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MEMBERS' NEWSLETTER: January 2003 Thoughts from the high chair It seems clear that one major function of our brain is to acquire knowledge. How we use the knowledge we have gathered requires, to a very large extent, the use of our individual imagination. One of the most significant reasons why ‘art’ is central to our civilised world is because it stimulates our imagination. If we take this one stage further we can say that the primary human response to art is its ability to stimulate our imagination. So, when people standing in an art gallery or at an exhibition say “it does nothing for me” we could say that the work they are considering does not stimulate their imagination. There is also the other oft-heard comment – “I don’t know anything about art but I know what I like”, and here we can assume that the person has his or her imagination stimulated by the artwork. Imagination is the reason why some pieces of art become famous, others remain only popular, and why some seem to hold little interest. Some paintings, for example David Shepherd’s dramatic wildlife paintings or the roof of the Sistine Chapel, seem to have a level of popular appeal and it’s easy to see how such pictures might stimulate imagination. I am told that many of the people who buy art have only limited formal artistic training. If the general opinion of members was that increased knowledge leads to greater appreciation then perhaps one aim of our society should be to offer people the opportunity to expand their understanding of art – so as to increase their knowledge and enhance the scope of their imagination. The point is to open a debate on whether the study of art enables people to better use their imagination by increasing their knowledge. The other side of the argument may be that ‘training’ causes people to be drawn down a ‘teachers path’ and in some way limits or controls the thought process. I have heard some artists say that only a few people appreciate their artistic talent or that people don’t understand their work. Perhaps in the future more artists will have, at the forefront of their ambitions, the aim to stimulate artistic imagination. Graham Butler, Chairman. Painting with John Yardley For the past seven years I have joined John Yardley on his painting course at Dedham on the Suffolk/Essex border. He holds two one-week courses at Dedham Hall; the first in May and the second in August. Most people are familiar with the wonderful paintings John produces of street scenes with figures and cars, railway engines, flowers and interiors. He is a self-taught artist, having painted most of his life during his spare time until the early 80s, when following a successful exhibition in London he was persuaded to leave his job in the bank and take up painting full time; he has never looked back. I became really interested in watercolour painting in 1990 following a course with James Fletcher-Watson. However I soon became aware of John’s paintings and was desperate to attend his courses. John does not profess to be a teacher but he is a wonderful demonstrator; even after 7 years I still enjoy watching him paint a subject; he makes it look so easy! The choice of subject is crucial to him; he avoids the usual landscape-type subjects full of green grass and foliage and instead prefers buildings and people. The course starts on the Sunday morning, painting a view of Dedham Hall. John will wander about before breakfast looking for the view that most appeals to him. I remember one time saying to him, “You haven’t painted this view before of the garden and back of the house.” He looked at it and then hesitated and said that there was too much green, but after a few minutes he said, “Oh I don’t know, it’s nice stood here with the sun on my back, we will have a go at this!” He uses Arches 140lb rough paper stretched on a board set at around 45 degrees on his easel. He always stands to paint and uses the very best sable brushes W&N series 7 size 9 and 10. The reason for this is that the brushes point very well thereby enabling him to paint detail without having to mess about changing brushes. The paintbox he uses is the old Roberson paintbox with four deep elliptical wells that he fills with W&N tube colours. The secret to his strong vibrant colours is the ratio of water to pigment. He dips his brush carefully into the water by a measured amount and then picks up the juicy colour from his hand held palette. One of his favourite places to paint on the course is at the old Tide Mill at Woodbridge. When I first saw this subject I thought it was a nightmare to paint; it is a jumble of old boats and a jetty with the mill in the background, and together with a fast moving tide the boats can be floating in the morning and sat on mud in the afternoon; hence he paints quickly rarely taking more than one and half hours to completion. He carefully draws the subject, constantly checking relative positions of objects and ensuring a pleasing composition. I have seen him get half-way through the drawing and decide it was not positioned properly on the paper and rub it all out and restart. Having drawn the subject he then fills his paintbox with fresh paint, psyches himself up and he is off! He paints directly on to dry paper starting in the distance and works forwards darting about from one boat to the next. However he is not painting objects in isolation, but is carefully bleeding one thing into the next where the boundary is not easily distinguished. To assist with this he screws up his eyes to limit the range of tones. Basically John is a tonal painter, hence he loves strong sunlight to emphasize the shadows. Just as a musician has perfect tonal pitch, John has superb tonal recognition of a subject and this enables him to produce a strong tonal picture, but one in which all the pieces hang together, and that really does take some practice as I soon discovered! His demonstration pictures are often sold before he even starts the picture; that amuses him because he says, “What happens if it rains!” After John has completed his picture you are left to have a go yourself, and he wanders round giving advice, but as I mentioned he is not a teacher. It should be said that he paints at home every day, but in order to meet the large demand for his work most pictures are painted from photographs. However, having watched him paint on site there is no doubt that he has reached such competence that he is able to interpret photographs in exactly the same way. In fact on a wet day I have seen him pick up a photo draw the subject carefully, squint at it and start painting exactly as he does outdoors. I can thoroughly recommend anyone interested in watercolour painting to go on one of his courses at Dedham; you are bound to be impressed by this master of watercolour. The courses are soon booked up; however he does like to encourage newcomers each year so there is always the chance of getting on a course. For details contact Dedham Hall tel no. 01206 323027 and talk to Wendy or Jim Sarton. Craig Young Turner’s Gallery Turner apparently was often furious at the way his pictures were hung at the Royal Academy — those members who display similar emotion at the way we sometimes hang their work in LAS exhibitions are in good company. Turner was ambitious and when he became a successful painter he set about acquiring premises where he could have his own gallery to show his work. So he acquired 47 Queen Anne Street in the west-end of London. The house provided him with space for a gallery on the first floor measuring 19 feet by 15 feet with his studio leading off it. A description of the gallery by an early visitor, the Revd William Kingsley, says:‘The walls are Indian Red, neither pale nor dark. It was the best lighted gallery I have ever seen, and the effect got by the simplest means; a herring net was spread from end to end, and sheets of tissue paper spread on the net, the roof itself being like that of a greenhouse. This diffused the light close to the pictures.’ It must have been a daunting business going to buy a painting. Clients were first kept waiting in a dimly lit entrance hall until his housekeeper Hannah Danby was alerted to show them up. With their eyes having grown accustomed to the low light the contrast with the brightly-lit gallery would have enhanced the colours in his paintings considerably—Turner had a canny business sense. The visitor would not see Turner who would be working in his studio unless he chose to come out; but he was able to watch every move from a peephole in the dividing wall. Turner would not allow anyone to sketch or draw in his gallery but the Ashmolean Museum now holds two oil paintings by George Jones, done from memory. The paintings show Turner’s work arranged along the floor as well as on the walls. One carries the title ‘The Artist showing his work’ and the second shows ‘Turner’s Coffin in his Gallery’ both painted about 1852. These paintings together with additional research have enabled The Tate to reconstruct the gallery and they have placed a display of it on their web site. You can visit it at: The display consists of two 360-degree panoramas created in Cinema 4D by BT Openworld’s production studio. The panoramas take a little time to download but once set up you can scroll around revolving the panorama giving the sensation of moving around in the gallery. The display has a nice feature too clicking on the paintings on the wall will bring up a small still image with commentary. Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery also has a similar panorama showing their main Pre-Raphaelite Gallery both are excellent introductions to the collections and are good examples of the exciting way in which information can now be delivered over the internet. References: Robert Kirk Did you miss the ‘Big Draw’? The ‘Campaign for Drawing’ was begun by a small charity, The Guild of St George, to celebrate the centenary of its founder John Ruskin. Dr Cedric Quayle, the Secretary of the Guild, gave a presentation to members in June 2002 as part of the monthly programme. The ‘Big Draw’ is an annual event organized by the Campaign and celebrated by art schools, colleges, and galleries all over the country it has the simple objective of getting everyone drawing whatever their age or ability. In 2002 the Big Draw events were held during 16th-23rd of October, and I went to the Assembly Rooms on 19th October with the intention of looking in on the SMART Club to talk to the children about the Big Draw. Sad then that the Saturday SMART Club, which we support through sponsorship, had been cancelled that day and the whole building had been taken over by a group running drama workshops. It was ever thus: visual expression rarely gets equal rating with the written or spoken word. Gerald Scarfe, who will be showing his drawings during the Ludlow Festival this year and who helped promote the ‘Big Draw’ in 2002, asked the question, “To young children drawing is as natural an activity as running and playing, but as we grow and develop, in general we drop the drawing why?” One of the worst features of formal education is that it kills off for most people the primary urge to express thoughts and ideas through drawing. In fact teachers often regarded anyone who would rather draw than write essays as not being very bright. I remember Claire Spencer, who has selected our exhibitions and given workshops to members in the past, once told me that her headmistress was horrified when she learned of Claire’s ambition to study at Hornsey with the intention of winning a place at the Royal College of Art. “That was a career Grammar School girls did not choose”, she was told. Ludlow Art Society members perhaps are distinguished by having survived the effects of that kind of educational prejudice. So we all should make a point of actively supporting the ‘Big Draw’ events in October 2003. Perhaps the Society could organize its own well-publicised Big Draw event that is if the Assembly Rooms will give us the space. Robert Kirk Here’s a thought or two on drawing
Robert Kirk. The start of the New Programme for 2003 1. John Palmer is starting off on March 6th, talking about watercolour and loose pencil. John was elected an academician of the Royal West of England Academy in 1991. He has twice been President of Bristol Savages founded by Bristol artists in the early 20th century. He trained at West of England College of Art and worked in design and illustration. He has written two books and many articles for international art magazines. He has exhibited in the Singer and Friedlander Times watercolour and Laing competitions. 2. The following month, April 3rd, Filbert Splosh who needs no introduction in Ludlow is talking about the Impressionists. Notices Thelma Ayre will be starting a second course of drawing/painting and design at Ludlow College, Mill Street, Room 37, on Thursday 23rd January – 7.00 to 9.00 pm. The course will cover composition and understanding of pattern, colour and dynamics as a way of expression. For further details call Thelma on 01584 878447. Leisure Art Group |