2023

FEBRUARY
MARCH
APRIL
MAY
JUNE
JULY
AUGUST
SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER
NOVEMBER

Dianne Godfrey  
Joy Preiss           
Simon Addy         
Rita Wilkes          
Liz Speight/Jann Desmond  
Claudia Badradeen 
Hermine Spies      
Joy Preiss            
Rowena Wilkinson
Jeanette Gilks  

Calligraphy
Selfie Portrait
Acrylics – Clouds
Figure Drawing
Betty Edwards Drawing
Dot Painting
Re-using Old Paintings
Trees In Art
Zentangles
Concertina Art Book

2022

FEBRUARY
MARCH
APRIL
MAY
JUNE
JULY
AUGUST
SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER
NOVEMBER

Ian Calder
Vincent Reid
Jean Elworthy
Joy Preiss
Hermine Spies
Sally Friedman
Diane Aldworth
Rita Wilkes
J Grey/B Moore
Chris Khoury

Art Sketchbook
Texture with Graphite
Drawing Botanic Leaves
Abstract Painting
Clay Work
Alcohol Inks
Paper Collage
Birds & Flowers
Ink Line & Wash
Charcoal Drawing

2021
FEBRUARY
MARCH
APRIL
MAY
JUNE
JULY
AUGUST
SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER
NOVEMBER

Clare van Daele
Chris Khoury      
Joy Preiss           
Marion Townsend     
Hermine Spies    
COVID      
Vincent Reid       
Brent Dodd         
Hussein Salim     
Rita Wilkes          

Photographing your Art
Drawing Animals
Monet’s Bridge – Pastels
Watercolours
Taking a Photo Further
COVID
Texture with Graphite
Oils Landscape
Free Painting
Portraits

2020
JANUARY
FEBRUARY
MARCH
NOVEMBER

Jeanette Gilks     
Joy Preiss            
COVID LOCKDOWN  
Bob Mackenzie    

Dynamic Drawing
Colour Building
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Oil painting

ARTIST OF THE MONTH
Each month an Artist is selected to be featured in the local press

MONTH

JANUARY
FEBRUARY
MARCH
APRIL
MAY
JUNE
JULY
AUGUST
SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER
NOVEMBER
DECEMBER

2019/2020

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GAIL PECKHAM
BARBARA MOORE
PAT TORR
MARGIE SPARKS
JO ORSMOND
JULIET GREY

2021

SHIRLEY MACKELLAR
PENNY NICHOLSON
THABO MELEFE
DIANA CATTELL
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VICKI CRESSEY
VALERIE JACKSON
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JANN DESMOND
TIM VAN VUUREN
CLAIRE VAN DAELE

2022

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ROBYN KOOPMAN
PAT TORR
JOHN BUTLER
CATHY BEATTIE
ROB LANGLEY
JULIET GREY
L GROENEWALD
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C VARNEY
PIETER VENTER
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2023

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PETER CROXON
LOUISE RASH
JENNY MILES
PAUL MURRAY
ROSE DOUGLAS
JOY PREISS
PAT THOMAS
FELICITY JACKSON
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2024

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ASSELBERG CUP AND YEAR END PRIZE WINNERS

HISTORY OF HARTS Howick Arts Society

1991 to 2021

With this invitation a legacy of art in the Midlands of KZN began.
In this our thirtieth anniversary of HARTS, we are proud of our achievements.
Why and how did HARTS begin? We are indeed lucky to still have two members who were there at the beginning, Sue Platt and Liz Speight, the first President.
1990
Sue Platt, who was a member of a group of like-minded artists in the early 1990’s, remembers: “the group used to meet informally at Anne Shannon’s home. After the first formal get-together, meetings were held at the Howick Falls Hotel and were affiliated to NAMACO, the Natal and Midlands Arts and Craft Organisation, which evolved into MACS, as well as The Last ArtPosts, on the Midlands Meander. Anne Shannon was a member of both, and so kept HARTS in the loop”.
1991
Liz Speight picks up the story, “Anne Shannon started the society by inviting local artists to a meeting at her house in Patterson Road in Howick and I was invited to the group by Wynn Asselbergs”
A formal art group was established with the following first committee:
Liz Speight (President), Anne Shannon (Secretary), Treasurer (Kim Cantorelli), and Mike Mallinick (Working Member).
There was a competition for a name for the new society and the suggestion, HARTS, Howick Arts Society, was adopted.
Liz recalls, “The first thing we did was write out invitations to prominent people in Howick announcing a forthcoming art exhibition at The Falls Hotel. The exhibition was held in September 1991 at the Howick Falls Hotel and was opened by the Mayor of Howick, Keith Humphreys. The pictures were hung on the walls because we didn’t have screens at that time.”
At the next meeting, a competition was held to choose the logo, which Pat Simonds of Mooi River designed.
From October 1991 the Howick Falls Hotel hosted the meetings. At meetings, either a speaker gave a presentation and a critique of members’ art works, or a film related to art was shown.
The fledgling HARTS was a dynamic group that arranged outings, for example to Faye Halstead’s farm in Winterton, as well as organising an exhibition at the Midmar Museum. Affiliated to NAMACO, the art group also participated in a number of exhibitions at the Howick Falls Hotel.
1992
A new committee was chosen in February 1992 and it was proposed that a Constitution be drawn up. Mike Mallinick arranged a copy of a constitution from another club as a starting point for HARTS. At the first AGM in September, the proposed constitution was debated and accepted. There have been a few adjustments over the years, but this first draft has stood us in good stead.
Liz Speight remembers “Our next exhibition was at the Howick Museum in Falls Road. The manager of the museum was Maureen Holland. She allowed us to store the screens which we had made in the back room of the museum.
This was very convenient. Later the Fort was built in Falls Road, as an extension of the hotel complex and HARTS was offered an ongoing exhibition space. Unfortunately, there were insufficient members to keep this going by doing gallery duty. When the ANC municipality took office, we lost the storage place at the museum, but Sheila Bright offered to store the screens in her garage at her home in Hayfields Road.
1993
In 1993 HARTS was offered exhibition space at the Howick Museum, where exhibitions were held every two months with a guest artist in attendance. This continued until 2000. Wynn Assellbergs was unable to attend a John Smith workshop in 1993 and donated her payment to HARTS for purchase of a trophy.
1995
HARTS acquired its own library in 1995, following the initiative of Bunny de Harde. The library is an important part of meetings to this day and members are able to borrow magazines and art books. The library has grown considerably, with bequests and subscriptions to a number of local and overseas publications.
1997
Margie Sparks joined HARTS February 1997 and reminisces:
“HARTS met in a little room in the back of the Museum in those days. We were a small group, and each month took paintings to the meeting but there was no critique until it was introduced by Lorna Pierson. At an exhibition there were always two members on duty which was super as one got to know other members.” By this time HARTS had established the foundations of a viable and energetic society in the area.

The next few years saw a number of changes. HARTS meetings and workshops have moved many times to various venues over the last thirty years, but presently we are settled at St Luke’s Church hall, where we hold our monthly meetings, workshops, and the ever-popular Tuesday art classes.
HARTS prides itself on having held art exhibitions every year since 1991. Visit our Gallery to see the latest at The Rotunda in Hilton.
To encourage artists to keep painting and learning a competition is held each month, and members vote for the artwork they each think the best. At the end of the year the Wynn Asselbergs cup is awarded to the artist with the most votes. The Lorna Pierson cup is awarded to Most Improved Artist of the Year and the Vicki Cressey cup for Originality.
In 2015 to reach a wider audience HARTS joined Facebook and created a website. Artist of the Month in the local press, showcasing individual members, was also introduced.
As an out-reach project, art classes for the general public are held on Tuesday afternoons at St Luke’s Church Hall where a HARTS member is available for advice.
Within HARTS a number of smaller groups have formed: MOPS, Midlands Outdoor Painting and Sketching; TAG, Tree Art Group and POP, Paint Our People.
The current committee endeavours to bring in artists from outside Howick to give workshops. We thought 2020 was going to be the year, when we started enthusiastically with a Jeanette Gilks workshop in January, but everything came to a halt in March with Covid 19. Our next meeting was in October, with all Covid protocols in place, when Rob MacKenzie held a very successful workshop.
Since Then HARTS has managed to hold intermittent meetings, and an Art exhibition at the Rotunda in Hilton as well as two charity exhibitions, one for the SPCA Howick,in May and the other at Karkloof Market in aid of Free Me in June.

“As a society, HARTS has a number of aims, not least of which is to encourage its members to aspire to constantly improving their work, and to provide insight into the creativity of other artists. To this end, local and out-of-town artists are invited to give talks and presentations at the weekly meetings and to facilitate workshops each following Monday. HARTS is essentially a social club and, by participating in its activities, members come to know and interact with like-minded people. Artists gain confidence by showing and selling their artworks and therefore the committee organises exhibitions in public places in and around Howick.” Rowena Wilkinson (President) 2021

SPECIAL MENTION
The following members need to be thanked for their contribution over the past 30 years.
Many of those mentioned are no longer with us, but without their hard work, HARTS would not be the vibrant Association it is today.
Anne Shannon had the idea of a group of like-minded individuals getting together to paint, never thinking that the original 15 people at the first meeting would create the dynamic association that HARTS is today with over 100 members.
Anne was the first Secretary and President twice, working tirelessly to have HARTS recognised officially. With Mike Mallinick, another original member and long-lasting HARTS member, Anne helped to write our constitution.
Liz Speight became the original President in 1991 and we need to thank her for 30 years of dedication to HARTS.
Liz has been President three times, as well as serving on the Committee is other capacities, and is always available with new ideas, willing to critique the monthly Asselberg cup entries and hold workshops.
A special thanks must go to her husband, Bill, who through the years has been available to help with HARTS projects.
Beryl Robinson was another original member and experienced potter, who became Exhibition Convenor and was always available to help promote HARTS.
Wally Robinson was another stalwart member, keeping tabs on the money as Treasurer for many years.
Bunny de Harde was on the committee to help wherever she was needed for 12 years.
During here time, she collected and looked after the magazines, which became the original library.
Ruth Anderson took over from Bunny and set the standard for the library that we have today.
John Lyon became a member in 1992 becoming Secretary in 2002. As a Lions Club member he organized for HARTS meetings to be held in their room at Umgeni Wildlife Centre, which HARTS did until 2015.
Lorna Pierson needs a Special Mention. When she retired as the Senior Art lecturer at the Indumiso College of Education in Edendale in 1985 she was already an active member of the Richmond Art Group, and later the Howick Arts Society.
During her 17 years as a member of HARTS, Lorna was Exhibitions convenor, President and in her later years, Competitions convenor. Her enthusiasm and love of art set the standard that HARTS bides by today.
Sheila Bright had studied advertising and was a well-known artist in Howick when she joined HARTS in 1992. Sheila started the first “Outdoor painting group” and from 1997 arranged painting holidays in the berg for a number of years.
With Johan van der linde, Sheila started collecting information for the HARTS Archives, and was an active member up to her demise in 2020.
Margaret Harriman, who missed a year in 1992 to compete in the Para-Olympics representing S A in the bowls team, was secretary and then PRO for many years, promoting HARTS.
Leonore wille, Denise Lombard, Denys Davis, Di walsh, Dianne Kelly, Frank Boatwright, Jeanette Saville, Joan White, John Cunningham, Margo Nimmo, Norman Bond, Pam Spencer Pamela Cormack, Pat Kellington,Pat white, Ted smith, Val Bray Wendy Beneke, Wynn Asselbergs, Yvonne Myburgh
Sue Platt, who has been a member since the first meeting in 1991, and has always supported HARTS and been ready to exhibit her work
Anna Pettifer, who has been a member for 17 years, and kept a tight rein on things as Secretary for 10 of those and is still a committee member.
Tim Kiln, our Vice President, who over the past 22 years, has been Treasurer, Exhibitions Convenor, and President, as well as available with new ideas, willing to critique the monthly Asselberg cup entries and hold workshops.
Johan van der Linde who was President twice, and while in charge of the library with Sheila Bright, started collecting information for the archives. He also began the Tree Art Group in 2017.
Hermine Spies-Coleman, a member since 2004 , has facilitated many workshops and talks over the years, as well as rejuvenating Sheila Bright’s “Outdoor Painting Group” in 2010 as M O P S – the ‘Midlands Outdoor Painting and Sketching” group.
Margie Sparks became a member in 1997 and has been librarian and a willing pair of hands since then. Al Sparks also needs a special mention, as he has always been available to help when it was needed.
Dianna Cattell was Exhibitions Convenor for a number of years, as well as being in charge of signage for HARTS
Bill van Grenen is a long-standing member who was Treasurer for a number of years, as was Jo Orsmond, who designed our HARTS Logo.
Alan Donaldson, Anne Raubenheimer, Niel Owen, Penny Barris, Shirley MacKellar, Rita Wilkes, Sue Fly, Yvonne Engelbrecht ,who have all been on the committee at some point, or been there to assist where needed.
We thank each and every one of you, and hope that your dedication will be replicated by present members in the next 30 years.

PHOTOS FROM THE ORIGINAL ARCHIVES