NEWSLETTER May and June 2013

With our annual drawing competition being held at the end of May it is important that you read the rules posted previously on the internet.  

The rules are not drawn up to be petty or officious but to set a standard that everyone is comfortable with. We hope that our new members will participate and not feel intimidated by artists who have been exhibiting and entering competitions for years. The competitions are fun and it is lovely to see what the members produce.

A warm welcome to our newest member – Cynthia Fletcher.

PAST EVENTS

12 March - The Adolfo McQue afternoon was unfortunately poorly attended, but the few of us who were there were impressed by how quickly Adolfo painted a landscape without even a photo as a reference.  It is an inspiration to watch such a relaxed artist at work.

19 March - Third time lucky!!  On a beautiful morning 7 of us went to the Ohio Farm in Noordhoek for a paint out.  What a lovely setting – an avenue of very old oak trees, a lily pond, paddocks with alpacas peacefully grazing, and a lovely farmhouse – anything and everything to inspire one.  If we do another paint out there, perhaps in Spring, red ring it in your diary as a must.

27 March - Tim Johnson exceled himself by giving us a wonderful presentation and talk on digital art. There were many questions about this very 21st century art form and Tim graciously satisfied everyone’s curiosity.  For the aspiring and accomplished artist alike, seeing what you can do with the available software is enlightening, and a very useful tool.

9 April – The event was very well supported with more and more tables being set up as members arrived. The lovely energetic Sonia Jacka worked us hard at the “values” workshop but I am sure that everyone who was there thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon.

Please make every effort to get to afternoons workshops in good time to set up before the guest speaker starts at 2 pm.  It is distracting to the person doing the workshop if he or she has to stop because of late arrivals.

Our exhibition held at the Garden of Remembrance on the 13th of April was great fun, and the weather was luckily warm with the pesky southeaster playing the game for a change.  It was a pity that more artists didn’t come along to show their work, but those who did enjoyed the morning.  It is good to know that Alderman Felicity Purchase was very enthusiastic about us being there, and is encouraging us to do it again. 

It is a very easy venue with parking so close, and with the various levels in the garden there are many places to set up.  Later in the morning quite a few people wandered in and admired the paintings.  Hopefully more of you will participate if we do another Saturday morning in Spring.

16 April – The weather for the Kalk Bay Harbour paint out was not good, but a few intrepid artists settled themselves at Kalkys and made the most of the morning.

24 April – Sue Green, our hard working treasurer and librarian, gave a very informative and interesting talk on the history and use of pastels.  She showed photos of amazing works that have been done in this medium and dispelled many of the myths surrounding this art form.  I, for one, will definitely be doing more work using pastels.

OUR MINI EXHIBITION AT LONG BEACH MALL 

SATURDAY 4 MAY 9.30 AM UNTIL 2 PM

Cindy has done a lot of work to get this exhibition up and running and would appreciate it if you could all please take note of the following.

The Mall management has kindly offered us the use of a chair, tablecloth and trestle table FREE for each member.  The space allocated to us is outside the Edgars entrance and Cindy thinks we could accommodate about 6/ 9 artists fairly comfortably (10 with a bit of a squeeze at the trestle tables).

The good thing about the tables is that they are big enough to hold about (depending on size) 4/6 med size paintings still leaving enough space for the artist to work on a painting.

Please phone Cindy on Tel:  021 785 5033 or Cell: 082 925 2935 or e-mail  cindyjb@worldonline.co.za  to book a space – first come first served.  You will unfortunately not be able to participate by just turning up on the day – you will HAVE to book a table with her as she needs to know how many tables to order.   If we have more than 9/10 artists interested, we could arrange some form of shifts. Long Beach Mall has stressed that the area must be kept clean and tidy – no picnic baskets, food or drinks on show and nothing to be pasted to walls, floors etc (as if we would !!).

The added good news is that artists will now be able to sell their work as the Gallery in the Mall has moved to Noordhoek Farm Village, so this is an excellent opportunity, not only to promote the Society, but to show the public what you can do.

For the artists exhibiting – please be at the Mall by 8.30 to set up the tables before the Saturday rush of people.

Events for the coming months – please make every effort to support them. We are privileged to have such vibrant and interesting speakers giving their time so generously for us.

14 May – 2 pm  Workshop – Val Parry has kindly agreed to run this workshop and to go through the criteria for the drawing competition at the end of the month.  You may bring your own article/s to draw, and Val will set up some objects as well.

21 May – 9.30 am Paint- out  Water’s Edge Boulders. If the weather is inclement we can meet at Boulders and decide where to go out of the rain/cold.

22 May – 7 pm  DRAWING COMPETITION criteria at the end of the newsletter.  Please note that you should bring your work/s to the hall at Nerina no later than 6.30 pm

4 June – 2 pm John Strickland will be giving another workshop on sketching, a subject that many of you are interested in.

18 June – 9.30 am - Paint-out – TBA

26 June – 7 pm  Yvonne Ankerman, a local and international selling artist will be giving us a demonstration on the use of a palette knife to create colourful and interesting textures in oils.  Please come along and watch Yvonne’s special brand of magic.

The art section of The Write Shop in Long Beach Mall has expanded and is getting in more stock every day, so pop in from time to time to see what they have.

Workshops – The second Tuesday afternoon of the month at 2 pm. Unless told otherwise, please supply your own materials and paints, etc.

Paint-outs –The third Tuesday morning of the month at 9.30 am.

Evening Meetings – The 4th Wednesday of the month at 7pm unless otherwise indicated in the newsletter. Workshops and monthly meetings are held at Nerina Gardens Hall, Recreation Road, Fish Hoek.

COMPETITION RULES

GENERAL RULES FOR ALL COMPETITIONS

1     Works presented must be original and created in the previous 12 months.

2     If a painting is indebted to the work of another artist, suitable credit must be given and

       there should be sufficient evidence of creativity in the new work for it to be judged in its

       own right as an original.  A Photograph owned by the artist or used with permission of 

       its owner, may legitimately be used in the preparation of the work.

3     Paintings and Drawings and other art works may be in any media approved by the

       committee.

4     Oil paintings on board or canvas need not be framed 

5     Watercolour must be mounted, but need not be framed

Hugh Murdoch Annual Competition 2013

1     This year the theme for the Competition is “On a Sunday”

2     Members may enter up to 4 paintings

3     They should not exceed 60 cm. by 40. cm in size (excluding the mount and or the frame)

4     The works of art will judged in house, by the members according to the usual procedure.

The Annual Drawing Competition

1     The purpose of this competition is to encourage members to draw rather than paint.

2     Originally only a graphite pencil was to be used, however the rules for 2013 are as

        follows:

3     The drawing must be rendered in monochrome on a suitable monochrome background.

        It may be done in graphite pencil, pen, calligraphy pen, or ballpoint.

4     Up to 4 drawings may be entered; they should not be larger than 42 cm. by 30 cm.

5     Any subject may be drawn.

The Rules of the Alma Byng Trophy Competition

1     The annual trophy with its cash prize is awarded to the artist deemed by the judges

        to have produced the best individual art work on show.

2     The award may not be given to the same artist for a second or third consecutive year.

3     Previous winners may enter paintings in categories other than the one in which they 

       won their prize.

4     It is customary for the Committee to award certificates to the exhibitor of the work

       deemed to be the best in each category other than the category from which the 

       trophy winner was chosen.

5     The painting may be entered in any category of the member’s choice.  

       This is made known to the hanging committee on entry

6     The name of the artist must be suitably obscured.  It may be displayed after 

        the awards have been made.

7     All artwork is to be submitted to the hanging committee members between 

       4.00 and 5.30 p.m. on the day of the exhibition. No late entries will be accepted.

8     Viewing of the exhibits commences at 7pm.

The categories are:

A     Landscape

B     Townscape or buildings

C     People portraits life studies and groups

D     Seascapes, boats and harbours

E     Interiors

F     Still life, flowers and botanical studies

G    Animal life, Wild Life

H    Abstract and experimental

I      Miniatures

J     Sculpture    (3-D sculpture in the round or in the flat, in any suitable medium.)

K     Digital           

             

NOTE

Miniatures:  The Miniature Society of South Africa gives the following guidelines:

The dimensions of the work including the frame or mount must be no more than 170mm x170mm.

The subject must be no more than one sixth of life size (A human head would be 38 mm or less).

The “spirit” of a miniature should be intimate and delicate with fine brush strokes. The colour may be intense and vibrant. The signature should be neat and very small.

Digital Works:   This category covers original works which show artistic skill and creativity and are produced by the use of computers. Works in this category may be awarded the Best Digital Work Certificate but are not eligible for the Alma Byng trophy, as this art form was not envisaged in the Bequest.

MONEY SAVING NEWS

Simon's Town Art Group, STAG, and FHAS have agreed to waive fees for members who attend events - workshops or demonstrations -  at the neighbouring art society or group.

As these events rarely coincide, members can fill their diaries with even more dates of artistic interest. FHAS members who don't have transport can contact one of the committee members to arrange a ride.

FHAS in the Garden of Remembrance

On a beautiful sunny Saturday morning, the peaceful Fish Hoek Garden of Remembrance (located at the start of Kommetjie Road) was the scene for some of our local FHAS artists to display their work and talk about the Society.


Flowers, landscapes, people... this small group of painters were there at their easels showing folk what they love to do.

We hope that this showcase will become a regular on our calendar. Watch this spot for other Fish Hoek Art Society news.

Sonia Jacka Teaches Values

           
Alex and Franziska, responsible for FHAS advertising and events, welcome artist Sonia, pictured in the centre to this month's workshop.

It was all about planes and the different values of each plane which, when worked together in pencil on our two dimensional paper, give us the illusion of a three-dimensional object.

Sonia started with some notes and explanations and soon we were taking up pencils for the first exercise.

An apple as we visualise it and an apple broken down into its different light planes or values.

Squint down, half close your eyes - essential advice from Sonia.

As demonstrated by the apples and pears we brought, we broke down the shape of the fruit into its component values. Keeping in mind the values learned, we then painted the fruit in colour.

Sonia gave clear explanations and then did the rounds assisting and encouraging members with their own interpretation of the lesson.

It was an interesting workshop and a very useful one. Let's hope we put into practice the lessons we learned.