Art In Action Trip

Saturday, 19th July
 
We are hoping to arrange a trip to Art in Action at Waterperry Gardens south of Oxford on Saturday 19th July.

If you are interested in going please let Helen Davies know.

Waterperry House, Waterperry,
Near. Wheatley, Oxfordshire
OX33 1JZ

 The site covers many acres and is an opportunity to see well-known artists and craftspeople at work. There are exhibitions of paintings, pottery, glasswork, woodturning, furniture, etc as well as workshops and demonstrations. The artists change every year. There is also a very large marquee devoted to the sale of art and craft materials so put a limit on your spending money. The gardens and house are also worth seeing and music is performed in the house and in the open-air theatre in the garden. There are plenty of places for eating and drinking and queuing is not a major problem - the raspberry and cream crepes were delicious last year!

 

For details look on the Art in Action Website  www.artinaction.org.uk

 

Below are some pictures taken on previous visits:

 Glassblower

 Portrait Artist

The Art Marquee



Harpist in the Open-air Theatre

 

 



AGM AND CRITIQUE EVENING

Another year had passed and we had reached our 2014 A.G.M. There were a few changes to the Committee - Claire Palmer transferred from Programme Co-Ordinator to Publicity Officer and was replaced by Di Alexander who had edited our newsletter and then set up and run the website and blog. Both had held these positions for at least ten years and made an enormous contribution to the Society. Di has been replaced by Betty and Tony Rackham. Members wholeheartedly applauded the Committee for all the work that had been done during the past year and which has made the Society such an enjoyable friendly organisation where we all learn and play together.  

AGM - an attentive audience

After the main business we had a critique session led by Anne but with members making the comments. Paintings brought by members ranged from portraits to landscapes done in a wide variety of mediums. Comments were made on composition (should that tree be there?),  perspective ( Where is the vanishing point?)  viewpoint ( Move to the left? or right?) and background ( Light or dark?)  Techniques were discussed particularly unusual ones. Chris Jackson had used felt tip pen under a layer of oil paint which was then gradually removed to leave a strongly toned monocolour portrait.

  

Anne points out how her own painting could perhaps have been improved

 

Di and Anne discuss Lorna's landscape

 

Mary and Rosalind discuss backgrounds for Rosalind's flowers

The end of a really good evening

 Photos: Betty Rackham

Below is a list of contributors with their paintings

 

Lorna Hollingum              Female posed figure 

Lorna Hollingum              Textured landscape 

Betty  Rackham                North Pembrokeshire Coastline

Mary Maskell                    Landscape

Shirley Lester                    Three Ducklings

Chris Jackson                     Female posed head and shoulder – ‘lift-out’ technique

Rosalind Saggs                  Flowers in vase

Janet Hutchings               Toddler on beach

Anne Hamerton               River Dart in November

Audrey Sharrar                 Forest Cottage after Ruth Edwards

David Butcher                   Buildings Study

Di Alexander                     ‘The Tasting’ historical scene

Joan Bass                             Snowdrop botanical painting

 

Pastels Step-by-Step with Graham Oliver

 

Graham Oliver introduced Totton Art Society to the art of using soft pastels at the February demonstration. His step-by-step approach was clear, precise and intelligible to those unfamiliar with the medium. He even demonstrated how to vary the marks on the paper.

He uses artists quality Unison, Sennelier or Daler Rowney pastels on Canson paper or abrasive sandpaper.

Graham outlined the five steps that he uses for his landscapes.

Step1
Composing the scene with the aid of an A4 size photograph and a sketch.
Drawing guidelines one third from the edges identifying possible focal points.
Then a simple outline with grey pastel or pastel pencil.Insert the light and shadow including the sky.

Step 2
Chose a selection of colours that go well together and place them in a separate container. This is your palette for the painting.

Step 3
Block in the areas of colour with a thin layer of pastel (if using sandpaper otherwise, on a less textured support, keep the number of layers to a minimum).

Step 4
Finishing some areas of colour by rubbing - not too hard. Dragging the sky down through the mountains creates a soft sky.

Step 5
"Orchestration" to emphasise parts of the scene i.e. fine detail in and around the focal point, 'lost' and 'found' edges throughout the painting.

Mistakes may be correctedby brushing and shaking.

Artist Mary Austin, who is experienced in using pastels, was one of many who expressed interest after the demonstration.

 

Graham has produced a demonstration DVD which is obtainable from him @ £12 plus postage.

 

Tel: 01722 503610
Email: heatheroliver@btinternet.com

 

See more of his work at:

 

Graham Oliver Gallery
97A Brown Street
Salisbury
SP1 2BA

 

Open Tuesday and Friday 10-1pm and 2-5pm.

 

or on his website:

http://www.grahamolivergallery.co.uk/

Posted by Di Alexander March 2014 

ROY FISHER'S NEW WEBSITE

 

 

 

Roy Fisher now has his own website www.royfisherart.co.uk 

Many of his paintings feature local venues with his own colourful interpretation. He has a particular fondness for birds!

 

 

 

 

 

SUPERB CHANDELIER AT THE RUM'S EGG GALLERY

The Rum's Egg Gallery and Cafe in Bell Street Romsey is looking good now. There is a special textile art display and my breath was taken away by this superb chandelier.

'The Snowmelt Chandelier' is by the successful Lymington sculptor Trudi Lloyd Williams.

It is made of upcycled plastic bottles, drinks cans and water pipes, and each section is lit by an LED light. It really does look worth over £4000. It represents the connection between the global impact of billions of plastic bottles and the effects of global warming on melting the ice caps.

Artists are welcome to offer work for sale at the gallery - see their website for more details. http://www.hampshireartandcraft.org/

MURDER MYSTERY CHRISTMAS PARTY

The Murder Mystery Christmas Party began with 'Chairman' Tony Rackham welcoming members to the party. After the 'Guest Speaker' had presented a prize, 'Doris' Karen Lewis discovered the victim in the kitchen and gave a great performance when she emerged.

 

'Police Officer' Peter Griffiths asked everyone to remain seated and took charge of the 'murder scene' in the kitchen.

 

TTV Presenters Helen Davies and Di Alexander then entered the action and asked the characters to introduce themselves one-by-one. They did this by reading from their script.

 

The readings evoked much laughter particularly when Gary Lewis spoke as a female character. Jean Kirby is shown in the photograph reading her script as 'Ian Cooper'. There was a welcome break for refreshments organised by Anne Hamerton and other members of the committee. Pat Scammell operated the superb raffle.

 

Labelled clues were placed on a table and members equipped themselves with a chart .During the second half of the evening various characters gave their evidence. Everyone had to listen and use their charts to match the suspects with the clues.

 

 

 There was a vote for the most likely suspect and the identity of the would-be murderer was announced. It was Ian Cooper. Di then explained the murder plot. Fortunately the victim was apparently not dead, but recovering in hospital!

 

 

The party had been most unusual and Di and Helen were presented with flowers by Anne at the end of the evening.



LOAD YOUR BRUSH & TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS URGES HASHIM AKIB

Demonstration November 2013

Hashim Akib uses large brushes loaded with several colours to create his colourful acrylic paintings. Having examined the scene and decided which parts will be given greatest prominence, his approach is direct and fast. He does not draw an image, he does not water down paint or wash his brush in water and he does not blend colours on the canvas. Working with a photograph as a reference, his first priority is to "get stuff onto canvas" trusting his skill and his instincts. The initial layer is established via blocks of colour that are streaked with several colours.

 

Hashim applies paint at speed to achieve a result that has a sense of urgency and movement. He says that we should aim to be bold, not controlled. Galleries and art collectors want paintings with personality and creativity. Hashim asserts that not all areas of the painting should be represented with precision.

 

Resisting any attempt at copying the photograph (which is the easy option) or modifying his original bold vision of the scene, Hashim concentrates on applying interesting marks and looks for interesting colour combinations .He uses blocks of bright colour to draw attention to the focal points in the painting. Complimentary colours like blue and orange, red and green are exciting together as seen in the portrait below..

 

 

 

Hashim's demonstration painting was a street scene using a photograph of Brick Lane in London with a green base colour.The final stage of the painting pulled the composition together with lighter and darker tones,("punctuating areas") negative shapes and patches of colour.



 

Hashim, now a very successful artist, intends to concentrate more on his own painting in 2014. Nevertheless he still enjoys teaching. Last year he produced his 'Vibrant Acrylics" book and DVD he is now tutoring holidays abroad. More information on his website http://www.hashimakib.com/

See also our May 2011 page for his previous Totton Art Society demonstration.

Photos Di Alexander