This blog has moved!

The Truro Art Society blog can now be found at www.truroartsociety.blogspot.com

MAY MESSAGES

TRURO ART SOCIETY
cornwall
SPRING BLOG


The Committee would like to welcome back all those members who have renewed their membership and to welcome all those new members who have just joined the Society. This Newsletter is to fill you in on all those interesting activities you might have missed since the last Newsletter and to give you a taste of the even better things to come in the next year. We hope that there will be something to please everyone.

If you have not yet paid your subscription for the coming year, may I remind you that it is still £15 for individual members, £25 for two members at the same address.

A blast from the past! By January 1960, Truro and District Art Society membership numbers had reached 51 and the annual subscription was 10s. 6d. old money. In 1960 the Society received a grant of £23 from the Carnegie Trust but gave a donation of £42.2s.0d to the World Refugee Fund.

At the AGM, there were 30 people present. We said goodbye and thank you to the following Committee members who have already stepped down, are retiring or changing role or are going to retire part way through the year;
Gill Widdison (Minutes Secretary)
Sara Pound (Workshops Secretary)
Joan Humphries, Elaine Allcock and Bryan Dawkins (Exhibition Secretaries)

We heard reports from Committee members, the essence of which is summarised in this Newsletter.

(The full minutes of the AGM will be published for the next AGM, April 2009)

We have now had the AGM and the new Committee has been elected.
They are:
Jan Lobb; Chair
John Faupel; Programme Secretary
Sonja Faupel; Membership Secretary
Barry Pettit; Treasurer
Bryan Dawkins; Workshops Secretary
Tony King; Publicity Secretary
Martin Perman; Exhibitions Secretary (Technical)
John Pedler kindly agreed after the AGM to take the minutes at Committee meetings.

Other Exhibition Secretaries will change over after the next Selected Exhibition at Trelissick.
So current Exhibition Secretaries are
Joan Humphries
Elaine Allcock
After that the task of organising exhibitions will be shared by
Christina Rayson
Jennifer Lilley and
Anne Brooks.

N.B. There is still a vacancy for Exhibition Secretary 2, whose job it is to deal with mailing, labelling and catalogue production.

Thank you to all those who filled in their questionnaires and sent them back to Jan Lobb. There is still time to do it if you have anything to say. We are taking note of your suggestions.

workshops past and future

Back in May and June 2007 Sara Pound organised two very enjoyable and successful workshops on mixed media, led by the very enthusiastic and inspiring Ges Wilson. Unfortunately, two workshops planned for later in the year came to grief when first one then another of the proposed workshop leaders had to drop out. (Vincent Rymer relocated to Spain and Gillian Craddock had a clashing duty.)

However, the prospect for the coming year looks good. Bryan Dawkins has acted on the desires expressed by some of the less experienced painters in their questionnaire replies and is organising a series of classes/workshops, at Carnon Downs, between now and September, at £20 a time. So what is usually a Summer holiday blank in our schedule now offers something for you to do. (More workshops will be announced later in the year.)

*Wednesday 21 May: Drawing (Use of all drawing media from graphite pencils to pen and wash, including pastels. Includes an introduction to perspective.)
Already fully booked, but may be repeated.

*Wednesday 25 June: Marine and Seascape Painting (How to paint the sea. boats and shoreline. Any preferred media.) Already fully booked, but may be repeated.

*Wednesday 23 July: An Introduction to Abstract Painting (Includes use of texture and special effects.)

*Saturday 2 August: Landscape Painting
(How to paint trees, clouds, buildings, etc. Includes composition.)

*Wednesday 13 August: An Introduction to Oil Painting (Includes use of palette knife.)

*Wednesday 27 August: The Use and Understanding of Colour (A complete guide to the paints on your palette and how to use them effectively.)

*Saturday 6 September: An Introduction to Painting With Acrylics.

If you are interested in any or all of them contact Bryan on bryan.dawkins@btinternet.com
or phone him on 01872 571435

monthly talks, past and future

In January, Fiona Hackney from University College Falmouth departed from her advertised title and told us about her research into the design of women’s magazines and about the part-time course she runs on twentieth century art and design. She also showed us slides of a variety of art galleries (such as the Guggenheim) and got us thinking about the relationship between works of art and the spaces within which they are exhibited.

In February, Robin Paris talked about the process of batik, well-known in Indonesia but less so in this country, as a method of creating works of art, and showed examples of her work.
You can see Robin's work on www.robinparis.co.uk

In March, the advertised speaker was taken ill and John Faupel stepped in with a talk about his own work, his favourite artists and his influences. With stong undertones of mathematics, science, natural history and philosophy, John’s works were eye-catching and thought-provoking, as well as using a range of unconventional media to achieve a desired effect. See more of John’s work on www.faupel-art.org

Coming up in May, Jenny Beavan will talk about “The Art of Ceramics – A Sense of Place”. Anyone who has been to County Hall recently may have spotted one of her benches on display. You can see some of Jenny’s work in advance by looking on www.cryofthegulls.co.uk

Our final meeting before the Summer break will be a critique, by Tom Henderson Smith, of members’ work (presented anonymously). Usually we have a vote for our favourite picture, but don’t be put off. If you don’t consider any of your pictures good enough, if you are a beginner and want to know how you are progressing or if you are having difficulty with a particular work, bring your problem with you and take the opportunity of getting some free advice from Tom (not to mention unsolicited advice from the rest of us!).

Tom’s own work can be seen on www.hendersonsmith.co.uk

*AFTER THE SUMMER BREAK*

On 17th September you can look forward to a talk by Mark Thackeray on ‘Stanley Spencer’s Earthly Paradise’

Stanley Spencer (above) spent much of his life in the Berkshire village of Cookham and is perhaps best known for those large visionary paintings based on traditional themes. Mark hopes to involve the audience in some interesting discussion about what they really mean.

If you want to have a preview of some of Stanley Spencer’s paintings, you can see 65
of them on www.tate.org.uk

On October 15th do not miss ‘Benign Icons’ by Patrick Woodroffe. Patrick is brilliant in the field of imaginary realism, as exemplified by the jacket of his latest book, called Benign Icons. Visit his web-site www.patrickwoodroffe-world.com for an idea of the dazzling array of his work.

This is a marvellous opportunity to meet the founder of all this creative output and witness a display of hallucinatory images that will undoubtedly inspire you for many moons to come.

And on November 19th is the final talk of 2008 (the December meeting is the Christmas party). John Hurst will give an illustrated lecture about ‘William Blake – Poet & Artist’. Blake was a painter, poet, philosopher, visionary and mystic. We can all recognise his most famous paintings, but what do we know about him and his inspiration? Was he an insane Renaissance-man or a misunderstood eccentric of the English Romantic era? Come and find inspiration yourself.

and finally – your questionnaire answers

Suggestions for workshops and demonstrations:

Many of our new members are inexperienced and do not feel that they are yet good enough to exhibit. Now that there are fewer adult education classes available many said they would like lessons or demonstrations to improve their own work, including basic technique for beginners. All media were mentioned, particularly oils, which haven’t been used much in workshops (apart from glazes) for several years.

Water colour/oils/acrylic/mixed media/ oil pastels/water-based oils = 14
painting techniques/improvement of style/colour mixing/paint application =3
composition/perspective =1
not still life =1
Chinese watercolour/brush painting =5
landscape/seascape/sea/sky =4
marine subjects =2
buildings/interiors/furniture =2
industrial subjects =1
figure drawing/other drawing =3
animal subjects (e.g. Susan Bendell Bayley?) =1
trees =1
modernist/abstract =3
traditional =1
textiles/applique/collage/batik =4
silk painting =1
print making =1
on location, capture the moment =2
Sculture: techniques (wood/stone, etc.) =5

I am glad to say that many people thought John Faupel was doing a good job organising his monthly talks (only one person said anything adverse). Suggestions for demonstrations have been noted for future programmes.

Spring Update

Painting Days

Saturdays proved not to be a good idea. Most people who had expressed an interest in meeting together to paint had other commitments on Saturdays. No further Saturdays have been arranged. Kensey Hall, Truro High School, is not available on school days.
Christina Rayson and Jennifer Lilley (taking over as Exhibitions Secretaries in October) have started a separate group on Tuesday mornings in Truro Library. They are having a break at the moment but will start again in September. Get in touch with Christina or Jennifer if you would like to join them. See your programme for numbers.

Workshops

Do you want to learn to paint from scratch? Do you want to improve your technique? Do you want to learn a new medium? Bryan Dawkins has taken over from Sara Pound as Workshop Secretary. He is organising a great programme of lessons/workshops from May to September, at Carnon Downs Village Hall Annexe. Only £20 a day, light refreshments included. Get in touch with Bryan if you are interested. Numbers are restricted to 10 at a time, so it is first come first served. See your programme for number/e-mail address.

October Painting Day

Seven members met in the Kensey Hall at Truro High School on Saturday 20th October for the first Painting Day. There was plenty of room and the lighting was good. We jointly organised a selection of suitably autumnal still life arrangements and had great fun painting them. We exchanged tips and advice. The day was declared a great success. It was just a pity that it wasn't better attended.

There will be another Painting Day on Saturday, 24th November, 10am -4pm, Kensey Hall again. We have decided on a more Christmassy theme for those who want to have a communal subject - otherwise it's do-your-own-thing.

October meeting

About fifty people were present on 17th October to listen to Paul Williams tell us about his career and work. It was so popular that we nearly ran out of chairs. And it was well worth the squeeze. Paul had been good at drawing when he did A-level Art, but had not gone further at university. Instead he went into psychology. We were impressed by his youthful pen and watercolour sketches made while travelling around, a sure sign of greater things to come. He took up painting properly only a few years ago. Starting with a box of oil paints containing a full range of colours, he initially felt he had to use all the colours. So his early paintings were multicoloured, but by no means insignificant. Many of us envied his sense of composition and perspective. A self portrait, harbour scenes, boats; he can tackle anything! The last part of the talk was about his more recent work. What an interesting technique. Intriguing mixtures of different media. Lots of diluted oil glazes, overlaid on heavily drawn charcoal, dragged, some chalk, paint trickled rather then painted. It gave us lots of ideas. His coastal scenes with jagged rocks, twisted strata, smooth boulders and pebbles, violent waves or foaming water's edge, rock pools, seaweed. Everything was meticulously portrayed, giving much to delight the eye in close-up as well as from a distance. Although seemingly as realistic as a photo, Paul's paintings have a slightly surreal feeling produced by his light effects and his choice of colour (now reduced to a much more limited palette). The evening passed very quickly.

Painting Day

Saturday 20th October 2007
10.00-16.00
in Kensey Hall
Truro High School

Vincent Rymer has gone to sunnier climes, so cannot do the proposed workshop. So we are going to have a self-help workshop instead. Bryan Dawkins has offered to be on hand to give advice and several other experienced members has also declared an interest. Bring your materials and problems with you. Bring your own refreshments. We may be able to provide tea and coffee, but arrangements are still embryonic. If you have an interesting object to include in a still life please bring it. Charge for the day: JUST £5 to cover expenses. But please let Jan Lobb know if you are proposing to come.

If it is a success, we'll make it a regular event.

CHACEWATER GARDEN CENTRE

Coming up Saturday 6th October to Sunday 28th October 2007, at Chacewater Garden Centre, there will be an exhibition of members' works. Do you love gardens and flowers? Do you love Cornish scenery? Do you love boats? Do you love animals? All tastes will be catered for by the combined talents of Truro Art Society members.

52nd Annual Selected Exhibition

NOW RUNNING, UNTIL SATURDAY 23RD SEPTEMBER, in the Stables, Trelissick Gardens (a beautiful National Trust venue and well worth a visit on its own) is our 52nd Annual Selected Exhibition. Entry is free.

Forty members of the Society have produced a wonderful collection of pictures and ceramics. Paintings are in a variety of media: watercolours on paper, acrylics and oils on canvas and on board, pastels on paper and on suede, inks, collage. You name it, somebody has tried it. There are framed pictures at sizes and prices to suit all pockets: from £395 for a large, dazzling panorama of a Brittany Harbour by Bryan Dawkins to £20 for a gentle little watercolour of a Bleak Day by Ian Haile. Ceramics range from £185 for a a witty stoneware ram ("I Used to be a Lamb") by Helen Savage to £28 for a bowl by Janet Burke. In between there are plenty of moderately priced framed pictures and ceramics on display, with a great selection of unframed pictures in the browsers.

At the Preview a ballot of favourite paintings produced two winners: Congratulations to Barry Pettit for his pastel "In Kennall Vale" and to Paul Hoare for his watercolours.

This year's artists are:
Charles Ash
Elaine Allcock
Ann Brooks
Eileen Bruce
Barbara Bullen
Janet Burke
Lynette Burleigh
Daphne Charlton
Eric Dare
Bryan Dawkins
Julie Ford
Vivienne Fraser
Pamela Glasser
Bill Glover
Rita Glover
Ian Haile
Molly Hawkey
Paul Hoare
Bob Humphries
Joan Humphries
Arthur Jordan
Jennifer Lilley
Jo Meldrum
Gerald Morse
Barry Pettit
John Pedler
Martin Perman
Heather R. Phillips
Sara Pound
Christina Rayson
Sharman Rowe
Helen Savage
Rosemary Inglis Simpson
Yaso Sivathondan
Karen Smith
Tom Wong
Clive Wood
Pat Wheeldon
John Wroughton
Cynthia Young

SUMMER UPDATE

SPRING MEETINGS

When does material cease to be home furnishings and clothing and start to become art? Answer: when it is a techno-textile. In March for her talk “Techno Textiles: fashion and art” Sarah Braddock-Clarke brought along some wonderful images of furnishings, haute couture clothes, wall hangings and whole room installations involving the most amazing materials. Sarah had travelled to Japan and Italy, leaders in the field, where they sometimes work in tiny studios and sometimes use computer technology to control jacquard looms and the sort of robots usually involved in car spraying. But images only told half the story. Sarah’s box of samples was a joy. Example: What would you expect of a cloth that was woven from very fine copper wire, coated with transparent plastic, interwoven with fibres made from coagulated and spun milk protein? Answer: it looked and felt like rather stiff pink taffeta or brocade. What about fabric sprayed with a thin layer of stainless steel? It seems that there is no limit to what can be woven, knitted or otherwise assembled to make something beautiful. Want to know more? Sarah has written two books.

In May we didn’t quite know what to expect from Jacqueline Wedlake Hatton either. Her talk “A post-modern approach to art – What is it?” left the question unanswered at the end. We in Truro Art Society are obviously all fairly conventional in our techniques, media and subject matter, but if we let ourselves go we too might achieve some exciting results. Basically, if you choose to call something “art” it is art. It is self-defining. Jacqueline had started off as a photographer and some of her installations involved videos, but she had branched out beyond conventional images. A meticulous portrait of a square of carpet, lipstick kisses on the wall transformed into a thicket of irises, a tower of crockery on a small indoor lawn – these were some of her thought-provoking works. Maybe not items you could take home and hang on the wall. As Malcolm Bradbury would have put it – the other side of cosy. But will we be inspired to do something a bit out of the ordinary for our up-coming exhibitions?

At our final meeting in June we all enjoyed looking at one another’s pictures and listening to David Cheepen’s critique of our (anonymous) work. He was very kind and managed to say something encouraging about each piece, and offered advice where he thought appropriate. There was an impressive range of topics, media and styles. At an informal ballot afterwards the most popular picture was a watercolour of Cotehele, which we then discovered was painted by Bob Humphries.

We have a terrific programme organised for next year, so I hope we will get a good attendance. The first talk, by Steve Taylor is called “Tag’s Quirky Characters”. John Faupel describes him as Beryl Cook with attitude! Sounds like a lot of fun.
He has a web site www.tagoriginals.co.uk

Then, on October 17th, we have something completely different. “Lizard Seascapes and Coastal Scenes” by Paul Williams should appeal to the landscape enthusiasts amongst you. Paul also has a web site www.pauljwilliams.co.uk

COMPETITIONS
We regularly receive mailings about competitions from Parker Harris. Usually these arrive too late to do anything about them. They are quite expensive to enter, and you have to travel miles to hand them in, but they do have cash prizes, including regional prizes. If you are interested keep checking www.parkerharris.co.uk


WORKSHOPS

In May Sara Pound organised two successful workshops with Ges Wilson as the tutor. The Works! Life model, drawing, painting, mono printing, mixed media – plenty of hard work and inspiration for all.
We had hoped to have a workshop with Vincent Rymer in October, but unfortunately he has deserted Cornwall for the sunnier climes of Spain. Sara is busily scouting around for a replacement.


Exhibitions are coming up thick and fast. You should all have had your entry forms by now. If not, contact Elaine Allcock. Meanwhile, GET PAINTING OR SCULPTING!

Those of you who are not planning to exhibit, come along and see us anyway. The SELECTED EXHIBITION is at the Stables, TRELISSICK GARDENS, from 2nd to 23rd September, 10.30am-5.30pm. Members coming to the preview on 1st September (11am-2pm) need to let us know numbers.

The UNSELECTED EXHIBITION will be at CHACEWATER GARDEN CENTRE 6th to 28th October, 10.30am-5.30pm (no preview).


BACK TO OUR BEGINNINGS

Vida Beckton, one of our founder members, was reminiscing with Sonja Faupel the other day and telling her about the origins of Truro Art Society. In the 1940s, soon after the war, a group of painters used to meet to paint in a school in Union Place in Truro. Their tutor suggested forming a society. A row then ensued with Truro Arts Society, who said that another society of artists was not needed. The nascent Truro Art Society almost floundered, but Vida met our current President, Pam Entwistle, and she joined them. Pam’s energy and organisational skills saved TAS from disappearing altogether, for which present day members are duly thankful.

If anyone else has memories of our early days we would love to hear them.

As the Society started with a group of people meeting to paint together, we think that the time has come to restart the practice. Workshops with a tutor are very popular but don’t suit everyone. You may find them too expensive, you may not want to do the particular subject or medium on offer. Similarly, many of you enjoy the monthly talks, but not everyone wants to turn out of their homes in the evening. Some of you (Heaven forbid!) are only using us to exhibit your works. The only time we know you are real people and not just names on the page is when you come to hand in and collect your pictures.
For those of you who feel that the Society could offer more, we hope to be starting in October, on a trial basis initially, regular Saturday painting sessions. Bring your own materials and lunch and share your expertise and inspiration with others. No tutor will be involved, so beginners will learn from those with more experience. These will be self-help workshops! The only charge will be to cover the cost of the venue.
If you are interested please drop Jan Lobb a line (to get some idea of numbers).

****************************************

Do you like painting pictures (from photos) of towns and villages as they looked in the past? Do you want to earn some money?
For more information contact Jeff Lister at
Kelso Arts, Netherside, Villa Road, Bingley, West Yorkshire, BD16 4EY.
e-mail kelsofineart@aol.co.uk
phone 01274 222987


WRITE FOR THE NEWSLETTER

Do you have an opinion about the Society? Do you want to say something about ART in general? We want to start a newsletter section where you have your say. Send Chairman/ Newsletter “editor”, Jan Lobb your items for inclusion in the Autumn Newsletter.


MEMBERSHIP REMINDER

If you know you are not up to date, Membership Secretary, Sonja Faupel, is waiting to hear from you!

SUBSCRIPTIONS AND VENUE FOR 2007

Unfortunately, with rising costs, it has proved necessary to raise annual subscriptions. These now stand at £15 (£25 for two at same address, half price for under-eighteens and students in full-time education). This gives you admission to all the talks, the right to submit works for exhibitions and newsletters. Visitors are welcome to attend any individual talks, price £2.

The new venue, from 19th September 2007, is the Jenny Agutter building at Truro High School for Girls.

There is one more meeting (June 20th) at Archbishop Benson. Bring along a work for David Cheepen’s critique.

AGM 2007

At the AGM in March the Chairman and various Committee Members gave reports. The Treasurer, John Pedler stepped down, having been in office for an extra year. Many thanks to him, and to our Auditor who is retiring at the same time. Barry Pettit was voted in as the new Treasurer. Also voted in was Tony King as Publicity Secretary. We are grateful to him for offering – a year spent sharing publicity between the rest of us demonstrated what an important job this is. The rest of the Committee were re-confirmed.
So the Committee now stands at:

PRESIDENT:PAM ENTWISTLE

VICE PRESIDENT: HEATHER PHILLIPS

CHAIR: JANICE LOBB (janicelobb@tiscali.co.uk)

VICE CHAIR / WORKSHOPS: SARA POUND (s_pound@hotmail.com)

PROGRAMMES: JOHN FAUPEL (john@faupel.fsworld.co.uk)

TREASURER: BARRY PETTIT (barry_pettit@tinyworld.co.uk)

EXHIBITIONS: JOAN HUMPHRIES
ELAINE ALLCOCK
BRYAN DAWKINS (bryan.dawkins@btinternet.com)

PUBLICITY: TONY KING (tony.king8@iscali.co.uk)

SECRETARIAT: GILL WIDDISON

MEMBERSHIP: SONJA FAUPEL (Sonja@compass-home.org)

Membership enquiries and subscriptions to
Lemon Cottage
Baldhu
Truro
TR3 6ED

MONTHLY MEETINGS 2007

In January we had a scintillating talk, entitled The Other Side of Cosy, by an interesting artist from Camborne, Malcolm Lindsay. Malcolm’s own “raw art” style paintings are powerful and eye-catching – sometimes disturbing - anything but cosy. He believes in conveying ideas – strong social and political messages. He admitted he is not the world’s best technical painter, and he certainly uses unconventional touches, such as burying an axe in a picture of conflict in the Middle East. As the title suggests, the theme of his talk was that the public-face of art is all too cosy, yet beneath this façade there has always been a more important and powerful motivation driving creative art forwards. Ever since human beings began scratching on the walls of caves they have attempted to express their inner and feelings and it is this on-going struggle that has made art endlessly novel and liberating. In our attempt to establish an orderly world with too many rules and regulations, we seem to be stifling creativity beneath a blanket of conformity and convention. Malcolm’s argument is that our cosy living-room walls are adorned with far too many pictures of flowers or landscapes that tell us absolutely nothing about the artist’s inner thoughts and feelings – only that he or she is able to paint well. Perhaps we have become stifled by our fear of stepping out of line and upsetting one another because these feelings of joy or sorrow, or even disgust with the manifold troubles of the world are too uncomfortable to express visually. But surely there is a kaleidoscope of such emotions buried somewhere in every one of us, so not even the most amateur of painters should allow themselves to secretly carry such feelings within them to their grave.

At our February meeting we were joined in the audience by one of Andrea Garrihy’s own creations, a life-size cloth sculpture of a lady “of a certain age”, who had previously appeared on Blue Peter. Andrea gave us an inspired talk, “A Touch of Sculpture” illustrated with slides, about public sculpture, from its earliest days right up to the present day. The sculptors were frequently not acknowledged but sometimes, surprisingly, they were women. We saw works of vast size, such as the Angel of the North at Gateshead, and of small size, such as masks of Isis and Thames on Henley Bridge and the head of John the Baptist in Penzance, with all stages in between, with representations ranging from larger-then-life heroic figures to the intimate and abstract. All media were represented, from classical white Carrera marble, Bath stone and bronze to brick and wire and bright yellow plastic and painted steel. Andrea told us which sculptors she liked and how she was inspired by Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth and the Yorkshire landscape. Her own works included large stone knots, a giant conker carved from horse chestnut wood and threaded on a giant string, and award-winning snow sculptures produced (with a team) at international competitions. Snowmen will never be the same again.

Andrea has her own website.

When do textiles cease to be home furnishings and clothing and become works of art? Certainly when they are Techno Textiles. This was the subject of our March talk, given by Sarah Braddock-Clarke, who has written two fascinating books on the subject. She brought along the most beautiful samples, and stunned us with what they would cost to buy. Starting with the basic principle of a warp and a weft, it is amazing what materials can be woven together and how they can be finished after the weaving process. Extremely fine copper wire, coated in transparent plastic and interwoven with fibres made from coagulated milk protein, produced a subtle pink fabric with a look of silk. Some materials had been sprayed with micro-fine coatings of metal, such as stainless steel -21st Century chain mail that could be washed and ironed! Japan and Italy lead the way in the production and use of these fabrics. Technology previously used in car manufacturing, computers controlling jacquard looms, many things have expanded the potential for textile production. Sometimes the end results go straight to art galleries, sometimes to haute couture, some even have a practical purpose.

Having had a talk on Mediaeval and Renaissance art in the autumn, it seemed only natural to examine the other end of the spectrum in Spring. Our May talk by Jacqueline Wedlake Hatton was “A Post-Modern Approach to Art”. Most of us can just about cope with Modern, though most members tend to keep to a fairly traditional style in their own work. Jacqueline herself started as a photographer and now uses video and painting in her work as well – along with a selection of unconventional materials – to produce installations. The wonderful thing about Post-Modernism seems to be that anything goes. Don’t worry about technique or medium, if you choose to call it art, it is art. We had a lively discussion and Jacqueline illustrated her work with slides of her own work and that of other artists. I can’t wait for the next exhibition to see if anyone has taken up the baton and run with it!

SPRING WORKSHOPS

Ges Wilson’s workshops are always popular and inspiring. Held at Carnon Downs Village Hall, the two latest were no exception. Ges is a contemporary artist, having freelanced & exhibited in Cornwall & London over the last decade. She has been involved with arts education in Penwith since 1978, Ges then worked alongside Roy Ray (then Principal of St Ives School of Painting) as a Tutor, stepping into his shoes in December 2000. Since leaving her post at St Ives School, she has focused on being a ‘working’ Artist, exhibiting new bodies of work, joining ARTSPACE Gallery in St Ives and, as if that wasn’t enough, is a Professional Freelancer for the Tate giving talks on various exhibiting artists ‘in house’.
She has worked with oils, acrylics, pastels, charcoal & various other mixed media, including various types of printing. To read more about the school & see some of her work see www.stivesartschool.co.uk or go to ARTSPACE Gallery, where you can link into her own website!
The first workshop was drawing from a ‘Life Model’ in the morning – several short sketches to warm up, using charcoal, ink or other media. Then in the afternoon developing image/s with mono-printing & layering of coloured glazes.
The 2nd workshop was a continuation of the image/s produced (one day was not long enough to produce a ‘finished’ result) or bringing along another/similar image to progress onto.

EXHIBITIONS

A selected exhibition was held, from 2nd - 24th September 2006, at the Stables, Trelissick Gardens.
Congratulations and a big thank you to our hard-working Exhibition Secretaries, and to all the others who helped out before, during and after our stay at Trelissick.
Many visitors commented favourably on the charming venue, and there was general admiration for the good standard of the works exhibited. There were some very nice comments in the Visitors’ Book.
Visitors came from far and wide and our paintings found their way to other parts of Cornwall, all over Britain and as far away as Australia. 44 members entered 157 framed paintings and twelve 3D works, with 62 unframed pictures in the browsers. (We managed to keep rejections down to 25, compared with 105 last year.) 13 framed and 11 unframed pictures and 1 stoneware piece sold, earning £1935.
Elaine Allcock’s “Autumn Wood” received the most votes for Best in Show at the Preview.

The National Trust has very kindly invited us back, so our 2007 Selected Exhibition will also be in the Stables at Trelissick Gardens. The invitation only preview will be on Saturday, 1st September, and the exhibition will be open to the public (free admission) from 2nd to 23rd September 2007.

We did not manage to find a venue for an unselected exhibition in 2006. There is a sad lack of suitable exhibition space in Truro. But we are more fortunate for 2007. There will be a 2007 Unselected Exhibition at the Chacewater Garden Centre from 6th to 28th October 2007.

Details about submitting works will be circulated to members by the Exhibition Secretaries. May I remind you that it is important to follow instructions, so that we do not have any bad feeling on handing-in day.


MONTHLY MEETINGS 2006

Thanks to John Faupel’s talent scouting, the year got off to an excellent start, with Grace Gardner and Caroline Pedler giving us inspired talks about their careers and work. Anyone who wasn’t there missed a couple of treats.

Nothing could have been more different than Grace’s abstraction and Caroline’s realism.
Even within their own works there were contrasts, Grace’s large canvases ranging from meticulously colour-balanced grids to energy-filled swirls, and Caroline’s from charming, smaller-scale naïve illustrations for children’s books to stunning realistic blow-ups of flowers. (Both of them can be found on the Web if you want to see more.)

“The Shock of the New”: November’s talk by Susanna Gentle on early Italian Renaissance painting was a treat- Cimabue, Giotto, Masaccio, Bellini – we learnt a lot about the change in art styles and media at the time.


CHRISTMAS PARTY 2006

Members of the Society had an enjoyable time at Epiphany House, Kenwyn, Truro, on the evening of Saturday, 9th December 7.30. Everyone brought festive food to share and we provided a selection of wines and juices. As usual John Faupel provided one of his fiendish quizzes and there was a friendly competition of seasonal paintings.

The Christmas Party 2007 will be held in the Jenny Agutter Building, at Truro High School for Girls. (Details on your programme.) We hope that this new venue is more accessible and that even more members will come.

AUTUMN WORKSHOP 2006

Letting Go: Judi Trevorrow’s workshop at Carnon Downs in October was a great success and was thoroughly enjoyed by all. The title was really the feeling of the whole day. As adults we “unlearn” the art of playing ……….this day was all about simple structures, helping the artist to formulate ideas within an easy framework. Judi led the day with creating an 'abstract form' from triangles ……………… some large, some small - some touching, some horizontal …………choosing a limited palette, with added textures from cotton/string/ tissue paper/material etc ……… The pictures were quite 3 dimensional - all very different!
A positive critique was given at the end of the day …….it was interesting to see how we all developed in such different ways! A real play day - & some extremely useful information & guidance passed on to all participants!
A huge thank you to Judi for giving up her own time, so generously & sharing her own expertise with us! She always makes workshops such fun! And many thanks to Sara Pound for organising it.

February meeting

At their February meeting Truro Art Society was treated to an exceptional talk concerning the work of that extraordinary surrealist painter Rene Magritte. With the aid of many colour slides, the speaker, Dr. Mark Thackeray, gave members a wonderful insight into the “Alice in Wonderland” world of this iconoclastic artist. In the face of criticism throughout his life, this single-minded painter produced a bizarre world of everyday imagery that was never quite what it seemed.The turbulent times during which he flourished, comprising two world wars and the depression years, go some way to explaining his life-long mission: namely to show the viewer that the life of order, stability and comfort we all seek, is nothing but an illusion and that it is rather more important to ask questions than to seek answers. This life of complacency is personified by Magritte’s bowler-hatted man, whose face we never see in his paintings, but perhaps that is because he is too frightened to ask the questions.

Workshop reminder

Saturday, 18th February 2006
Bridget Sweeney’s Source Book Workshop
Carnon Downs Annexe
10.00 – 16.00
This is a popular workshop and numbers are limited, but if you wish to enquire if there is a place left phone workshop secretary Sarah.

Meeting update

Archbishop Benson School
7.30 pm Wednesday 15th February 2006

“In search of the bowler-hatted man
-the art of René Magritte”

An illustrated talk by Mark Thackeray

This Belgian surrealist is an artist whose work has been said to subvert the everyday experience of reality and to have both poetic and philosophical content.

Visitors welcome ………..£2

Monthly Meetings September 2005- June 2006

Monthly Meetings

Archbishop Benson School, Bodmin Road, Truro
On 3rd Wednesday of the month at 7.30 pm

September 21st 2005

“Artists in Print – how they saw the World before Photography”
by John Faupel, our Programme Secretary.

Before photography, printing was the only way images of far-off lands could be widely revealed to the European public. This began in the Fifteenth Century with woodcut illustrations, followed by copperplate and steel engravings, then by means of lithography and aquatints. These techniques were described with many slide illustrations of the strange and wonderful natural history, newly discovered in Africa, Asia, America and Australasian. Many thanks to John for stepping in an filling the void when Sue Harvey was unable to come.

October 19th 2005

“Art Through a Lens Digitally”
by David Trotter, Head of Photography at Truro College

David has many years of experience in design and photography. He showed us, by way of a hands-on demonstration, how to create various artistic images and designs on the screen. We were easily persuaded of the advantages of digital cameras and impressed with what you can do with the photos using appropriate computer software. Transposing people’s heads evoked some amusement.

November 16th 2005

“Wildlife Woodcarving”
by Roy Hewson, woodworking artist

Roy, who is involved in the creative art of woodcarving, showed us some of his work, starting with the simplest of traditional, unpainted, decoy ducks and progressing to the most superbly detailed and life-like painted replicas of birds. He also showed us how models could be produced by casting in pewter or resin. As a bonus, Roy’s son gave us a demonstration of “painting with heat”, a technique developed from an ancient art form, now using electrically heated needles to burn wood into varied shades of brown.

January 18th 2006

“Abstract Painting”
by Vincent Rymer, teacher and professional artist

Vincent has been teaching art and design for 20 years and now specialises in abstract painting. In the first half of his talk he led us through the development of abstraction from figurative painting, illustrating it with pictures by a variety of artists. In the second part of his talk, Vincent showed us some of his own paintings, explained his own interpretation of abstract art and gave us an insight into the ways in which his study of philosophy and his life in west Cornwall influence his work.

February 15th 2006

“The Life and Work of Rene Magritte”
by Mark Thackeray.

Welcome back to Mark who last year gave us an interesting talk about Stephen Lowry. Many thanks to him for stepping in as a replacement for Suzi Withington, who is unable to give her talk at this time. We look forward to being enlightened on the subject of this fascinating Belgian artist.

March 15th 2006
(This is the last meeting before April’s Annual General Meeting.)

“Shaping up to a Vision of Cornwall”
by Tom Henderson Smith, artist

Tom aims to celebrate his love of Cornwall through his paintings and will talk about how his Buddhist beliefs have affected his work.

May 17th 2006

“How to Promote Your Own Work”
By Louise Fox

Because Louise is co-curator of the Salt Gallery in Hayle she has gained considerable experience in the marketing of art. She will offer various tips and advice on how best to promote our own work.

June 21st 2006
This will be our last meeting before the Summer holidays.

“So you won’t be taking art, Pauline, will you?”
by Pauline Youll

Pauline came to art late in life but now likes to experiment with most media, including ceramics. She will demonstrate just how diverse the subject of art can be.

Exhibition News

We had two successful exhibitions in the Autumn.

Viv Hendra kindly invited us back to the Lander Gallery, Lemon Street Market, Truro for our 50th Anniversary Exhibition. This ran from Saturday 8th October to Friday 21st October 2005. Members were invited to submit up to five framed paintings or three-dimensional works for selection, and up to five unframed, unselected works. We greatly appreciated the skill, care and time taken by our selectors, Nicola Tilley, Robin Hunter and Viv Hendra in producing a well-balanced exhibition.

46 members submitted work. From 184 framed and box canvas paintings the selectors chose 70 for hanging. All 10 3-D works were exhibited and, in addition, 21 members between them had 80 unframed pictures in the browsers.
Works by 12 artists were sold: 11 pictures and 5 ceramic pieces. Cheques for over £900 were sent to members whose work was sold.

The second, totally unselected, exhibition was our contribution to Cornwall’s Macmillan Day Appeal at the Hotel Bristol, Narrowcliff, Newquay on 9th-10th November 2005. In spite of the inconvenience of delivering paintings to the venue, 25 members responded to our invitation to submit up to 2 framed and 4 unframed works. There were many flattering comments on the general high standard of the paintings. 5 framed and 6 unframed paintings sold and we were pleased to be able to donate £220 to Macmillan.

If we are invited to exhibit at any more charity events, it might be worth bearing in mind that the highest price paid was £65 (the lowest was £8).

Future Exhibitions

Our main problem in Truro is lack of suitable exhibition space. However, we are looking forward to holding a selected exhibition at Trelissick in September 2006. We are continuing to explore the possibilities of other venues at other times.

Christmas 2005
Although not a public exhibition, members again had the opportunity to show off their work at the Christmas party. The subject was “Winter” and Pam Glasser’s colourful picture of children playing snowballs won the most votes. We also enjoyed John Faupel’s mind-stretching art quiz, a delicious buffet brought by members, and the odd glass of wine.

50th Annual Exhibition of Members' Work

This year's selected exhibition is at the Lander Gallery in Lemon Street Market, Truro, from 8th October to 21st October 2005.
Open daily (except Sundays) 10.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m.
Admission to the Lander Gallery is free and the Costa Coffee Cafe is open all day.

Members were invited to submit up to five entries. A very large response - about 200 entries - gave the panel of independent selectors a demanding task of whittling those chosen for exhibition down to less than half that number.

Many thanks to Nicola Tilley, Robin Hunter and Viv Hendra for acting as selectors.

We hope that visitors will enjoy the Exhibition and we invite everyone to write their comments in the Visitors' Book at the Exhibition.

TRURO ART SOCIETY

The Society now has over 120 members – mainly living within ten miles or so of Truro. A twelve-member Committee is elected annually in April and meets regularly to arrange the Society’s programme for the coming year.

Monthly meetings are held from September to June. These take place at Archbishop Benson School in Truro and consist of talks and demonstrations by invited guests. During the course of a year we aim to provide items of interest across the whole spectrum of the art field.

Details of the monthly talks and demonstrations are widely advertised in local art shops, municipal buildings, art journals and the local press.

A Selected Exhibition of members’ work is held each year and, in addition, un-selected exhibitions are arranged in the Spring and Autumn.

Visitors and new members are always welcome.

Truro

This is where to find our beautiful city!

Welcome to Truro Art Society

This webpage will be the new home for Truro Art Society on the web, with news and pictures from all our events.