NEWS
Check out our latest Budleigh Salterton Art Club news!
david wilsher DEMO AND WORKSHOP
For our demonstration this month we had the Topsham artist- David Wilsher. David is a very accomplished artist who specialises in acrylics and oils. He brought along some of his wonderful artwork and cards for sale of Venice, Topsham and Exmouth. Before he started his demo he had printed out a postcard size photo of his subject for everyone to have and compare to his painting. It was a scene of St Peter’s church from outside the gateway and he told us he would make it look Christmassy with snow!
He started by painting a background on his canvas, which was canvas paper that comes in a pad and made by Loxley. He used some burnt sienna and with a wet washing up sponge, spread it over the canvas until it was covered. Apparently it doesn’t take long to dry this way.
David uses quite a limited palette of paints -he admitted that he is colour blind, and rarely mixes them so for example he will use greens straight from the tube. He prefers to use tear off palettes and uses acrylic hair flat and angled brushes. He also sketches the subject in paint rather than drawing it.He talked us through the process of his painting and which parts to highlight or tone down. It was fascinating to watch the picture take shape with David quietly working away. In the end he had a wonderful snowy painting of our local church which was greatly admired!Some of our members were lucky enough to take part in a workshop with David in the afternoon.
At the workshop David demonstrated pencil drawings of figures using the “pea & carrot” technique! The figures started simply and became more involved carrying handbags, heavy cases and acquiring children and dogs! We then worked on an acrylic painting of a boat by a jetty. Most of us produced a pretty good interpretation of the boat, most looked like they wouldn’t sink! With guidance from David the sea washed up against the hull and shadows added to the realism of the paintings . The time went all too quickly and most of us took the canvases home to complete.
KARI MCGOWAN DEMO AND WORKSHOP
The lovely Kari McGowan, a fantastic, highly experienced watercolour artist showed us her skills at our September demonstration.
Her floral composition was very delicate and well thought out.
Kari has a very varied palette and a fabulous way with colour. Kari worked on the outside of the paper inward, and the art came together as if by magic at the end. She explained about the nature of watercolour allowing for an expression of light, both intense and subtle, with varying transparency and opacity across the page.
In the afternoon the workshop was interesting and very relaxing with lots of learning of new skills and techniques.
EXHIBITION PRIVATE VIEW AND AWARDS CEREMONY
After a day of transforming the Public Hall into our outstanding art Exhibition on the 16th August, we welcomed the judges, Alan Cotton, Phil Creek, Angela Yarwood and Roger and Fiona Hennah to judge the artwork submissions. The judging categories and winners are on the Awards tab. We held our Private View- an opportunity for club members and guests to get a first look of the exhibition and to celebrate our collective achievement in our efforts of quality and enthusiasm for art. It was a lovely atmosphere and this year's vibrancy, and risk-taking in our outworks were commented on.
During the ceremony, the judges not only announced their award winners but also chose to give mentions to those they had been especially impressed with- this was a lovely way to encourage our club members. We thank the judges for their time and expertise and we hope that the exhibition inspires others to pick up a paintbrush and have a go!
If you are interested in joining, please see our membership page.
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Above left, Exhibition Secretary Liz Dunne
Below: our judges
PAINT AND PROSECCO
On the morning of Wednesday 7th August, the Art Club held a paint and Prosecco event at the beach. About 25 of us gathered at the BBQ area near Steamer Steps and then dispersed to various points on the beach to paint or draw. We also had a challenge from Steve to decorate a fish cut-out - in anyway we wanted, which we made into a mobile at the end of the session.
Unfortunately the weather was very cloudy and windy but we all managed to have fun despite that and assembled later for our reward of a glass of Prosecco to round the morning off.
Many thanks go to Steve Hagger for organisng the event aided and abetted by me - Gilly, though I just needed to be on hand to pour the drink really!
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CHERRY FERRIS DEMO
Our artist for July was Cherry Ferris.
Cherry demonstrated Pyrography as an art which some of us had never seen or experienced before.
Cherry is a self taught artist and started out as a tattooist in Cornwall. Unfortunately due to her husband’s health she had to give this up and they moved to Devon. Because Cherry was used to using needles, it was an easy progression for her to find a way of
using Pyrography on various surfaces using different style nibs -like tattooing!
Basic Pyrography is apparently very similar to old fashioned poker work that was used in Victorian times for marking initials on hides or saddles etc. Its using fire and heat to produce artwork and Cherry told us that the name for Pyrography artists is 'Toasties'!
Her talk was illustrated with a slide presentation which showed us in great detail her ideas and the various illustrations she has produced. She also explained every aspect of Pyrography from the wood you should use to the materials and mixed media to add to your work.
The types of wood that you should use are beech or poplar but definitely NOT MDF! The wood needs to be sanded down first. So if you have a piece of beechwood or an old cupboard door etc so long as it’s well prepared and sanded it can be used.
A thicker quality of paper (300gsm plus) is another medium that can be worked on and depending on the tools you have, you will need it to be a higher temperature apparently! Leather and hide which is untanned can also be used.
There are many different types of nibs available and Cherry showed what different marks they make and which ones were best for different styles of illustrating.
Cherry likes to add to her Pyrographic drawings by adding watercolour, acrylics, inktense pencils- wet or dry and even oils. But she also loves using imitation gold leaf and after our break, in which we could all have a try with the Pyrography tools,- Cherry showed us how to lay down gold leaf on an artwork she had already made. The end result was amazing and really enhanced the brilliant Owl that she had designed.
It was a fantastic demonstration and had us all desperate to give Pyrography a try and produce something completely different to our everyday art. Cherry has written a book - which many members bought today and this month had an article in the SAA's magazine explaining her techniques.
We were very honoured that she came to talk to us and next year she has promised to run a
workshop which I am sure will get booked up very quickly!
Thank you Cherry - amazing art and an inspiring artist!
This years Chairman’s Outing was arranged at Bicton Arena. In addition to an excellent buffet style lunch, we were able to watch a show jumping event which was taking place. This event showcased top quality horses and riders trying to qualify for the Horse of the Year show, which takes place at the end of the year. Our small marquee was situated adjacent to the main arena and literally feet away from one of the jumps, so we had ringside seats!
The excellent food was provided by the Bicton Arena caterers who looked after us throughout.
For members who had never been to Bicton Arena, this was a new experience and several said that they wanted to go back when other horse events take place throughout the year.
Fortunately the rain held off until we had our lunch and didn’t dampen the enjoyment.
Thanks to all who came and feedback has been very positive so we are pleased everyone enjoyed themselves.
CHAIRMAN'S OUTING
ANNA BREWSTER DEMO AND WORKSHOP
Our speaker for June was Anna Brewster. Anna works primarily in watercolours or inks and she brought along some inks and reeds to demonstrate how she uses them in her illustrations.
The reeds, which are in the dried state (so firm) are cut to size and sharpened using a knife to make a nib and are then used with Indian Ink.
Anna had brought some flowers and grasses with her which she arranged in a jar ready for drawing. She suggested using Bockingford 140lb paper as it has a good texture to it. The drawings were not an exact replica of the flowers etc but more of a hint of the flower and position.
Once the ink drawing is done it needs to be left to dry thoroughly before adding colour. This can be using acrylic inks or watercolour and as you can see from the photos her style is to splodge the colour on and is very effective! She also did a picture using meadow flowers and said you only needed 3/4 as you can draw each one at different angles. One tip she gave was that if you were drawing daisies then not to draw the petals around in a circle but to draw them randomly so it looks more natural!
She uses a small pallet of 5/6 colours of ink and a full brush with a pointed tip to use for more delicate areas. She mixes the inks on a flat plate/pallet so they don’t run into each other.
In the afternoon 18 of us took part in a workshop with Anna and we tried to replicate her work at the morning demonstration! She talked us through the various stages again and and helped us choosing and mixing the right colours for our paintings.
It’s fair to say we all produced great pieces of work and we were all very inspired to go off and produce some more flowery pictures using ink and reeds! It was certainly a very different method of drawing/painting and we all had a lot of fun especially as Anna was a great teacher with a good sense of humour and coped really well with 18 of us instead of her usual 10! We would like to thank Anna for coming and we know quite a few people enjoyed it enough to have signed up for other workshops at her studio, so it was great success all round!
CLAIRE WESTERN DEMO
Our demonstrator for May was Claire Western. She gave an excellent presentation and, working on gesso primed board, she used mixed media surfaces, newspaper and magazine articles as backgrounds. The Sunday Financial Times and the Hindu Daily got special mentions!
She then painted thinly over this with watered acrylic paints. While this was drying she prepared some rich, painted surfaces using a small sponge. Drawing objects on the reverse of these sheets and then cutting them out- we were amazed at the results as she collaged over the backgrounds. Claire used an assortment of equipment such as sponges, scrapers, stencils and conte pencils to enrich an add detail to the final piece.
CLAIRE WESTERN workshop
Claire’s workshop was a great opportunity for members to immerse themselves in this exciting experimental approach to abstract collaging.
Her expert teaching and guidance was invaluable in encouraging everyone to work very differently from their normal practice.
Artists created a range of imaginative and colourful still life abstracts and collages. One of the great things about using this particular approach is that objects can be created separately and then positioned around the paper/artwork. These techniques and approach to composition could also be incorporated into land and seascapes.
All materials were provided and included acrylic paint, sponges, papers, glue, scissors and stencils etc. Claire also brought along many different objects such as jugs, shells, fruit and bottles to draw and then cut out from our backgrounds that we had already made. She took us through each step to remind us of the process which she had showed us in the morning demo which proved a great help.
Creating this style of art says Claire “is hectic and requires constant decision making and self criticism.”
For us it was great fun and Claire was an energetic and inspiring communicator and we all produced very different interpretations of 'Still Life' in this form!
A very big thank you to Claire for her time and effort plus her enthusiasm and patience with us all! See some examples of the artwork produced below!
LUCILLA PHELPS DEMO
Lucilla Phelps Our meeting this month consisted of a very interesting and informative talk from Lucilla Phelps who used to be a photographer for Sothebys Auction House. Lucilla told us how she started her career in photography when her children were small, as a freelance portrait and school photographer. Then she was asked by a friend to help photograph some antiques for 3 weeks at Sothebys and she ended up staying 15 years becoming Head Photographer. Lucilla talked about all the equipment and all the many staff they had to take with them wherever they went, which was often to Europe to photograph antiques in castles and stately homes. The job could take up to 6 weeks at a time. Then the catalogue would have to be printed and sent out before the Auction was arranged a few months later. One particular auction in Baden Baden consisted of 25,000 pieces which Lucilla illustrated to us with actual photographs of the items up for auction and then preceded to amaze us with the sale price that some of the more expensive lots went for! Considering this was in the 90s a quarter of million then would be so much more by todays prices! Amongst other places she talked about were the Duke and Duchess of Windsors home in Paris , Clarence House with the Queen Mother and Althorp House where Princess Diana was buried. There was also some items that had changed history such as a telegram to the Russians about the death of the Romanovs which was handed in to the Auction House. Lucilla had brought many catalogues for us to browse over and after coffee we had a Question and Answer session which proved very enlightening and she even gave us tips on how to photograph our own paintings namely: Keep the painting upright so its square on and light either side at a 45º angle! I think I can say that everyone was fascinated into this insight into a whole different world that we knew nothing about and what goes in to producing an auction catalogue. We could only look in awe at the beautiful lots for sale that she had photographed knowing they were way out of our league! Lucilla kindly donated her fee to The Jubilee Sailing Trust which helps people of mixed abilities both mental and physical to take part in sailing a tall ship
ALEX BOON DEMONSTRATION
and workshop
For our March club meeting we had Alex Boon give a talk on Nature Journaling. He was initially inspired by the Diary of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden which he was given as a gift by his grandmother. In 2016 following the decision to leave an academic career, studying and teaching environmental science, he decided to move to the rural southwest and it was then that he began nature journaling. At the time he didn’t know that that was what it was called, and he found it by accident through the way he expressed his connection with nature.
Alex advised club members to keep it to a short and manageable time, 10-20 mins a day, and that the nature of the journal lends itself to doing something different every day, playing with composition, adding observations, poetry, and feelings in written form too. Alex sketches out in pencil first and stressed to us to make sure that you really like what you are drawing before committing- appreciation is part of the experience. Alex takes elements of the nature and not only records them using Inktense coloured pencils, but he also creates his own inks using the natural materials within an environment such as through crushing leaves or adding chalk dust from nearby cliffs.
This means that part of the nature is encapsulated within the journal too. He also does some contact printing as well as pressing plants and flowers into the journals. He found that he learnt so much about the environment he was in through discovering it in person, and then researching things which caught his eye - specific plants, their flowering seasons etc. He showed us his ‘perpetual nature journal’ which has a different format – it is a year split up into time periods of maybe a few weeks each. He works through the dates in the book year on year adding a new drawing. He found that this way of journaling built up on his understanding of those particular plants that appeared at certain times of year, but also highlighted to him his progression in drawing over time. Club members remembered doing art journaling as children and how at school it was a regular thing. Alex is keen to inspire us all to step into nature, notice, and respond to it, and through nature journaling you can record your connection with the natural world in any way that suits you.
Following on from the demo, a group of Club Members attended a workshop with Alex. They found it to be very mindful and will endeavour to keep their own art journals.
