be able to do much of the gallery invigilation myself and it was a sheer delight to engage in conversation with so many people who clearly love their art. Indeed, I know that many of those people who came through the doors were artists themselves and it was fascinating to hear about developments in their work, as well as to enthuse about the work on display. Whilst Stroud mightn't be the best place to sell artwork, it has to be said what a very special creative town it is. On three mornings during the week of our exhibition, for example, the pictures could be viewed to the accompaniment of choirs rehearsing in the hall upstairs.

I spoke to so many lovely and interesting people during the week that I could not possibly mention them all but a number of encounters were particularly memorable. Both I and Elgiva, who popped in on Tuesday morning, were taken by surprise by Simon Pizzey, whose quality photographs soon appeared on the Stroud News and Journal website. Thank you for taking an interest Simon and thank you for being such a good sport Elgiva. Katz from Totnes made a real impression and, evidently Stroud made a real impression on her. It was terrific to catch up with Bharat who did art with me at Marling School many years ago and is now working as an architect in a local practice. Thank you to Jessica who was persuaded into swapping her beautiful blossoms (which brightened up the gallery all week) for a bottle of bubbly. From the cup of tea with Wendy, to the catch-up with Jo, to the falafel box from Pat, it was a thoroughly enjoyable week and I would like to thank everyone who made a point of coming into the gallery.

Thanks are also due to Simon and Caroline who both helped me hang the work and take it down at the end. Simon, your power tool made light work of so many screws and Liney, your hundreds of tacky balls and bags of bubble-wrap were much appreciated. Thank you to everyone who comes along to draw for taking the trouble to frame your work and for turning up to collect it on a Sunday morning. Without you there is no exhibition and there is no Stroud Life Drawing. It was also great to see so many of our excellent models viewing the exhibition and I owe a special thanks to all of them. Hopefully, we'll do it all over again next Spring.
                                                                                                                                           KEITH SYMONDS