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MEMBERS' NEWSLETTER: JUNE 2001 The Spring Exhibition—Saved by Betty. The long search to find a Treasurer to keep the Society's accounts and undertake financial management of the exhibitions has finally been resolved. Back in January the Secretary and I were feeling quite depressed by the inability of each of us to find someone to take on the office of Treasurer. I suspect that most of our members are of a generation which was rigorously drilled in reciting and learning their multiplication tables by rote when they were at Primary School. It was surprising therefore that when pressed members suddenly seemed to lack the confidence to use the elementary level of arithmetic needed to add up a column of figures and produce a balance sheet! Fortunately Betty Harris–although not a member–agreed to help the Society out of its predicament. Betty has been keeping accounts for the Assembly Rooms for a number of years and we are all now indebted to her because she saved the 2001 Spring Exhibition. It was not easy for her–an outsider unfamiliar with the way we organise our exhibitions–to take on the day to day financial management of the exhibition at short notice. Betty, it should be said, coped admirably . Our new screens were in use for the first time this spring–they were made by TWB Constructional Engineers of Hereford. Desmond Keig-Shevlin and I had a cordial meeting with John Tolson, one of the directors of the company to discuss the design of the screens and I am grateful to Desmond for completing the negotiations and arranging collection of the screens from the factory. The collection date had to be revised because John Tolson was unhappy with the paint finish carried out by his sub-contractors. Although the screens were expensive we were confident that we had dealt with a company that took a pride in its product and we got good service. The new screens made a big improvement to the presentation of members' work. The Harley Centre, with its even lighting is a wonderful exhibition venue and our paintings this year made a very attractive display. The content of our exhibitions it has to be said tends to be depressingly predictable. I have had people say to me that our exhibitions hardly change. True enough we have members who paint familiar Shropshire landscapes, flowers, and still life in a competent but orthodox way. This Spring though there seemed to be paintings which treated these well-tried genres in more imaginative ways. The standard of our exhibitions is improving and it was good to see the impressive work sent in by new members showing with us for the first time. The selectors this year were John Everitt and Mary Jones, they selected 200 from the 312 paintings submitted for the initial hang. During the week long show spaces created by sales allowed most work submitted to be hung. The 200 printed catalogues were all sold and nearly 2000 visitors saw the exhibition. Thanks to Val Alexander's press releases there were good reports of the exhibition in local papers. The organisation of the exhibition was largely in the hands of Richard Kite who made sure the committee were adequately briefed and knew precisely what they had to do. We also had a splendid flower arrangement this year to grace the exhibition–thank you Jo Stevens. A 'thank you' also to those members who turned up to help with hanging and who helped Bill Sneary with erecting and dismantling the display screens. Getting Webwise Most of my life I have endured the frustration of being unable to afford my own set of the Encyclopaedia Brittanica–ah that's why he's a bit peculiar you are probably thinking– that is until last week when I bought a copy for £19.99. My Brittanica came on CD ROM so it does not fill a whole bookcase like the printed editions in public libraries and it cost a great deal less. The CD contains the full text of the printed edition and in addition gives you the capability to update information on any topic by using the Internet. My visits to New Zealand aroused an interest in an artist I had long forgotten–Frances Hodgkins. She is highly regarded in New Zealand–her native land–but she lived and worked here and in France for most of her life. Like her contemporaries, Piper, Sutherland, and Ivon Hitchens she was considered important enough to be awarded a small pension by the National Gallery through the support of Kenneth Clark when he was the Gallery's Director. Unless you search the Internet you will be hard pressed to find any information about her today. Interestingly a search using google.com for the name of 'John Blockley' found 3260 references in 0.7 seconds–though only 4 of them referred to our President! Interestingly a closer look at John's references revealed links to four pages of the Society's web site where his name is mentioned. I am not sure if the search engine picked these up by browsing the Internet or established the links by accessing the memory on my hard disk. It would be interesting if any of our surfing members can find the same information. Yes the Society now has an active web site developed with the aid of helpful suggestions from Malcolm Brown based in his 'Creative Cottage'. The site has grown to seven pages and I hope that members particularly those of you living some distance from Ludlow will help to develop it. The web site's primary function is as an information resource, to exchange news and ideas relating to members' activities and interests. We can publicise your work but we won't be able to sell it for you. Here are some of the members services the web site can or might offer:
Sceptics might be asking where this frenzy of web activity is leading? A fair question–first I hope it will prompt more members to contribute to the life of the Society, at any rate more than are attracted by the current monthly programme. There are members whom we only see when they bring their pictures to our exhibitions and I am not being critical or unwelcoming when I say that the service which the Society gives ought to develop stronger loyalty than a twice yearly appearance. Secondly, we would like to see the average age of our membership lowered a little wouldn't we? The web is a young peoples world, my grandson has no problem with browsing it to find the best price for his favourite toy! It could be that a younger generation of artists seeing our web site might be moved to join us, I do hope so. To show your work in the Members' Gallery
The Monthly Programme Many members will have read the obituaries in The Daily Telegraph and The Guardian to John Napper—John died on March 17th. I know that many of you loved John's work and his exhibitions at the Silk Top Hat Gallery were greatly enjoyed. We were looking forward to hearing his reminiscences at our July meeting and I greatly regret that we never invited him to give a presentation until this year. An opportunity to learn from his wide experience has been missed. I wrote a letter to John's widow on behalf of members of the Society offering our condolences. In July Gordon Yapp ARBSA will now give a demonstration of portrait painting. The President's Exhibition runs from Saturday 23rd June to Sunday July 8th. A list of participating artists appears on the LAS web site. Make a note of the opening ceremony to which members and friends are invited. The President's Exhibition–Opening Ceremony Complimentary glass of wine.
Workshop with JOHN BLOCKLEY - September 6th. 2001. Workshop times: 10.00am to 4.30pm. Please note the following directions:
A booking form for John Blockley's Workshop at Notgrove Village Hall is printed on the Newsletter. Places are limited to 20 so early booking is advised. John has asked that we use our own transport to give the option of visiting different locations. If you are willing to share your car with a member who cannot drive please indicate the fact on your booking form. Here's a thought 'Learning to paint is as much about being taught to look at and understand things as it is about colour, composition, or any thing else,...... But it is not simply a matter of observing something and then restating it—rather it is one of observing something and then interpreting it.' Jane Corsellis Robert Kirk, Chairman. "———————————————————————————————————— WORKSHOP WITH JOHN BLOCKLEY - SEPTEMBER 6TH 2001.
Please reserve __________ places @ £6.00 Name .................................................................................................................................... Telephone ............................................................................................................................. Address ................................................................................................................................... ................................................................................................................................................ ........................................................................................................Postcode ........................ Please indicate as appropriate:- I will use my own car D I will need transport D I can offer transport to .............passengers D A cheque for £__________ is enclosed Cheques should be made payable to 'Ludlow Art Society' Please return your booking form by 25th August to: Robert Kirk, 'West Fortune', Ashford Carbonell, Ludlow, SY8 4DB. |