Art Deco by the Sea

It was a wet and blustery day for our visit, so we were relieved to reach the shelter of the Sainsbury Centre, Norwich. A quick coffee, then we joined the 12 pm guided tour of the Art Deco By the Sea exhibition. Our guide was so knowledgeable and dedicated, almost losing her voice but she valiantly soldiered on.  She was quite happy for us to dip in and out of the tour as we walked round.

There was something for everyone really…. paintings, furniture, pottery and textiles, all beautifully staged and curated. Continue reading →

Roger Julien Dufour, Veuve de l’île de Sein (Widow of the Isle of Sein)

Following on from my question “Why do we paint?” in December’s Update, I have carried out further research via the internet [technology can have its rewarding side!] into the source of the tiny print, which was hanging on a cafe wall in Ireland, and so inspired me 22 years ago. It has thrown up some very interesting information, and posed yet more questions. Continue reading →

Antony Gormley, Subject II, 2019. 10 mm square section mild steel bar, 189 x 51.5 x 37.5 cm. © the Artist. Photo: David Parry / © Royal Academy of Arts

This exhibition had a profound effect on me – I found it inspirational and am so impressed with this man.

Antony Gormley is described as an internationally renowned sculptor. In my mind he is much more than that. Having visited this exhibition I would describe him also as a visionary, philosopher, architect, and engineer. Continue reading →

My own version of ‘A Hopeless Dawn’

The reason will often be apparent in the work you produce. For instance, artists will create portraits of pets that are no longer with us. Portrait painters work to a commission. Many paint for the sheer pleasure of creating something visual. Painting is also ideal therapy.
 It can take you completely away from ‘ life’s many problems ‘ for a while. Every time you pick up a brush or pencil, do you stop to consider why you are doing this? A professional artist will paint for money, and that has a marked effect on what and why they paint a particular subject. Continue reading →

We are very lucky to have so many talented artists amongst our membership and even luckier when one of them gives their time freely to inspire and teach other members.
Many of you will have seen Helen Walker’s beautiful mosaics on display at our exhibitions.  Helen, very kindly, agreed to give Gill Repper, my friend and fellow member and myself a day of inspiration and guidance.  It was such FUN!   We both like getting our hands dirty and always seem to be working in a mess and this day was no exception!  Helen was an amazing teacher and even gave us a printed list of where to buy supplies etc. as well as supplying us throughout the day with tea, coffee and chocolate biscuits!  She also gave us templates to take home and continue experimenting with this exciting medium.
We started at around 11 a.m. and finished at 5 p.m. and we’re both very proud of what we achieved.  

Thank you so much Helen.

Esther Marshall

(photos by Chris Ward)
It was a beautiful September morning as we made the short drive from our holiday cottage to Chatsworth House in the picturesque Derbyshire Dales. The road wound through the steep wooded hills and sloping fields that divide the valleys of the river Wye and the river Derwent. Continue reading →

As you may have seen on the WNAA Facebook page Helen and I have been in the Isles of Scilly for a weeks R&R. I can recommend the islands as being a very interesting place to visit. We hadn’t been before, but you do need to be reasonably fit as walking is the only entertainment, but certainly very special. The Tresco island is the most interesting with lots of sea history and the gardens built on the side of a hill are splendid with plants and flora from around the world.

Tresco Abbey Gardens are located on the island of Tresco. The 17 acre gardens were established by the nineteenth-century proprietor of the islands, Augustus Smith, originally as a private garden within the grounds of the home he designed and built.

We stayed on St Marys which is the largest island, from where you can take trips to the other islands. I also managed some sketching of the beautiful surroundings.

John Walker

De L’Impressionnisme A Bonnard Et Picasso

Bonnard: Braque: Degas: Dufy: Kisling: Lautrec: Matisse: Modigliani: Marquet: Monet: Marie Laurencin: Pascin: Picasso: Renoir: Zandomeneghi:

Names to conjure up images in your imagination and a Not to be missed exhibition in Le Cannet this year at Musee Bonnard.

I have mentioned before how lucky I am to have a lovely daughter who lives in the Cote D’azure and how she always tries to make sure I take in an exhibition when I am with her. This time it was an amazing collection lent by the Nahmad family, of forty works never before seen together.

These ranged from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century and were set over three floors, light, airy and roomy, and they were selected to highlight the exciting way that artists from different eras were interlinked, but at the same time, illustrating the contribution of each of them individually, to the history of art.

We glided silently up to the top floor in the glass lift, and then gradually worked our way down, taking time to thoroughly inspect our favourites and discuss them with my granddaughter (aged 16) who was equally enthralled with the pictures, and decided that Monet was her favourite. (She subsequently visited Musee D’Orsay in Paris last week, and decided Monet was still her favourite.)

It’s hard to describe the thrill that runs through you when you have the privilege of standing in front of the work of an old master that you really admire; it starts in my spine and runs right through my body.

The collection was hung in such a way that each piece of work connected or enhanced the one near it. How do you hang the masters of pre-impressionism and impressionism, Picasso and Matisse, Lautrec and Dufy and Modigliani and Kisling all in one exhibition, and I think the answer was “beautifully” and connecting and enhancing each other.

Of course, I had to set off the alarm system by getting far too near to a Renoir, which I was trying to explain to my granddaughter. However, the nice invigilator forgave me.

We left very reluctantly after two hours and had a lovely lunch in a typical little French café, hung with photographs of French film stars from the past.

I just love France, and I know I shouldn’t talk politics, but I just hope and pray we don’t lose our connection with France, Spain, Portugal and all the other fabulous countries of Europe. We have so much history together, and I wish we had stayed together!

Helena Anderson