Art in Action

A fine day but soggy underfoot, muddy in a few places and there were lots of sensible people wearing wellies or walking boots. But what a range of art work! I expected to enjoy the paintings and the glass, and was not disappointed, but the ceramics were far beyond expectation - some really great pieces.

Patrick Cullen

Art in Action really gives some idea of how many talented people can express themselves through their art or craft skills. And I guess many of the visitors also had some skills and talents. I'm always impressed by those prepared to demonstrate their talents in public and enjoyed watching artists work. The one that impressed most was Patrick Cullen, who was demonstrating portrait painting with pastels. Fascinating to see how he builds up the image. He must have to constantly make decisions about what colour and placement of his marks yet he seemed to work without hesitation. His self-portrait in the Best of the Best exhibition was superb and he also had some excellent landscapes on show in the painting tent.

The Market Place was almost too much - so much to see and enjoy- and then the big range of art materials. I was so tempted by the range of brushes, many on offer at reduced prices, and paper I can always use. Did I give in to temptation? No. I always want to buy more things to feed the art dream but what I need to do is make art with the materials I already have. I need to do rather than fantasise. So I came away with nothing but a sense of enjoyment and a lot of inspiration.

The Old Curiosity Shop

The Dickens themed painting challenge begins with The Old Curiosity Shop. Art work should be presented unframed at the meeting on Tuesday September 4th.

What a challenge this is! Do you go for scenes from the book or show a shop front or interior? As always the theme can be loosely interpreted so perhaps a visit to an antique shop might inspire. A local source of ideas might be the some of the objects in the Butcher Row Museum. The temptation will be to put too much in or try to be too detailed. Perhaps an unusual still life is called for.

Dickens used wood engravings to illustrate his novel and brought together a team to produce the illustrations. You can see images of the original illustrations at http://charlesdickenspage.com/illustrations-curiosity_shop.html  Phiz contributed most of the designs for the plates and George Cattermole contributed fourteen drawings.  Cattermole was a great friend of Dickens and his studio was probably the inspiration for the novel. He produced many historical paintings and his studio was full of curiosities and props including a suit of armor.

I wonder where members will find their inspiration.

West Malvern Arts Festival

Dru Bentley has kindly provided details of this free event.

West Malvern Arts Festival 2012

Friday 17th-Sunday 19th August

Hours open: Friday 2pm-7pm, Saturday and Sunday 11am-6pm

Exhibition Pictures

The Jubilee Exhibition is certainly attracting the visitors. Despite the awful weather yesterday there were still reasonable numbers. Better weather to day brought out even more. It looks like card sales are up on last year but sales of original paintings is about the same so far. This is only my second year seeing the exhibition so I can't really compare with the past but I have been impressed by the great variety of entries and others tell me it goes on improving each year.

Click 'Read more' for further pictures so you can judge the variety for yourself. Even better, come and see for yourself - there's still a day to go.

Understanding Watercolour

I was stewarding at the LAS Exhibition this afternoon which gave me an opportunity to watch Nigel Street demonstrating his water colour techniques and hear some useful tips. He really does understand the medium and I think I could learn quite a lot from him. I know he's running a couple of weekend courses at Trumpet Corner in October and I'm seriously considering booking. I just need to make sure about holiday times first.

Nigel hasn't yet put the details on his website yet but that is worth looking at any way - http://nigelstreet.co.uk/ The courses that tempt me last two days: 6th - 7th October and 13th - 14th October. Pick up a leaflet from Trumpet Corner or call in at the LAS Exhibition on its final day (Tuesday 5 June)

Exhibition Preview

A great sense of excitement as members and guests gathered for the preview. Tony Bateman had done a fantastic job adjusting the display and adding labels at the end of the afternoon. Sculptor Guy Woodford was guest speaker for the opening and had clearly made sure he arrived early to view the exhibits before many people arrived. He was able to comment on the great range of styles, subjects and moods on display and emphasised the importance of form.

Thanks to Oliver Hill we have plenty of pictures from the evening. Click on "Read more" to see them

Hanging Day

Get them off the floor

This evening is the members' preview of the Jubilee Exhibition. Doors open to the public at 10am on Saturday (see the Coming Soon page for more details).

Volunteers have been busy all day moving and setting up display boards, booking in exhibits and then fixing them to the boards.

"Get them off the floor" is the first stage of hanging and this picture was taken toward the end of the process. The next step is to readjust the positions to optimize the layout.

This year there are almost 150 art works on display. In addition unframed pictures and prints will be displayed in browsers. If you can't afford an original work of art then make sure you buy some cards from the stands near the entrance/exit.