Sometimes, as artists, whatever our style or medium it feels like a struggle to find the light. It gives life and form to our work, but we have to ask more than “where is the light coming from here?”

Pauline Prior-Pitt writes poetry which sings of her love of the Outer Hebrides…
It was no surprise to find Pauline is also an artist. As we leave summer behind and enter into winter Pauline is happy for me to share two of her poems which reflect her observations of how light changes with the seasons.

Summer Light

think of green water

no, turquoise
think of blue
more green than blue

no, more blue than green
but darker
ultramarine

no, deeper turquoise
emerald sapphire

think of them all

think of sand cream bays
when the tide is out
streaked with shallow pools
reflecting silver blue

no, make that milky green
though milky green is more
when the tide saunters back in
and water from the burn
mingles peat brown to violet streams

think bright green

no, brighter
a May green, like leaf buds
of rowan trees in spring
machair headlands turning
daisy white to pansy yellow
buttercup to clover pink

think all this together

Winter Light

Think mostly muted
as if seen through grey veils
Still think abundant green, duller
water-logged brown in places
moss green fringed fawn

think cinnamon and ginger
think peat brown dug deep, almost black
think grey burns, grey lochs
grey sea trailing white pray

Then think a low down sun
Think peat grass glowing crimson
on the moor

think marram glossing ochre
over pale sand against gold water

think brimming burns and lochs
holding ink blue light

Visit Pauline Prior-Pitt’s website

Michele Summers
Photos © Michele Summers

New Year’s Day 2020 feels like a lifetime ago now. I’m certain we all had plans, big plans, small plans, for the year – for me there were exhibitions, craft fairs, teaching, workshops and shows, with something booked all the way through from the beginning of March till Christmas. I was excited. This was going to be my busiest year ever. I worried whether I would have enough work, frames and mounts, worried about whether tools and lino would arrive in time for the classes.  I was worried it might all go well; I was worried it might all go badly – 

March arrived and setting up the first exhibition at Welney Wetland Trust was really good fun – it looked great and it felt like a lovely way to start the run of events. Corona Virus was on the way and I suppose there was a part of me assumed it would come and go and life would be much the same afterwards. It sounds so naïve now. 

One day I had a full calendar, a week later nothing – email after email came in to cancel all those carefully scheduled events, and with every media outlet talking about rising hospital admissions and so many people dying – although it hurt, my art seemed trivial by comparison 

I know lots of artists were inspired by the time in lockdown. I wasn’t – I was sad about my scuppered plans, unable to feel creative, and trying to manage a mother in care on end of life care, and an aging father who refused to stay in and was incredulous and annoyed when I pointed out he was high risk – the conflicting advice, the rising figures – I am sure we have all felt the stress and confusion of it.

Eventually I began to make new work, mostly of things I was missing, like walking on the beach. But what I have missed most is interacting with the people I love, enjoy, like and admire – the village that is the art and craft community – catching up with people you may have not seen since last year, setting up your stand or helping to invigilate or hang a show, the shared joys of selling or not, of swapping hints and tips and contact details of people who supply that wonderful thing, that perfect tool or run that wonderful fair. 

So, those few events that have gone ahead in 2020 with careful management have felt like gold dust, and one of the nicest has been the Open Exhibition at West Acre Gallery, which ran for most of September, and hosted a wide variety of 2 and 3 dimensional work from 27 local artists.

To quote the organiser, Abbey Stirling,’ In the mix we have painters, printmakers, sculptors, ceramicists, metalwork, needle felt and textile artists all bringing forth their unique skills for this mixed discipline exhibition, to showcase a truly diverse cross section of artistic talent. ‘

And on a very positive note there were a really good number of sales, both of original art works and also from the gift shop that ran alongside the main exhibition, selling cards and smaller pieces of the featured artists’ work. 

West Acre Gallery is the brainchild and baby of Abbey Stirling. Conceived as community Art Gallery it is entirely crowdfunded and sits amongst the ancient ruins of a 900 year old priory in Abbey Farm, West Acre, in what promises to be a thriving local artisan community which currently includes a craft brewery, woodworkers, framers, artists and a mosaicist with more studio spaces available to let. 

It is the kind of place that promises great things in the future, while offering some wonderful things right now.

This year more than ever this event has been a real treat – a bright light in a very dark year. 

I think lots of us are hoping the West Acre Gallery Open will become an annual feature – for more details about the gallery, to hire or admire it, to join their mailing list, or to find out what they have planned for the rest of the year, go and take a look at the Gallery website: https://www.westacregallery.co.uk

Sue Welfare

Chapel 7

This is a difficult and trying time for us all, so here is a little breath of Cote d’Azur to cheer you up.

After all the cancellations of my trips during the spring and summer, I decided to take the bull by the horns and try to make it to France in August to see my daughter. Not sure if I was brave or foolhardy, but the journey to Luton and onwards to Nice was extremely challenging, but so worth it. Continue reading →

To give you a little background – I only started painting in 2014 after I closed my business and retired. I ran a successful greetings card publishing business for over 23 years designing, selling and publishing greeting cards in many different languages all over the world. During my career I met artists, illustrators, graphic designers and photographers and this fuelled my interest in art.

I was brought up in an academic household where art was frowned upon and considered the easy option! I now know differently! Any early aspirations I had regarding art were soon drummed out of me.

So, in 2014 I started on my journey into art initially joining a local art club headed up by one of our members, Terence Rogers. I am still very much at the early stages, but I am very keen to develop and improve and have joined many on-line courses – some good, some bad. I haven’t yet found my ‘Artistic Voice’ but I am still looking!

The following is one of the very good and free on-line courses available which I would thoroughly recommend if it becomes available again.

‘FIND YOUR JOY’ Free On-Line Course by Louise Fletcher – June 2020
www.louisefletcherart.com

Lesley’s article ‘Creative Lockdown’ in the August edition of Update gave you an insight on how this course helped her break her creative block.

I signed up for a free newsletter from Louise Fletcher some time ago and every Sunday one pops into my inbox. I found many of her topics resonated with me so when she advertised that she was running this free on-line course I was probably one of the first to sign up.

Louise is a professional abstract artist who is inspired by the beauty of where she lives in the Yorkshire Dales. She is a straight-talking Yorkshire lady who I have found both inspirational and motivating.

This course ran for 8 days but it was very manageable and everything was recorded so you could catch up later if you got behind. Each day probably only comprised one hour of video/exercises and in addition, if you wish, you could spend more time on extra assignments.

Louise asks you some soul-searching questions e.g. What brings you true joy:

In life?
In other people’s art? (What art moves you/touches your soul? Why does it move you?)
In the feelings you get when you are working?

She also advises you to:-

set aside part of every painting session for experimentation and to get really comfortable with failure.

look at past work – good and bad, liked and disliked and to make notes/paste images into a scrap book.

She tells you to ‘Follow the Joy’ and ask what makes you happiest when painting, for example: –

certain colours, certain subjects, realistic details with a tiny brush, bold, big strokes with lots of sloppy paint, straight lines and geometric shapes, organic forms, country scenes, urban nightscapes, seascapes, florals, animals.
Also pay attention to whatever gives you joy AND DO MORE OF IT!
All of the videos and the exercises aim to make you feel more relaxed and happy with failure (it’s all part of the learning process) – in fact one of the exercises, is to make a really ugly painting which is actually great fun!
She also asks you to consider setting limitations for yourself (as too many choices can cause us to freeze) e.g. a limited palette- 3 colours plus black and white; to paint with a limited number of marks or a limited number of tools; to narrow down the idea behind paintings to something very specific.

I think we all have creative blocks and her answer is to show up every day and do something – maybe try mixing different colours and noting how you achieved them, or tidying your studio/workspace but most of all experimenting and practising. One of the analogies I have heard is that you don’t expect to become a concert pianist without practising your scales every day and the same applies to art if you wish to improve – keep practising!
The aim of ‘Find your Joy’ is to give you a glimpse of what is possible, to be relaxed and easy if paintings go wrong and to understand that this is all part of the learning process. To trust your instincts and stop comparing yourself to others. To be curious ‘I wonder what would happen if…’
Louise tells you that the things holding you back are in your own head and that putting soul and personality into your work is vital.
I really enjoyed this course and if Louise runs it again would wholeheartedly recommend it. She runs this free course as a precursor to a much more comprehensive and fee paying 10-week course but don’t be put off as there is no obligation for you to join the latter.

Esther Marshall

The Art Nouveau exhibition at the Sainsbury Centre for the Visual Arts in Norwich is a small but beautiful exhibition on the mezzanine floor. I visited in August. With plenty of space between exhibits, it’s easy to keep your distance from other visitors.

The exhibition traces Art Nouveau from its emergence in the 1890s showing that by 1900 it was a dominant force in new design. Its exponents were interested in symbolism and psychology combining them with imagery from nature.
They also sought to revive good workmanship, raise the status of craft, and produce genuinely modern design reflecting the utility of the items they were creating.

The curators have taken a broad view with examples of paintings, sculpture, architecture and household design from across Europe. Anything could be of the style, from a tiny brooch to a building.

Whilst it could be said to have its roots in English art and design it never really came to fruition in England. However, in Scotland the Glasgow School of Art developed its own approach.
The exhibition traces how it blossomed in Belgium and France. In Spain, the Catalan artists took it up with Antoni Gaudi being its most famous proponent.

By 1912 the movement was already fading leaving behind some of the most intensely ornamental buildings, furnishings accessories, jewelry and decoration in the history of art, so recognizable today.

It has an enduring appeal. For example, the posters, as shown in the exhibition, by Alfons Mucha, initially made famous by his depiction of Sara Bernhardt, are still sold. Some of the exhibits such as ceramic tableware and wall tiles still wouldn’t look out of place in the home today. The first world war ensured no revival and after the war the Art Deco movement gained prominence.

Coincidentally the Sainsbury centre has also extended the larger Art Deco exhibition which makes for a great follow on. (Chandra wrote about it for Update earlier this year. )

Art Nouveau is extended until 3rd January 2021 and Art Deco until 23rd September 2020.
So, you can have an interesting day out immersed in two art movements which had such a great influence across European art and design.

The cafe is open or,  if the weather is good, there are huge grounds sloping down to the water where you can picnic.

Michele Summers

We have all had such different experiences during lockdown. It would be interesting to compare how this has affected our creativity. I don’t know about you, but initially it seemed to suppress my freedom of expression and motivation and I had a real ‘block’. All that extra time and freedom to concentrate on painting and I couldn’t produce anything! Almost in desperation I joined a free online course suggested in Update – Louise Fletcher, ‘Find your Joy’ – and the very simple exercises she suggested bounced me right back to the way I love to work. (More about this course in the next issue of Update.)

I would say my way of working is based on feelings, memories and emotions conjured up by my experiences and surroundings. If you’ve seen my paintings you will know that more often than not they are heavily influenced by my garden or by our wonderful Norfolk coastline. I focus on the process. This can lead me towards unexpected results, which I don’t always expect to like!

So, even more than usual I have found myself considering and doing all of the following:

Using all those materials I’ve been storing away since I did this or that course a few years ago. Don’t hoard it, but be generous and expansive and splash it about!

Limiting the palette (which I always tend to do), but using colours I wouldn’t normally choose. Again, often left over from sets of paint given as a gift or as part of a course. I’m sure we’ve all got lots of unused colours.

I’ve run out of canvases, so have been using anything to hand – old bits of board in the shed, printer paper etc. It’s been good to work on a different scale and not worrying about what it all costs is very liberating. I’ve rediscovered old half empty sketchbooks and enjoyed filling the pages with experiments and notes, using different tools and media.

As I used to say to students when I was teaching, ‘you can’t get it wrong’, even if you don’t always like the results. Be prepared to fail, as this means you are taking risks and are more likely to be open to new ideas. But most of all enjoy yourself!

Lesley Williams

click on images to enlarge them

I was asked how I did the cat and robin layered papercut.
For this article I have simplified the stages, number of layers and individual pieces used.
From a master drawing, on A4 (60gm) tracing paper I traced guidelines to create a 10” x 7” image (inclusive of 1/2” bleed all around) to be cut down to a 9” x 6” finished image.

MY BASIC PATTERN.

1. BACKGROUND.
An A4 piece of knobbly-textured watercolour board (270gms) was used to accommodate the 9” x 6” image. Fine dust was scraped off a green and a blue pastel stick – NOT oil pastel – and rubbed in with kitchen towel. The more the dust is rubbed, the smoother, less streaky, the colour becomes. I darken by adding more dust or lighten gently with a soft or plastic eraser.

WINDOW FRAME.

2. WINDOW FRAME.
Using 100gm white paper – 7” square – the 4 glass panes were cut out. An ink pen divided the upper and lower portions and defined the right-hand border.

PATTERN FOR LEAVES.

3. THE LEAVES.
In one piece, the leaves were carefully cut out of 100gm paper with a scalpel. Coloured with yellow and light green, pastel dust was rubbed in with cotton buds. For deeper colour I stroked the cotton bud along the pastel stick and rubbed heavily on the ends of the leaves. To fix the position of the leaves behind the window frame, I used 112gm tracing paper to trace and indicate the upper and lower removed panes. Leaf pattern is shown in green. Red areas denote holes cut out.

Robin & Cat

4. ROBIN.
The 5/8” robin was drastically reduced, in 2 stages, from a 51/2” original drawing of mine. Cut out (very fiddly!) and stuck behind the bough it sits on, with claws inked on the front of the bough. When all three of these parts were finished, the leaves and robin were glued behind the frame and then glued onto the background, using the first traced pattern to show its position.

5. CAT.
The pattern for the cat is shown to the right, together with an upper body support. Made from 3 pieces I used a light box to lay this tracing on, and with heavyweight cartridge paper (220gms) laid over, I gently drew the shapes and markings, which I inked in before cutting out.
The face can be put on the body base at any angle, with a bit of the top black showing between the ears. The furry back is stuck on the body base too. A white area (shown red for clarity) is cut alongside the black left shoulder, to form a white right shoulder flap to glue under the cat base to hold its position. (See PDF 5 for how I placed it.) I put the complete cat aside and heavily inked under the window frame. I glued a piece of wallpaper to show under the windowsill.

6. WINDOWSILL.
I made this from pale tinted and spotted 100gm paper, wider (1 5/8”) than first planned. A 3/16” piece was cut to represent the edge, not obvious when scanned. Allowing a tiny gap of the black ink to show under the window frame, I glued the windowsill over the wallpaper.

7. CURTAINS and PELMET.
Using textured, off-cream paper (220gms), I cut 2 pieces (10” x 2 1/8”) and gently marked both at top and bottom 1”, 1/2” and 5/8”. I scored and folded down the 1” mark. I turned both over and scored down the 5/8” mark. Looking end on, the paper was Z-shaped. Using the same textured paper, the pelmet was cut 7” x 1” long.
Opening the 2 curtain shapes, I coloured the 5/8” areas only, in a heavily applied red pastel dust, rubbing it in to give a patterned effect. Before sticking both the 1” sides down on the red, I slid in a spare piece of paper to protect the red and covered the wider sides in pale mauve pastel dust, rubbing it in vigorously, to achieve the same patterned effect. Spare paper removed, the mauve was stuck down over the red. The pelmet was coloured the same way. Each curtain was stuck down from the 10” side edges. The pelmet was stuck down over the curtains from the top 7” edge. The curtained window was placed on clean paper, another clean sheet placed over it and under 2 heavy books.

8. COMPLETION.
Using the image to the left as a guide, I glued the cat, with its upper body support on the back, to the window frame and sill. Finally, I trimmed 1/2” off all around to give the 9” x 6” picture. There is no need to do so if the artwork is to be framed.
Final word: to enhance the glass appearance, I put a thin sheet of cellophane between the window frame and leaves. When scanned, it gave a flare mark in the lower left panel. So, leave it out, it was not a good idea!

*** FINIS ***

David Cook

Debbie 60th birthday Oil on board.

I paint because I enjoy it – not because I’m good at it.

This title was paraphrased from a T-shirt I saw about playing a guitar, which I also happen to do with a fairly amateur level of competence. So, I thought the sentiment was particularly relevant to me and my painting.

As a self-taught, (except for a few short weekend courses) amateur painter who has only been painting for a few years, I am aware of my limitation and ability and that much of my work is below “artist” standard. However, despite this, the most important thing for me is that painting gives me enormous pleasure. That doesn’t mean that I am content with the level that I am at. I still wish to improve and develop from a “hobbyist” to an artist.

I am convinced that being a member of WNAA has improved my art and will continue to do so. Meeting and talking to other members about their art and seeing members art at the “live” exhibitions but also, to a lesser extent, the on-line exhibitions and challenges, is a great inspiration.

Like most members, I suspect, I greatly miss the live exhibitions. However, the on-line challenges have been helpful to me. They have given me a nudge in different directions from my usual style. I regret having not taken part in the self-portrait challenge, lacking confidence as I had never painted any portrait. I have since completed my first and really enjoyed doing it.

I enjoy being on the WNAA committee, doing what I can to help the rest of the committee do what we can for the benefit of all WNAA members and I hope to continue to do this.

I look forward to when we can all get together to chat and see each other’s art. In the meantime, stay safe everyone.

Chris Peel

Thinking Deeply

I have been thinking about an ‘abstract’ image for the next online show and have made a choice.

Last Tuesday evening I was sitting out on our terrace, with my back facing west towards the setting sun and looking towards the east.  Continue reading →

Several friends have asked me where the idea for my “inside looking out” box came from. It may be of interest to members of WNAA as it clearly illustrates how, over many years, you can store visual information, and much later, use it creatively.   

Some thirty odd years ago I exhibited in a small gallery in Helmsley, Yorkshire. The lady who owned it was the right honourable Jan Needham MP. On her frequent trips down to London she would call and pick up some of my work as I lived just two minutes from Junction 21 of the M1 in Leicestershire. On one of her visits she gave me a small wooden box and asked me to decorate it. She was giving all her gallery artists the same project-to decorate the box, and the proceeds from an exhibition would be donated to charity. The show was a complete sell out.

While in The Range sometime last year, I spotted these small, cheap boxes, £2 each and bought one. It’s been lying around in my studio for months, waiting to be used.
The challenge came from the WNAA, “From the inside, looking out “ and I picked up the box with the idea of only painting on the outside of the lid. Little did I know what would lie ahead.

Jan, my wife, and I spent several lovely holidays in the then peaceful and unspoilt Yugoslavia, now Croatia, and, thumbing through my old sketch books, I came across a small drawing I had made of her looking out over the rooftops of Dubrovnik as the morning sun was coming up over the sea. It fitted the challenge ‘from the inside looking out’ perfectly. 

All went well until I opened the box, which looked decidedly empty. The idea came to paint the inside of the box lid, as though looking into the room from the outside. The 3D aspect then appeared via ‘constructing’ the balcony and railings on the inside of the lid, to match with the picture on the outside. The whole thing seemed to develop as it went along, with no original planning whatsoever.

Mike Smith, Thinking outside and inside the box acrylic 4″x4”x 2″

At some stage all my pictures tell me what needs doing to make them work.  I am always ‘open’ to that. It usually happens when I am struggling!!!!!! This was certainly the case with this project. A first floor apartment overlooking the obligatory hotel pool seemed the obvious thing to cover the bottom of the box. The pool and splash idea came courtesy of David Hockney’s USA pool images. The whole thing still looked unfinished, until I hit on the idea of painting the pool surround and landscape.

Have you ever tried painting inside a box measuring 4”x4”? The answer was to paint it upside down. The inside walls of the box, not me!!!!!!

In 1977 and 79 I won two prizes, 8th and 1st, in the Saunders, water colour paper manufacturers, bi annual watercolour competition. A part of the prizes was a week’s holiday on Lake Garda in Italy. I made the trip twice.
Two years on, in 1982 I completed a large painting [ 4’x3’] in pure egg tempera, of Jillian Stein sitting by the hotel pool. Jillian was another of the prize winners in the competition. The painting still sits in my studio.
 The pool surroundings and immediate landscape were ideal for the inside of my box. Note the enhanced pavement perspective, which became a major part of the picture.

Jillian Stein at Bardolino, 4’x3’ egg tempera

The box project could go on for ever. Should I now paint the outer sides of the box to match the inside? The jury is out on that one. The box tells me that could just be a bit OTT.?
My initial contact with a serving member of parliament, and the box idea.
The outside lid, which is sourced from Croatia, via my old sketch book. 
The box inside images from the Hotel Bardolino in Italy, with a bit of Hockney’s USA thrown in.
All come together in a small cheap wooden box in Norfolk. How weird is that????
Look no further than the pre-Raphaelites, who used IMAGINATION and REALITY like no artists have done since, to create their wonderful and evocative images.
The fascinating thing about art is not only the picture, but often the story behind it. If we only took the time and trouble to search it out.

Look after yourselves.
Mike Smith