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It is so great to begin this Newsletter with congratulations to some of our members. Following on from her success at the Annual Exhibition of Royal Institution of Painters in watercolour Linda Adams had pictures accepted at the Society of Women Artists exhibition and won the Frank Herrell prize. Rosemarie de Goede, already a member of SWA, has had two prestigious recent exhibition appearances. She had a picture accepted for the RI Spring exhibition along with Linda. She also exhibited with the Equestrian Artists at the Manley Gallery, Eton. Participation in this exhibition is by invite only. Well done Rosemary! Will we see your delightful ceramic sheep again - I wonder? Linda Gresham had a picture accepted for the Royal Academy Summer exhibition. And at the Farnham Annual Exhibition Brian Fox won the portrait prize with Desi gaining a highly commended in the same category......A big round of applause to all five of you. |
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ExhibitionOur Spring into Art exhibition was held 2nd-3rd May at the Harlington Centre. It was a delightful show and admired by about 440 people (in case you are wondering that is, give or take a leg or two, the same as all the other exhibitions we have had at this venue in recent years). 211 framed pictures, 68 folios and eight sculptures were submitted by 67 artists. The last number is encouraging since this figure is up considerably from our exhibitions last year. And even more encouraging is the fact that 11 artists were exhibiting with us for the first time. That alone suggests our Society is full of healthy enthusiasm. Once again I have to report that the sales did not match the effort that we all put in. 16 artists sold to a value of £1623. As a whole we fell about £20 short of breaking even. However, there were many very nice comments about the high standard and you should all take pride in your work. I think that we may finally have cracked the confusion over cards sales that have bugged previous exhibitions. Thank you to all those who stepped forward to help with stands, handing in/taking down and stewarding. CRITIQUE SESSION - Hermione Thornton-LofthouseThis event was the only one in the calendar that was not an artistic demonstration. Yet it was certainly a first-class demo on how to give a critique. Hermione is a lady with a powerful personality, who stands her ground, much to the frustration of the videocamera operator. She constantly blocked his view-line of the pictures, and if he hadn’t been bald before the session started, he would have been tearing his hair out in handfuls as the afternoon progressed. She managed to say something positive about every picture (and she viewed about 50), as well as offer useful suggestions for their improvement. Lacing her comments with humour, Hermione engaged very easily with the audience. Because everything she said was totally specific to each individual painting, it would be impossible for me to attempt to describe the paintings and repeat her opinions. What I can do though, is summarise those comments that might be called ‘universal’.
Hermione’s ability to maintain an uninterrupted flow of compliments, suggestions and criticisms for the duration of the afternoon was no mean feat. Her tact, humour and experience in achieving this was appreciated by all who attended. Ron Clements CHRIS CHRISTOFOROU, AprilI picked up a couple of exciting little whispers in the hall before this demonstration began. First I was told that someone had visited Chris’s website and it was very interesting; he’s a member of The Guild of Erotic Artists. And then, just to make it more interesting, someone said he would be painting backwards! Did that mean taking a finished picture and gradually eliminating bits and finishing with a sheet of virgin paper? (And talking of virgins, how does he paint backwards erotically?). Of course, like all good rumours, the truth didn’t match the fantasy. What a pity, although he did say in his introduction that he “started with wildlife then moved on to figures, and that’s also wildlife isn’t it?” He began by displaying, and talking about, a dozen animal drawings he had made from photos taken in Africa. He paints from photos because its too hot and too expensive to paint in the wild. Probably a bit dangerous I wouldn’t wonder. These drawings – elephants, hippos, rhino, leopards, lions – represented the first stage in his painting process. The second stage was to do a separate colour study to match and select the correct colouration of the animal. Unlike human skin tones, where a bit of leeway would be tolerated, animal colours had to be spot on. This was more obvious when he later did some work on a leopard’s spots. (That’s a little joke I just made up, geddit?) He told us his paint of choice was Chroma colour onto MDF board. By that stage, and it was past three o’clock, I felt a bit like you do right now, thinking ‘come on then, stop waffling and get on with it’. And he did, he moved to stage three, a prepared board with a tiger carefully drawn onto it and outlined in a pale colour. He proceeded to thoroughly wet his board all over with clean water, and at that point I realised what my misinformed informant meant by backward painting. Chris took up his position behind the table on which he had his easel. Actually he’d been behind the table all the time, speaking to us face-to-face, making good eye contact and not addressing his easel as most demonstrators do. When he began to apply an overall wash he leaned over the easel from behind and painted upside down. His wash completed, he then blended the colour using a dry hake with a light dusting motion. Clearly it was important to keep the brush dry and he used a hair dryer to keep it that way. During the break I naively asked him if he normally painted upside down. Of course he doesn’t, it’s a technique he has perfected for the benefit of his audience. He doesn’t block their view, and they get to see exactly what’s happening. What was really happening was not much at all as he kicked off for the second half. He moved to a much more finished painting to demonstrate other aspects of his technique. This was where he was developing and darkening spots on a cheetah. (At this point you can recall the funny joke about spots earlier in this piece). O.K. now let me correct what, at this point, may be a misunderstanding. I have been fairly flippant in stating my general criticism – or is it my disappointment – with this demo. There was a lot more talking than painting and I, and others, would have preferred more action. But that would have been difficult because of his method of painting many, many layers to achieve the depth and quality he is looking for. So we saw the start of the process and we saw the conclusion but we didn’t get the stuff in between. That may be a fault with me – I don’t always easily get the point and need people to draw pictures for me (and there’s another little joke). Now here’s a surprise. Although I was a little disappointed with the demo, I actually liked Chris a great deal. He was easy to listen to; he was charming and engaging; he was amusing and his paintings are breathtakingly realistic. And there’s the rub as someone once said (Was it Hamlet? I don’t know, I don’t smoke). That level of realism leaves little to the imagination nor stirs my emotions. Never mind, I’ve got Barbara to do that! Ron Clements Next year’s programmeWe have now settled on demonstrations etc that will be taking place next year and I list these below to entice you to renew your membership. Demonstrations. Sept 13th Aurora Spain Colour theory & practice (Acrylic/Oil) Oct 11 Sharon Hurst Fantasy watercolour Nov 8 Jonathan Newey Buildings & structures (Pen & wash) Jan 10 Kim Page Still life (watercolour) Feb 14 Trevor Waugh Sketchbook to painting watercolour & Oil Mar 14 Ken Ray Critique Apr 11 Jean Turton Chinese brush painting WorkshopsMay 9 Judi Whitton Loosen up your watercolour painting June 13 Aurora Spain Colour theory & practice July 11 Paul Robinson Buildings & landscapes (Pen & wash) Monthly competitionsSeptember Sunlight & shadows October Still life November Woodland scene January Animal, vegetable or mineral February Buildings March Water; in, on or under April High days and holidays
MembershipOnce again it is time to renew your membership. The relevant form is attached to this Newsletter. Please note that Alan Denten is taking over from Tony Yates as membership Secretary so please take note of the different address. Please also remember that we do have a waiting list of folks wanting to join (as this goes to press this is 30 people). If you do not renew by September 30th then someone will take your place and you may drop to the back of the waiting list! |
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