Janet Forry, a winter landscape and a silhouette or two

Last Thursday's visiting artist was Janet Forry, and once again, she didn't disappoint.  Janet works in oils and previous demos have taken us into the world of live portrait painting and a night time scene from New York city.  This year's demo was a winter landscape.  Janet had captured the image herself at a location near her home town of Busby.  She used the ipad for reference and straight away taught us a very handy tip.  Namely, when you click on the edit function when viewing photos, the grid that appears can be very useful in planning your composition.
It was a snowy scene.  Janet used many subtle colour changes in the snow covered fields.  She also used a large round brush to literally push the pigment into distant tree shapes.  It was amazing to see.

The painting was worked up to an almost finished state and then put to one side.  Janet then created a very quick impression from another of her ipad photos.  On a new clean canvas, she very quickly established a forest of tree trunks in a dappled light.  Her paint was thinned down this time with the addition of some low odour oil.  The canvas was completely covered in around ten minutes.  Janet has promised to send on photos of both works in a finished state.  Everyone once again enjoyed Janet's demo very much indeed.

Here are some pictures taken from the night.

Our previous demo artist was some bloke cutting up bits of paper . . . Seriously though, I would like to tell you all that I enjoyed my 'spot' very much.  Silhouette cutting is a bit of a black art, (excuse the pun) but I gauged the interest of the audience with the amount of questions being asked.  I also encourage you all to try it out at home.  The tools are there for everyone to use.  Please let me know if you tried it.
Below is a picture of some heads that I cut on the night.

New season up and running

Hello fellow artists.
Well I can't believe that we are now into our 2013 - 2014 season.  I didn't manage along to the first week's demo, but I saw one or two photographs of David Reid's work.  It looked really good.  I feel sad to have missed that, as portraits are very much my thing.
I did manage along to Michael Murphy's mixed media demo.  We had a full house once again.  It was good to see that extra chairs were needed.  The jury is still out on whether the new room layout is better.  What do you think?  Everyone there enjoyed Michael's demo.  He did a seascape once again, but by using mixed media and demonstrating a technique to allow us to view rocks below the water, it was a very different slant on the usual views of Arran.  You can see Michael's demo pictures from last season by browsing through the archives on this blog.

I was delighted to be asked to do a couple of demos for you this season, the first of which comes up next Thursday evening.  This is going to be quite different from your usual demo nights.  My hope is that some of you will be caught up in  the magic of silhouette cutting and venture into the art yourself.  Finding the raw materials is really very simple and cheap.  Later in the season, when we have the AGM night, I will be on again for a fun night.  You will learn how a caricaturist 'sees' people.  I am looking forward to that too.

I still have photographs of all those wonderful works of art that were on display during our summer exhibition.  When I have time, I will place them in the galleries section of this blog, where they will hang in in good old cyberspace fore ever and ever!

Well that is it for now.  Please enjoy the photographs below that were taken on Thursday evening during Michael Murphy's mixed media demonstration.  And also, if you have friends that would like to experience the magic of silhouette cutting, invite them along on Thursday night.

 

 

 

 

 

 



Big thanks for your contributions

We had quite a few very nice comments about the quality of the work that was on show at this year's exhibition at the Heritage Centre in Saltcoats.  Well done all of you.
I took as many photographs of individual work that I could, and once I have cropped them and picked out the clearest pics, I will hang them in our very own galleries in this blog.  There are a handful who don't want their paintings on here, and I will respect your wishes and leave them out.

If I have any enquiries about purchasing these paintings I will be sure to contact you.  Susan sent me some oil paintings for show in the gallery.  Thanks for that Susan.  I have posted a couple of them below.  The rest will be on display in the gallery.  You can see them by clicking HERE

 

Alexander Park Winter Dawn

2013
Painted using a photo taken by my daughter, Laura, who lives in Glasgow and got up very early to take this photo.

 

 

Peekaboo

2010
A friend, Brett, gave me a photo he had taken of this cheetah which was in a wildlife centre in Africa. It had been injured and was being rehabilitated back to the wild. I would like to think it is now back on the plains, free.

 

 

 

I would also like to thank the staff at the Heritage Centre, Norma, Hazel, Andrew and Mark, for all their hard work during our Exhibition week.

 

The committee will be meeting soon to discuss the exhibition and to plan for our forthcoming season, which starts on 3rd October.  I will keep you all up to date with the plans.

 

Exhibition time 2013

Well here we are again!  And it is also a happy 1st birthday to our blog.  At the moment of writing this I am one hour away from calling in at the Heritage Centre to see all our lovely work.  By what I have already seen at the handing in day, I am sure that the exhibition is going to be a big success.

 

And here are some photos from the grand opening.  Ronnie Russell did a fantastic job of officially declaring the exhibition open.  A wee injection of humour was well appreciated by all.  Had a look around and was very pleased with the quality of the exhibits on show.  Well done everyone.  I think five were sold on Friday, and hopefully many more will go this week. 

I will take some more pictures when I am on duty on Monday and Tuesday, but in the meantime.  Enjoy these general views.

 

 

ART. Buchanan galleries

Good day all.  I received some exciting news this week.  A good friend of mine, Cameron Reid, has secured the lease of ART, a store situated on the 1st floor of Buchanan Galleries.  The little poster above lists what is on offer and opening times.

He is celebrating his takeover on Thursday 16th May at the store between 6pm and 8pm.  Come along and see what is on offer.  I will be there doing free silhouette cuts for anyone who wishes one.

Hope to see you there.

Exhibition News

Hello All,

The committee had a meeting on the 29th April to discuss the upcoming exhibition and some other items.  As promised, here is an update on this year's exhibition arrangements.

It will be held in the Heritage Centre, Manse Street, Saltcoats.
Entry is open to club members and artists who live in North Ayrshire.
Entry forms can be obtained from local libraries and museums.
The completed form should be sent to Susan Montgomorie before the 16th July 2013.
You can dtop me a line if you don't know Susan's address.
The exhibition will be open to the public from Saturday 3rd August until Saturday 10th
(Excluding Suday 4th August)
On Tuesday 30th July, paintings will be received in the Heritage Centre from 2pm to 4pm
Max of two paintings per artist.
Max size 30" X 30"
Official opening by Ronnie Russell will be on Friday 2nd August, 7pm for 7.30pm.
The exhibition closes at 1pm on Saturday 10th August.  Paintings will not be released until 2pm and all paintings must be uplifted by 4pm.
A schedule for stewarding will be displayed on receiving day, when all artists or their nominees are requested to volunteer to help.

Other news.

David Reid is doing a demo at the Heritage Centre on Monday 6th May from 7pm to 9pm.
David is also providing a workshop for anyone who is interested on Monday 13th May from 7pm to 9.30pm, also at the Heritage centre.  Workshop price is £6.

I have also been told that the Roselle Open Art Exhibition is on from 8th June until 7th July.
Contact is Anne Bontkey and you can find out further information by visiting www.themaclaurin.org.uk

Scott McKendrick's gallery

I had a long chat on the club's behalf with Scott McKendrick at his art gallery in Dalry yesterday.  The gallery address, if you wish to visit, is 20 -22 New street, Dalry, and the gallery's name is 20-22 New Street, Dalry Art Gallery.  Scott likes to keep thing simple!
Scott is a talented artist himself, although his work is more contemporary than the work that we produce.  He has some fantastic ideas on art and is very enthusiastic about his gallery.  There are some photographs below which I took to give you a flavour of what he has to offer.

Scott is looking for some work to hang and has invited our club to submit work for consideration.  He is hoping to use the larger of his rooms as a gallery for work that is priced at £100 or less.  Anything will be considered though.

To submit work to Scott is quite simple.  As he runs the gallery alone, the hanging committee consists of one person - himself.

He asks that you send him a photograph of your work by email to him at this address . . .
 20-22newstreet@btconnect.com

Say who you are and that you are a member of the NCAC.  You should also incude the dimensions of the picture and the fee that you wish to sell it for.  Scott has said that he will add a hanging fee of £30 to the price of the work.

Please do consider going along to the gallery, but in the mean time, here are the photographs that I took.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Critique night 2013

Hi there!  Another full house last week for the critique night.  Many thanks to you all for bringing along your work.  It looks as if the exhibition this year is going to be a cracker.

Jim Butler did a great job on the critique.  I found myself wondering what different things he could say about each piece, but his experience as a teacher for many years shone through.  He touched on lots of points and his critique was always 'gentle' and 'encouraging'.

He worked at a steady pace, never rushing, and managed to talk in length about every single piece of art that was brought along.  A job well done, I am sure you will agree.

Here are some photographs from the night, including a picture of Jim's own work 'The thin red line', which will be on display with many of his other painting at the Harbour Arts Centre in August.

 

 

 

 

 

Please go along to the HAC and enjoy more of his work.  August is also the time of year for our own exhibition.  Handing in times for the exhibition were published in the last post of this blog.

Next week's AGM night will be rounded off by a presentation in the Art of Silhouette Cutting.  I will be hosting this.  Not to be missed, this is an excellent chance to learn about this beautiful art form.  Do come along.

May Byrne, expressive artist

Thursday night's demonstration was again very well attended. Thanks to all who came along. Before I talk about this week's guest artist, I would just like to echo Margarets words about new members for the committee. We are doing so well with numbers, demos and the exhibition. It would be too much of a good thing to lose if the committee numbers fell away. Something to ponder.

There is more important info at the bottom of this blog with regards to the exhibition this summer, so please stay tuned, as they say!

May Byrne entertained us all on Thursday evening with some swashbuckling expressive painting. The subject matter was from a picture taken of the cottages at Portencross and the medium that she employed was a mixture of charcoal on a stick, (sounds like a meal) oil pastel, acrylic paint and ink.

May's obvious enjoyment of her art was infectious. Some of us were even invited up to 'have a go'. Expressive art is well named and we all enjoyed watching her work, including those in the 'splash zone'.
Thanks very much May. We hope to see you back at the club in the future.
If you want to see more of May's work you can visit her site by clicking HERE

Here are some pics of the night, including one of May working with the board on the floor at her feet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And now that important info about the exhibition . . .

 

 

At the committee meeting on 28th January 2013, we came to agreement on the following.

 

Ronnie Russell will open the exhibition on Friday 2nd August 2013.

 

The exhibition will run from 3rd August - 10th August.

 

Handing in of work will be Tuesday 30th July.  Times - 2pm - 4pm.

 

Collection day will be 10th August.  Times 2pm - 4pm.



 

 

All these blogs are archived, so if these dates and times slip your memory, all the info will be there on the Februatry blogs on the top left of this page.

 

Happy New Year

Well here we are in a brand new year.  Apologies to everyone who has looked in on the blog over the last six weeks and found nothing had been added.
Personally, I had a really busy time over the festive period, as I am sure you all did.  Missed the first demo of the year, but I am glad to say that I was present for the second.

James Orr presented a very informative talk and demonstration.  He is a laid back chap who obviously loves what he is doing.  A "Madey up landscape" was the subject.  Acrylic was the medium.  James made it all look so easy.  He confessed that, although the subject matter came from his imagination, he had painted the same scene many times as a demo.  Thursday night's painting didn't quite get to the completed stage, but he had, in Blue Peter style, brought along one that he had made earlier.  Everyone loved his work.  There were other paintings on display around the room and there was also a very well presented brochure that James had created on his PC.

He stated that he likes to keep things simple.  To prove this, he went on to show us that he only works in two board sizes, and these are cut from MDF.  His palette is restricted mostly to the three primary colours with an occasional greem here and there.

The time seemed to fly pass very quickly, which is always a good sign.  Please have a look below at some of the pictures taken on the night,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The one "Done earlier".

 

 

 

Thanks to all the member who have commented about the blog.  Hopefully it will become a useful tool for passing on information, especially at the time between the end of season and the exhibition.  I will endeavor to keep you all up to date with preparations for the exhibition and any other news coming from the comittee meetings.

 

It was decided on Thursday night that there would be no end-of-season dinner this year.  This was due to a lack of numbers. 

 

I still have my Galleries on here.  If you would like to share something with us all, please send it to me as a jpeg and I will place it in the appropriate gallery for you.  Why not give us all a preview of what you intend to exibit this year.  A 'Work in progrtess' would also be of great interest to our fellow members.  Take photographs at different stages and email them all to me.  Why should all our demonstrators be 'hired in'?  There are plenty of skilled artists in the club who could teach us their techniques on this blog in step by step pictures.  I am a caricaturist and silhouette artist.  If anyone would like step by step pictures on this please let me know.

 

Thanks for looking in.  The days are stretching now, so hopefully those creative juices will be flowing.

 

Happy painting!