Art talk in Fair Oak village - 1st October

Hoorah hoorah! Managed to get to the village of Fair Oak in plenty of time. Stopped at a service station along the way, and it really pen and inked of cow pats and sick - nice! (Not!). It was floating along in the air which made it hard to breathe there. Not the greatest start to going there.
Away from the cow pat and sick smell, upon arrival to the village of Fair Oak, it reminded us of 'The League of Gentlemen' - strange people in an isolated town. It was very countryfied - hardly any high streets or bustling people on the pavements. Still, we got to the village hall, set up whilst people were still arriving. It was an art group of about 25-30 people, who were mainly in the older age majority bracket. Still, that didn't put me off. They were all very sweet, the women organisers especially, making tea etc.
I banged on for about 45 minutes to begin with - talking about my history, education of art, what I've done illustration-wise. They were transfixed, although I did feel I was preaching to the converted. All their styles were very 'Chocolate box' watercolours, traditional. Whereas, although I was trained that way, I have diversified into other areas which they were a bit confused about. Although they were interested, it was quite obvious at the end it wasn't completely their bag. But they learnt something new.
I then did a demonstration after the break of collage and mixed media painting. I did a person out of collage with an 'industrial' feel to the background. Chatting through the demo was a bit difficult, as had to keep my eye on the scalpel I was using to cut - didn't really fancy ending up in a&e that night! Some bloke from the audience asked if I'd ever had an accident using the scalpel (I told you these people were a bit mad!) - I had, but didn't want to tempt fate by banging on about it TOO much that night!
They were impressed with the final image, although it wasn't completely finished, it had taken me about 20 minutes in total to get where I was. I have even given them the finished article - so they can auction it off to raise funds for the group, signed and dated as well! They all clapped at the end, that was then I felt like their local artist celebrity!
Some bloke asked a question "Do you think what you are doing is art?" - There's always ONE who asks this! Agh! I felt that I answered in a way that was suitable - felt like strangling him though, he did look a bit of a smug git when he asked it. He seemed quite taken aback though that I had answered his question, without telling him to 'bog off!'
Another guy said he really enjoyed my art what I was doing, and kept asking me 'What did I think of artists name's work?' - he was like a horse to water asking all these questions! The funniest was he kept saying 'oh, that artist's work is crap', and 'I saw that artists work and it was complete rubbish' - the man was on one! But comedy, nonetheless!
We got back about 11pm to London, speeding down the M3. It was a madcap place, but felt very warmly received there.