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MEMBERS' NEWSLETTER: September 2003 Thoughts from the high chair
The word STEWARD has been on my mind recently. The way our society has run exhibitions has been to persuade the artists who submit their work to act as stewards during the event. They normally take on two 3-hour sessions to supervise and undertake the daily tasks and activities needed to ensure the smooth running of the event. Each team of three stewards who run either the morning or afternoon shift are essential for the success of the whole event. Of course the regular committee members are vital for the planning and organizing of the exhibition. In addition the Treasurer, on a daily basis, has to manage the finances. The difficulty that our society has is trying to ensure that we have enough 'volunteers' available to guarantee that each period has sufficient people to run the exhibition. As far as I can tell we have for a long time made it a condition of entry that each artist when they submit work accept that they have to take their turn at stewarding. This 'condition', for a variety of different reasons, has often caused some difficulties for both organizers and artists. When I have discussed this predicament with the organizers of other artistic events I have discovered that the problem seems to be universal. The dilemma needs further consideration. Indeed, I received a letter from a member only recently that, among other items, expressed concern on this very subject. It seems to me that we have many artists who are perhaps local to the venue who are more than willing to be stewards. Other artists may live further away and find travelling arrangements difficult. It may be that some artists have either work or domestic circumstances that hinder their active participation. There is the other side to the discussion and I have met a number of artists who, because they are not able to steward, do not submit work. We also have members who have no current work to submit but would be quite prepared to be a steward. Some artists are prepared to take on extra stewarding since they really enjoy the activity. In addition we have associate members who do not normally consider the role. I would now like to add yet another dimension to the discussion. There are organizations that allow 'non-stewarding artists' to pay an increased entry fee to offset their non-participation. They pay the extra money so that, if necessary, the exhibition organizing committee can pay someone to act as a substitute. Given this wide spread of positions and situations it ought to be possible to reach some compromise on the rule that states 'artists who submit work must be prepared to steward'. I think anyone who is a member of the society should be able to volunteer for stewarding. Artists who want to submit work but cannot steward should be allowed the option of paying a steward fee of perhaps £10 and this money, if not used for payments to substitutes, could be taken as a source of extra revenue for the exhibition. Graham Butler, Chairman. Summer Exhibition The summer exhibition at the Harley Centre brought many comments from the visitors. All seemed to be pleased with the overall standard and most declared it was better than previous events. I'm sure that this was mainly due to the high standard of work that was submitted rather than the hanging or the layout of the panels. However the people who gathered to help on the Thursday and Friday deserve great praise for their enthusiasm and commitment. I must also pass on to the stewards, who volunteered for the daily duties, the Society's thanks for the part they played in the overall running of the exhibition. Special thanks must be given to Jo Stevens and Betty Harriss without their individual efforts the exhibition would not have been such a well organized and efficiently managed event. A mention must also be given to Diane Barton, who has now offered to take on the role of Exhibition Co-ordinator in 2004. I think the standard of work was excellent, but unfortunately the members of the general public who looked at our displays could not, for reasons only known to themselves, be parted from their money and sales this year were much lower than last summer. On a bright side the number of visitors was much the same as last year and over 2,000 people viewed the exhibition. As a point of commiseration to the artists who offered their work for sale I can only say that a similar 'lack of sales' seems to have been a common thread running though many local art society exhibitions so far in 2003. The new committee have learnt a great deal from running this exhibition together with the knowledge gained from the previous event. We are determined that the Spring 2004 Exhibition will have considerably more advertising and we are determined to improve the presentation of the exhibits in the hall. Graham Butler. Oils in May For our May meeting Michael B. Edwards was invited to give us an oil painting demonstration. Michael is a member of the Bristol Savages and also one of the Dobunni painters, a group of five, the others being Jane Lampard, Andy Le Poidevin, Valerie Batchelor and Michael Long. All are successful professional landscape painters whose work is widely collected. The name Dubunni was chosen, as the group wanted a connection with the Cotswolds and the Dubunni, an early Iron Age tribe, were settlers in the area. Michael, a charming and informative speaker demonstrated a scene with riverbank, trees and boats. He made it look so easy as he built up the oil paint from start to finish. Those who had not attempted to work in oils were keen to get started once they realized it was possible to complete a beautiful oil painting in just two hours. Michael's annual exhibition is from 20th to 28th September at The Old Vicarage, Bisley, Stroud. The Dubunni Winter Exhibition is from 1st to 14th November at The Gallery, Castle Street, Cirencester. June Watercolours Our new President, Trevor Waugh, came to the June meeting. Trevor is a very entertaining speaker and we were kept amused throughout the evening. He demonstrated a watercolour of an Egyptian Nile sunset with dramatic colouring, and light and shade on the river. He talked us through the colours used and the need to control the washes, always taking up the paint at the 'bleed line', and to be sure the paint is really dry before further glazing. He stressed three washes only to preserve the purity of the medium, and no pencil drawing! Trevor brought his sketchbooks, full of his wonderful paintings of overseas holidays in Egypt. I particularly liked the camels and the sphinx. There were also cards and books to purchase and some Khadi paper sketch books that he uses himself. Trevor holds various one-, two-, three- or five-day courses/workshops at his studio, Home Buildings, Great Barrington, Burford, Oxon, OX18 4UR. This was altogether a most enjoyable evening, so please members remember these very valuable monthly Thursday evening events. Kay Goldthorp John Luntz d. 20th January 2003 John, who died suddenly at the start of the year, was Secretary of the Society from 1997 to 2001. I first got to know him at one Summer Exhibition shortly after I joined the Society. His work was quite distinctive because he painted in acrylic an unusual medium in our exhibitions at that time. We shared an interest in acrylic and I enjoyed comparing notes with him on the ways we painted with the medium. Together with his wife he ran the Mynd Court Residential Home in Church Stretton and despite this commitment he took a keen interest in the monthly programme. Finally he was persuaded to take on the job of Hon. Secretary, a duty which he performed with good humour and efficiency. He and Anne moved to Culmington and he hoped that he would have more time to paint. This was not to be: his consultancy work with Grimleys the property developers took up even more of his time. It was a job he loved, but he still had a passion for art. Once on my way to the City Museum and Art Gallery in Birmingham I met John in St Phillips Square. We talked about the Burne Jones windows; then he told me he was just going back to the office after spending his lunch hour in the Art Gallery. He whetted my appetite for the watercolour exhibition I was on my way to see. That was my last happy recollection of him. He became ill with lung cancer and was no longer able to take an active part in the life of the Society. I am sure other members who knew John will have similar happy memories of him. He is survived by his wife Anne and Iain and Susan his children. Robert Kirk www.ludlowartsociety.org.uk The other day my inbox contained a reminder to renew the Society's domain name. Such reminders need to be acted upon promptly and a quick telephone call to the Chairman gave me authority to renew. So the name and the web site are registered for a further two years. Prompt action was needed because lapsed domain names can cause problems. One of our members let her domain name lapse and a porn site hijacked it. This was not what you want to happen, but no real harm was done. Quality merchandise is rarely found in the typical high street chain store and has to be searched for. The same principle applies to quality content on the web. The 'Links and Notices' page will now take you to the web sites of some major public art collections. These contain a wealth of information in the best examples topics are imaginatively and attractively presented. The 'Archive' page has links to the web sites of some leading artists' colour manufacturers. These are only included because they carry useful technical articles and not with the intention of promoting their products. I don't know of another Art Society that has a comparable web site and members now have another two years to develop the site further. Sadly there is little evidence that members are making much use of it. The Message Boards built on a database designed to allow communities to engage in dialogue gets little use. I've always held the belief that the Society should be a supportive community within which artists, whether hobbyists or those with professional aspirations, can share their expertise. Now that we have a membership that is scattered widely through Shropshire and beyond, the 'Message Boards' provide a way of keeping the sense of community which existed when the membership was mainly concentrated around Ludlow. Please make an effort to contribute. After all the reputation of the Society will be enhanced by having a lively informative web site. Robert Kirk Here's a thought Art should never aspire to be cerebral. It is a creative activity where expression of feeling and emotion are its major concerns. So watching a recent broadcast treating Channel 4 viewers to an explanation of Tate Modern's themed display on Still Life made me immediately suspicious. Great art needs no explanation: it just ravishes you. We are far enough removed from Picasso and Braque's cubism not to be shocked by it. Their reconstruction of observed objects for artistic effect was driven by painterly concerns, which now need no explanation. Their insistence that painters had total freedom to organize and present the world in any way they choose was characteristic of the revolutionary times in which they lived and explains the diverse and fragmentary nature of Modernism. One of Modernism's unfortunate consequences is that it seems to have led artists to become more arrogant and extreme. Duchamp's urinal presented as a fountain and signed 'R. Mutt' was perhaps a joke but it led to the doctrine that anything could be art if the artist says it is. Magritte's 'The Treason of Images' with the inscription 'Ceci n'est pas une pipe' is a light-hearted reminder that you are not observing the real thing, but he keeps a visual reference the real world. In contrast Michael Craig Martin, offering a tumbler of water displayed in a glass shelf as 'An Oak Tree', does not. As an idea it's pathetically weak and lacks a logical general reference. It is questionable whether art should be driven by logical constructs anyway. Artists, unlike say mathematicians, are not trained for this kind of creativity. When they try they generally display the kind of arrogance which only comes when you have a shallow grasp of the real world. A concept is not true just because the artist says it is. 'Believe me my unmade bed really is as good as any Vermeer.' Tracy Emin was just kidding wasn't she? Robert Kirk Notices Annual General Meeting Included with this edition of the newsletter you will find a copy of the agenda for this year's AGM. The AGM is the forum for the members of the society to 'have their say' about how they believe the organization is being run. While technically any item for discussion should be included in the agenda I believe that individual points of view should be able to find a place in our annual meeting. In my brief (I promise) annual report I will raise a number of topics that should be of concern to everyone Subscription Fees, Exhibition-venues, Hanging Fees and Stewarding, Monthly Social Evenings, and the Newsletter. I hope that no one will feel inhibited about expressing his or her opinions. If our society is to grow and move forward we need to have feedback from the membership. Graham Butler Christmas Dinner The Society will hold the Annual Christmas Dinner at DeGrey's Restaurant in Ludlow on the 11th December 2003. We hope that we can make this another successful and pleasant occasion. The discussions regarding the menu and the price have not yet been concluded but it is important that we have an idea of the number of members and friends who want to attend. To some extent the number of people who attend determines the overall cost. Nearer the time the menu will have been decided and then each member who has registered an interest will be contacted so that we can book the meals. Jo Stephens has agreed to organize the event and she will be waiting for the return of the reply slips that are enclosed with the newsletter. Silk Top Hat Tours Thursday 16th October, 'Pre-Raphaelite and Other Masters: The Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection' at the Royal Academy. Coaches leave from Parkway, Corve Street, opposite the Old Post Office, Ludlow at 8.30 a.m. Depart London at 6 p.m. Coach costs £18 (exhibition entrance extra). Thursday 13th November, Turner's Britain at the Gas Hall of the City Art Gallery. Pick up point as above. Depart 9 a.m. Depart Birmingham 5 p.m. But there will be some time for Christmas shopping! Coach costs £9 (exhibition entrance extra). Please book and pay for tours as soon as possible. Unfortunately if there is insufficient support our outings have to be cancelled. For more details or to book ring Silk Top Hat, 01584 875363. Chris Butler Exhibition From the 12th to the 25th October Chris Butler will be holding an exhibition of recent work at the Bear Steps Gallery, St Alkmund's Square, Shrewsbury. Exhibition on view 10 a.m.to 4 p.m. daily. We aim to produce extra 'news updates' between the three regular newsletters that you already receive, to keep you informed of events etc. So if you have any news or views, or exhibitions/workshops you would like to be included, please contact Chris Butler for the next edition by 31st October. Tel: 01952 541687; email cg.butler@tiscali.co.uk; or snail mail to 7 City Road, Ellerdine Heath, Shropshire, TF6 6QL. |