WATERCOLOUR
NEW ZEALAND Inc. Winner of the 2016 Gordon Harris Online Watercolour Competition “Autumn Glow” by Sandie Brown
Autumn Glow was an attempt to capture the mood, the light and feel of Autumn in its warmth and rich colours. I am delighted and humbled that it has won the competition! Creativity, drawing and painting have always played an important part in my life. As a young person, I was encouraged to pursue a career that would be financially secure and so art remained in the hobby category although I was able to take part in classes here and there run by established artists with oil painting being my main focus. In 2014 I was taken under the wing of Christchurch-based South Korean artist, Min Kim and have been studying classical approaches to drawing and painting with her since then. After a year of drawing, I was told I had to make friends with watercolour, a medium I had previously avoided. And so the watercolour journey began in June 2015. So I am really a newbie at watercolour and I
In this issue:
Philip Markham Page 3
Newsletter 164
Painting technique Page 4 and 5
hesitantly joined the Watercolour NZ in early March of this year. Watercolour and I are gradually becoming good friends. We argue of course, but I am learning to be brave and trust it! Only then do I find delight and freedom in the happy surprises the water creates! I am sure we will have our ups and downs, watercolour and I, but we will continue with this friendship and like all good friends we will endure to the end! A passion for beauty in a sometimes tired and strife-torn world drives me to seek out the beautiful in the mundane in the hope that viewers will be uplifted in spirit. That someone could view my paintings and go away feeling enriched and inspired to see beauty around them would be the greatest outcome.
June – August 2016
Jack Merriott Pages 6 and 7
Olivia Spencer-Bower Page 9
From the President After attending both the Watercolour New Zealand Safari to Akitio and Greg Allen’s 5 day portrait workshop I couldn’t help reflecting that one of the benefits of belonging to Watercolour New Zealand is the opportunity to paint in the company of other artists. A few days later I went to our local Rotary Book Fair. Among the books I bought were The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci. I was interested to find that Leonardo had written about this very thing. Here’s what he had to say: WHETHER IT IS BETTER TO DRAW IN COMPANY OR NO ‘I say and am prepared to prove that it is much better to be in the company of others when you draw rather than alone, for many reasons. The first is that you will be ashamed of being seen in the ranks of draughtsmen if you are outclassed by them, and this feeling of shame will cause you to make progress in study; secondly a rather commendable envy will stimulate you to join the numbers of those who are more praised than you are, for the praises of the others will serve you as a spur; yet another is that you will acquire something of the manner of anyone whose work is better than yours, while if you are better than the others you will profit by seeing how to avoid their
An interview with PHILIP MARKHAM errors, and the praises of others will tend to increase your powers.’ Another benefit, provided you submit paintings to our annual Splash exhibitions, is the opportunity to see your paintings hung alongside work by New Zealand’s best watercolour artists. We hope that you’re busy painting for this year’s show. Splash 2016 will take place at the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts in October. You may submit up to three paintings. Submission day is 11 October and Opening Night Friday 14 October. This year’s exhibition runs for a week longer than usual, closing on Sunday 30 October. Full details concerning the exhibition as well as the entry forms will be sent out with the September newsletter. We’re pleased to announce that the Guest Artist this year is Philip Markham. An interview with Philip is featured in this newsletter. We look forward to seeing your best work in the exhibition. John Toft President, Watercolour New Zealand Inc.
The Gordon Harris Online Watercolour Competition 2016 1st place Autumn Glow by Sandie Brown (featured on the front cover) The judges’ comments: “We were struck by the gorgeous transparent colour and the original composition. Well done Sandie!”
2nd place Figure Study by Jean McKinnon Jean attends an untutored life drawing group at Inverlochy House in Wellington. She loves the challenge and goes home with numerous drawings. She painted this work in her home studio, based on her sketches.
3rd place Eight Bells by Amanda Brett
Figure Study by Jean McKinnon
Eight Bells is a demonstration painting done at one of my workshops recently. I find working boats captivating with all the dirt and muck, rust, grease and general detritus! I was particularly drawn to the dark background behind the white boat, great fodder for negative painting. Watercolour New Zealand thanks Gordon Harris Ltd for their sponsorship of the Online Watercolour Competition.
Eight Bells by Amanda Brett Page 2
Watercolour New Zealand Inc.
Member profile
BY JOHN TOFT Philip Markham is a versatile artist, skilled in a wide range of media. A former President of the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts, he received the Governor General’s Art Award in 2000 for high attainment in painting. John Toft interviewed him at his home on the Kapiti Coast.
Philip had what he describes as a fairly rugged upbringing. Brought up by his grandparents until he was six, he didn’t meet his father until he returned from World War II, psychologically damaged by his wartime experiences. This made the family prone to violence. As far as art and the finer things of life were concerned, it was an impoverished childhood. However, Philip always felt that there was something better in the world than what he was confronted with day by day. DISCOVERING THE ARTS When he was about 12, Philip experienced a sort of epiphany. He was listening to the Sunday Afternoon Request Session when he heard a sound coming out of the radio that he thought was extraordinary. He listened eagerly over the following weeks until the song was played again. It was Mario Lanza singing ‘Your Tiny Hand is Frozen’ from La Boheme. This experience opened a slight doorway into the world of culture and the Arts. The door opened further when Philip took a fancy to a girl he met at secondary school. Her parents were very well-to-do and, says Philip, must have wondered what their daughter had dragged in the front door. ‘They were absolutely wonderful to me,’ he recalls. Their house had paintings on the walls which sparked an interest in art, something he had taken at school simply because there was more leisure time available than in subjects like Maths, ‘So it started there.’ BILLY ELLIOTT IN DUNEDIN Philip found that when he tried to see her she was always busy. Her mother told him that if he wanted to see her he would have to go to her ballet practice. Philip went along and stood outside the door, ‘a la Billy Elliott,’ he says. The teacher stopped the class and asked him what he wanted. Philip replied that he had come to watch Vivienne. He was told that if he wanted to stay he would have to come inside and join in. ‘I took to dance like a duck to water,’ he recalls. At seventeen, Philip was a late starter but showed considerable flair. Within a year he was dancing with the New Zealand Ballet. His career then took him to London, where he danced with the Royal Opera Ballet Convent Garden, the Royal Ballet, the Royal Opera and, of course, went to all the art galleries. LIFE AFTER BALLET Philip realised that if you were a dancer, you had to be out by the age of thirty. ‘I didn’t want to become a tired old ballet teacher so I just continued with my painting.’ After leaving the ballet world he had various fill-in jobs. Then one morning he saw a job advertisement in the newspaper, ‘Art Teacher wanted for Wellington College.’ He had always wanted to be an art teacher so after some prodding from his wife he rang the Headmaster and asked what qualifications were needed. ‘The ability to teach Art to 6th Form level,’ was the reply. ‘I have to tell you I don’t have any formal qualifications.’ ‘Can you teach Art?’ ‘I’m sure I can teach Art!’ ‘Well you’d better come and see me in the morning.’ The Headmaster told him there was a 4th Form class doing Art under a relieving teacher. ‘I’ll take you over there and you can take over. I’ll wait outside and we’ll see who comes out first.’ But at the end of the lesson no one came out. The class carried on painting through their morning interval. Philip got the job and went on to become Head of Art. He retired in 1984 to become a full-time painter and designer.
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Farm Buildings, Horowhenua
Ode In Grey
THOUGHTS ON PAINTING Every time you start a painting, says Philip, you are starting from the beginning again. He quotes the playwright Arthur Miller who, when asked about his work, said ‘Every day I have to go back to the beginning and I have to start again. I don’t know where I’m going and it’s agony but the difference between some of us is we take our agony home with us and teach it how to sing.’ An important lesson, Philip feels, is to accept what you see in front of you: ‘You have to accept what you do and be grateful for it and if it’s not up to your expectations then there’s another piece of paper there.’ He’s never been a fan of the elitist attitude that ‘these are real artists and these aren’t.’ ‘There’s room for everything... if they’re up to standard they should be on the wall, whereas these more extreme pieces don’t find an audience.’ He points out that when he was President of the Academy it was nearly closed down because too many people came to the openings. ‘When you’re trying to become relevant,’ Philip says, ‘you’re in danger of becoming the opposite because you’re appealing to a small number of people who adhere to your ideas. It doesn’t work. People don’t want that. If they did they’d be buying it. All these elitists thrusting their taste at people, well people simply say “I don’t want it.”’ ON WATERCOLOUR When Vivian Manthel-French asked him to join the Wellington Watercolour Society Philip hadn’t painted much in watercolour but he soon found out it was quite fun. ‘I find watercolour challenging in that I paint pretty tight but I find watercolour lets me fly loose a bit. Some of the watercolours I do get very tight. I don’t take easily to it. It’s very demanding – you don’t have room for mistakes. You have to be pretty sure of what you’re doing because every step you take you’re getting closer to disaster...With watercolour, once you’ve said it in paint you can’t take it back. The freshness of it, the immediacy of it, the speed of it, is great. That’s the fun of it.’ A MENTOR TO YOUNG ARTISTS Over the years, Philip has acted as a mentor to a number of young artists who have sought him out. He never charges for tuition and continues to guide them as long as he feels they are still making progress. He recalls the words of his dance teacher, a Dutch Indonesian woman he calls ‘the closest thing to a saint I’ve ever come across.’ ‘At the end of the whole business she took me down to the station and sent me off to Auckland to become a ballet dancer. I hadn’t paid her anything because I didn’t have any money. I said, “I don’t know how I’m going to repay you,” and she said “One day you’ll look down and there’ll be a young person looking up at you. Give it back to them.”’
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Watercolour technique Components of light, shadows and reflections BY JACKY PEARSON
Family Silver A reflective surface and shadow components.
Demo showing the main aspects of form and cast shadow.
L
ight is said to be the fundamental reason for painting a subject but getting the components of form and cast shadow right is going to give your painting that extra lift. Reflections on the shadow side of an object are always a beautiful subject for a painting. Reflections and shadows are both similar and very different. Shadows: a sense of volume is created from good lighting that results in a form and cast shadow. They behave in different ways but they belong to each other so I paint them both in one go. Shadows are never homogenous, there is plenty going on in terms of tone and colour related to three things: scattered blue light, reflected light from another surface (bounced light) and ‘simultaneous contrast’ where the eye perceives contrasts of light and dark, colour temperature and colour intensity: 1. The form shadow is simply the unlit side of an object and will ‘follow’ that surface around. Generally a form shadow will be soft edged on a rounded surface. The lights to darks do not follow in an orderly fashion, in fact, what really happens is a series of light, dark, light, this effect can be hard to see on photographs. Look at your bare arm in strong light and you will see a variety of lights, darks and colours. There are seven basic features of a form shadow: highlight (where the light bleaches out all colour, even on a very dark surface); lit area; half tone (a tricky bit to carry out in watercolour), this is the area we notice local (true) colour; the ultra important core (crest) shadow. A core shadow is a ‘no man’s land’ where no light, either direct or reflected, can reach and is generally relatively cool in colour and obviously darker, it is what really makes a rounded surface look round; reflected light where the shadow contains colour and tone reflected back from an adjacent surface; edge light, between e.g. the reflected light on the object and its cast shadow; and crevice shadow where light is completely trapped so is very dark. On a surface with corners (eg. a box) the form shadow has the same shadow components as a rounded surface. For example the form shadow will be found on the shadow side closest to the lit side and so on. 2. A cast shadow is harder-edged and will follow the contours of the surface it is falling on; you can distinguish the difference to a form shadow in Niall and Smoko. Close to the object the cast shadow will be tighter, harder-edged and as the shadow and object increase in distance from each other (see Family Silver) the cast shadow softens due to angle of incidence and often containing a halo of complementary light around the shadow (due to simultaneous contrast). A cast shadow is directly influenced by the light source that will affect its length and direction; in the middle of the day a shadow will be shortest and darkest by 40%; either end of the day cast shadows lengthen and soften. A shadow is usually tonally different from the object casting the shadow. Although a cast shadow tends to contain less colour and is generally
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grey, it is never neutral. It may be the same hue as the surface it falls on but all in all, blue will dominate. The colour temperature of the light source plays a very important part in affecting colours in the shadow, and parts of a shadow will have colour variations tending to the complementary of the light source. You can test this out with coloured bottles and a lamp: a red light will throw a green colour, a yellow light like sunlight a violet shadow and so on. This is known as simultaneous contrast. This effect can also be seen in the edges of a cast shadow; if the surface it falls on is warm the edges will be darker and cooler. Also, particularly on a white surface you will notice the object will reflect back into the cast shadow a little of its local colour. The interior of a shadow is often cooled or lightened by objects nearby. Therefore a shadow is full of life in terms of colour and tone. 3. Reflections on the other hand require a shiny surface like glass, water or metal. Unlike cast shadows they will always be the same size, shape, have the object’s colours (as in a mirror) and never be at an angle from the object. However, two similarities are: (a) There will be a contrasting tone between the object in shadow and its reflection - for instance, a white yacht in shadow will throw a darker reflection and a dark yacht will throw a lighter reflection; (b) The colours and tones of the surface a cast shadow appears on, such as grass and a reflection such as water, have to be included. Sometimes you will easily see the cast shadow passing over the reflection. Include this in your painting if it enhances the overall scene or leave it out, but don’t confuse the two.
Goosey (class demo)
Grazing Peacefully
Within the form shadow, the core shadow in these paintings describes a rounded surface. Warm colours from the grass are included in reflected light of the form shadow. The cast shadow with harder edges can be seen in both paintings under the heads.
colours to the light source. Dropping water wet on wet will also adjust for tonal variations within those colours. A core and a crevice shadow being darker in tone can be put in with thicker paint, wet into wet. This makes shadows and reflections transparent and lively instead of flat and opaque. To enhance transparency of shadows I add any details wet into wet. Make shadow greys from transparent complementary colours, red and green, blue and orange, yellow and violet. Transparent cast shadows will naturally pick up the underlying hue, e.g. field green. Also a cast shadow being blurrier away from the object requires painting on slightly damp paper whilst nearer to the object I paint wet on dry. Shadow simplification is not really possible. Given all the information in the world the colour and tone of a shadow is a perception and the colour wheel and Munsell’s concept are only guides to help in a very contentious area of art and science. Ultimately there will be some ‘givens’ but factors such as colour perception are an individual’s response alone. Your own observations and feelings are the keys.
Smoko
Dinghy’(and Swanning Around, shown on page 11) Note, as in a mirror, the reflection will not change in size or shape, although ripples will carry a few pieces of reflection a little further.
Painting shadows in practice
What I do - and I am still exploring methods – is to base my shadows on blue but making sure I include all the other factors such as time of day, reflected light etc. Bear in mind the aim of the painting in terms of mother colour and mood. Skin shadows for instance are never ‘cool’ but they can be relative to the warm skin colour and quality of lighting. I base my shadows on blue (using for example violet) but add, wet into wet, colours reflected from near surfaces and complementary Watercolour New Zealand Inc.
Going Home Shopping Niall In these three paintings a cast shadow and the reflection behave in different ways, a cast shadow falls at the angle of the sun and a reflection will always go straight down towards the viewer. Notice on clothing a form shadow will be softer edged and the cast shadow has harder edges (see Niall and Smoko). All paintings in this article are by Jacky Pearson. Images and text copyright © Jacky Pearson 2016 www.watercolournewzealand.co.nz
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Watercolour history JACK MERRIOTT BY JOHN TOFT In his book Light and Atmosphere in Watercolour Trevor Chamberlain wrote of his early years ‘My watercolour heroes were Jack Merriott (1901-68) and George Ayling (1887-1960). They were both traditional watercolourists and used the medium in a very fluid, wet way – something which I would have wished to achieve in my own watercolour paintings. Both were well-known in their day, but they are sadly overlooked and forgotten now.’ Although he never met him, Chamberlain said Merriott made a major contribution to his development as a watercolour painter. Jack Merriott was born in London in 1901. He started his working life as a shipping clerk in an office near London Bridge. Merriott spent all his leisure time painting and had several paintings exhibited in the Royal Academy. According to his friend Ernest Savage, he was often caught sketching the shipping on the Thames during office hours on the backs of old invoices. At the age of 28, Merriott decided to cut loose from routine work and become a professional painter. Along with other leading watercolourists of the day, he was commissioned to design posters for British Railways – which was where Trevor Chamberlain first saw his work – and the General Post Office. His illustrations often appeared in the Sphere magazine and he produced many watercolours for Beautiful Britain, a series of books published by Blackie. In addition to his work as a commercial artist, Merriott was active as a fine artist and teacher. Vice President of the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour and a regular contributor to the English magazine The Artist, he travelled throughout Britain giving demonstrations of watercolour painting, made instructional movies and hosted painting holidays in Britain and abroad. He also devised a correspondence course on watercolour painting for the Pitman College of Art. A versatile artist, Merriott was a member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Oil Colour, the Royal Society of Marine Artists and the Pastel Society. But his first love was always watercolour. ‘Watercolour has never been accorded the same degree of importance as oil painting,’ he wrote, ‘yet to my mind, in many ways the beauties of watercolour surpass those of oils.’
MERRIOTT AS A TEACHER Jack Merriott was regarded as one of the best teachers of watercolour painting of his time. After his death at the relatively early age of 67 as a result of injuries sustained in a car accident, Merriott’s friend Ernest Savage turned his Pitman correspondence course into a book, Discovering Watercolour. In this book, Merriott outlined his two approaches to watercolour painting. The first he called the direct method and second, the controlled wash. THE DIRECT METHOD This involved starting with a direct attack on the centre of interest of the painting on a dry sheet of paper. ‘I employ this method,’ he wrote, ‘when I am emotionally excited and some particular feature or effect in the landscape has so fired my enthusiasm that I am impatient to record at once the essence of the scene before it changes. Perhaps a church tower in the middle distance is thrown into strong relief by a passing cloud, or a mountain is partially obscured by a heavy rain shower; a sailing boat approaches the entrance to the harbour, against the sun, its deck and gunwale a dazzling silver; or some other fleeting effect of beauty occurs. In these circumstances I must get down quickly the special feature or centre of interest. The main difficulty in this is judging the correct depth of the tone values. Being painted straight on to the white paper, they appear darker than they should.’ Merriott recommended that paintings executed using the direct method be painted very quickly to capture the brief natural effects they portrayed. He advocated using this method when the atmosphere was damp and it was difficult to get washes to dry.
THE CONTROLLED WASH Merriott’s other approach to watercolour involved what he called the controlled wash: ‘A very wet wash of colour is applied to the whole sheet, varying in tint and depth according to the scene before me. While this is very wet, colours may be altered, tones deepened by the addition of colour, or reduced by lifting with a semi-damp brush. The first broad wash can be controlled quite a lot in this way, and forms stressed by adding or reducing tone, or by line drawing here and there with a pointed No. 5 brush. When a generally misty idea of the scene is achieved, this is then allowed to dry. Finally, forms are brought out where required by direct blots of pure colour and a strong detail here and there. It will be seen that by this means much of our picture is painted in one wash only, and at the most with only two or three applications in parts. The result is an appearance of cleanliness, purity and spontaneity.’ TONAL RELATIONSHIPS Merriott emphasised the importance of tone in producing a successful picture. He maintained that the vast majority of paintings he was called upon to criticise suffered from lack of true appreciation of tonal relationships. To overcome this problem he advised: ‘Half close your eyes and compare the main masses in the landscape and if you get these right you will be more than halfway there. Slight modifications may be made afterwards if necessary, provided they do not interfere with the main mass of tone. But from the commencement of the painting you should decide definitely which is your lightest light and darkest dark, and make a note on your sketch, or on a separate sheet of paper, of the actual tones and colours you propose to use to represent these. All other tones can then be related to them.’
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS In addition he stressed the importance of good design and would frequently turn a painting upside-down to judge this quality. Merriott felt that spontaneity and simplicity were important qualities to be cultivated in watercolour painting. Retaining a clean, fresh look, he taught, is a matter of avoiding the application of too many wash layers. When applying additional washes, the underwash must either be quite wet (controlled wash method), or quite dry. The halfway mark is always dangerous. Merriott regarded style as an unconscious attribute, a personal or individual characteristic like character in handwriting, by which the experienced artist can always be recognised. He maintained that style comes unsought to the sincere painter. APPRECIATION OF WATERCOLOUR PAINTING Merriott advised the aspiring watercolourist to study the work of the great painters of the past and present and to become acquainted with the many styles of painting in watercolour – broad, loose, tight, decorative, and the different approaches – abstract, surrealist, symbolic, impressionist, and so on. He emphasised that the style of painting that an individual favoured was purely a matter of personal choice – he himself was attracted to impressionism - but that each had its particular interest and we should be able to enjoy them all: ‘After familiarising ourselves with the work of the old watercolourists and those of the present day, we naturally form a preference for a particular style or idiom. It is not for us to imitate such work – rather should we learn by it and set our course along the road that attracts us, deviating where we think fit and, by bold experiment and research, making our personal contribution and carrying the tradition a stage further.’
The Westering Sun Jack Merriott described this painting as an example of the direct method by first painting some particular feature of dark tone value in the landscape, prior to preparatory washes, a method for quickly-changing light needing confident drawing skill with the brush. The dark trees behind the golden-edged stooks were painted first. This vividly sets up these highly lit edges caused by the setting sun for a second direct painting of the shadowed areas in the stooks themselves.
Church Entrance, Tossa de Mar Page 6
St Pauls after the Blitz Trevor Chamberlain wrote of this painting, which he owns: ‘This picture was painted in 1943. As well as being a fascinating and moving historical document of a defining moment in the Second World War, it portrays the scene on an early, misty morning, a particular atmosphere which I am always fascinated by. Notice how simple is the handling of the rubble and debris, yet it tells the full story. The restrained palette lends the image a quiet dignity, and the tiny figures poking about in the debris add a particular poignancy and speak volumes about the scale, not only of the great cathedral but also of the disaster that is war.’
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Safari to Akitio Beach
Olivia Spencer-Bower: Making Her Own Discoveries - by Julie King
By SUE WILD
By JOHN TOFT
Twelve keen members and partners converged on Akitio beach, 90 minutes east of Eketahuna, over Anzac weekend for a Watercolour New Zealand Safari. On the first evening we munched fish and chips outside the only shop in the village. The next morning everyone emerged blearyeyed, in pyjamas and bare feet, into a blaze of glory - the sun rising out of the sea. A treat that most of us seldom experience. The sun lit the scenery for the first two days and we used it well. We explored the beach and river estuary, the boatyard, the line of salty baches and a huge historic woolshed. We sketched, photographed and painted, much to the fascination of locals. On Sunday cloud and drizzle kept us indoors. The Community Centre where we stayed has a large hall offering plenty of space to spread and paint. And paint we did! Ann Berry, a Pongaroa local and member of Watercolour New Zealand had organised for us to mount a small exhibition the following day for the pleasure of locals. So brushes flashed and splashed in focussed silence. Lovely paintings popped up on the wall, until we managed a total of 33 between 8 artists! We celebrated with a delicious roast donated by Ann and cooked by Jan Jeffery, our camp mother. On Anzac Day, we packed, cleaned and drove to Pongaroa to join the Anzac parade and service. An Anzac commemoration is always moving. This event in a small rural town was extra special. The Dannevirke pipe band led the march, Ann Berry and her friend sang the hymn and her husband, Carne led the service. After community pikelets, sandwiches and cake, our work was exhibited in the lovely old council building, now the home of the craft group. Locals were delighted to see their area in watercolours and purchased 22 paintings – 66% of the show. Imagine if we had sales like that at Splash! A very warm thank you to Ann Berry for her enthusiastic and thoughtful preparation for our visit and to Jan Jeffery for two delicious dinners.
‘I paint for myself. That’s the only way. For when you paint to please it’s not the honest thing and inhibits the chances of discovery, because there’s no point in writing or painting unless you make your own discoveries.’
Akitio Estuary by Judy Johnstone
FIND ALL THE DETAILS ON http://thenzartist.co.nz/Competitions.html or Pg 6 & 7 of The New Zealand Artist Magazine May/June 16 - issue 16. Four categories are applicable: Watercolour, Oil, Acrylic and Pastel. Competition closes at midnight on the 20th July 2016. Life on safari Page 8
Book Review
GOOD LUCK!!!
Watercolour New Zealand Inc.
Art historian Julie King, author of books on Margaret Stoddart and Sydney Lough Thompson, has turned her attention to the life and works of well-known Canterbury watercolour artist Olivia Spencer Bower (1905-1982). Olivia Spencer Bower was born in England. Her mother, Rosa Spencer Bower, was a talented watercolourist. When Olivia’s elocution teacher suggested that she could perhaps go on the stage, her mother replied ‘No. She’s to be an artist.’ In 1920 the family moved to New Zealand where Olivia attended the Canterbury College School of Art. The tuition emphasised close observation and truth to nature. Olivia won major prizes, but later confessed she had been a bit of a rebel. Her fellow students included Rita Angus, Rhona Haszard, Russell Clark, Rata Lovell-Smith and Evelyn Page. Olivia travelled to Europe in 1929 to attend the Slade School of Art. Here the focus was on drawing from the life model. Olivia announced she was sick of drawing and she also enrolled at the Grosvenor School of Modern Art where the emphasis was on encouraging students to express their own ideas. In 1931, she returned to Christchurch, where her watercolours, exhibited at the Canterbury Society of Arts, soon attracted favourable critical comment. She also exhibited with The Group, an association of progressive artists whose members included Christopher Perkins, R N Field, Rita Angus, Louise Henderson, Rata Lovell-Smith, Ngaio Marsh and Toss Woollaston. Olivia next spent more than 5 years in Auckland, studying at the Elam School of Art. She concentrated on portraits and figurative works, many of them painted in oils. During this period she suffered severe and recurrent bouts of ill health, which led to her spending two months in Rawene, on the Hokianga Harbour, with legendary backblocks doctor G M Smith and his wife. In 1949 Olivia returned to Christchurch to look after her aging mother, who died in 1960. Freed from the responsibility of caring for her mother, Olivia set off for Europe in 1963. She returned two and a half years later. It was after this trip, she later declared, that she at last considered herself to be a New Zealander. She lived and worked in Christchurch for the rest of her life. Shortly before her death from lung cancer in 1982, Olivia established a charitable trust, The Olivia Spencer Bower Foundation, to fund an annual award for promising and emerging artists and sculptors. It was open to both males and females but she wanted to favour female artists because she felt they had not received the recognition they deserved during her lifetime. A recipient wrote, ‘The award is unusual in its focus on simply supporting the artist, with no output requirements. Because of this I can tell it was set up by a fellow artist who understood the artistic process. I feel free to do whatever I need to do to nourish my work...’ John Coley, former Director of the Robert McDougall Art Gallery wrote ‘Olivia was a leading member of The Group, which annually presented exhibitions of works by the country’s more advanced original artists. She was undoubtedly among the small group of exceptional watercolourists produced in New Zealand.’ Olivia’s paintings are in many of New Zealand’s main public galleries. In 1968, the Robert McDougall Gallery organised a retrospective exhibition of her work which toured the country. She won first prize in the watercolour section of the National Bank Art Awards for her landscape Open Country in 1971.
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Olivia is probably best known for her landscapes. Her favourite locations were the Waimakariri River, the Mackenzie Country, Kaikoura and Punakaiki. She also produced a number of memorable paintings of the verandah at the family farm near Swannanoa. Her early watercolour style is characterised by accurate drawing over which the painting was built up with carefully laid, thin transparent washes. Later, she also painted in a looser, more Modernist style, exemplified by her painting Mackenzie Basin. Interestingly, she continued to alternate between the two different styles from the 1940s until the end of her career. Her mother, who had no time for Modernism, had one of Olivia’s early works above her mantelpiece. If a visitor admired it she would say ‘Yes, Olivia used to paint well. What a pity she doesn’t do that now.’ Julie King writes in her introduction that her aim was to present an introduction to Olivia through a selection of watercolours, paintings, drawings, prints and illustrations that represent the multiplicity of her interests. Olivia Spencer Bower: Making Her Own Discoveries is a very readable and informative account of the artist’s life and works.
MacKenzie Basin
MacKenzie Basin by Olivia Spencer-Bower
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Regional focus
To book a workshop or request further information: Email: bookings@watercolournewzealand.co.nz If you don’t use email, phone Sue Wild (04) 5267304
Art is flourishing on the Kapiti Coast BY SUE WILD The Kapiti Coast District runs along the coast, 50 km north of Wellington, bounded by the Tasman Sea on the west and the Tararua mountain range on the east. The district is named after Kapiti Island, a prominent landmark 5 km offshore. The population is concentrated in the towns of Otaki, Te Horo, Waikanae, Paraparaumu, Raumati and Paekakariki. Many residents travel to Wellington to work and Wellington folk frequent the beautiful beaches of Kapiti at weekends and holidays. The arts are strong in the region and watercolour is well represented by many revered painters. Among them are members of Watercolour New Zealand including Wendy Masters, Roger Daniell, Vivian Manthel-French, May Iremonger, Grahame Harris, Philip Markham, George Thompson, Mary-Annette Hay, Peter Augustin and many others. The connection to the arts in Wellington is lively, as many are active and supportive members of the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts.
Weekend Workshop
BEGINNERS STEP BY STEP Class: 2016/4 Tutor: Jacky Pearson
Our Beautiful Natives by Grahame Harris
The Kapiti Arts & Crafts Society started from an early meeting in
Greg Allen Portrait Painting Workshop Report by David Rodriguez
The Kapiti Arts Trail The Kapiti Coast District Council produces an Arts Guide that lists studios and galleries, along with maps. The Kapiti Arts Trail is an annual event held in the spring, with about 130 exhibiting artists. Hundreds of people head out to explore the region’s diverse range of art and crafts.
Watercolour New Zealand Outdoor Painting Group on the Kapiti Coast meets on the first Sunday of each month. Their venues
include beach, rivers and foothill valleys and they follow with a shared lunch or café visit. The group is co-ordinated by Eppie Murton. Details of contact, dates, times and venues are listed on the back page of this newsletter.
New Members welcome! We are the national society for watercolour artists and welcome new members from home and abroad. Membership includes our quarterly newsletter, workshops, social activities, exhibitions and discounts at art stores. Annual subscription: Member – $40 Couple – $50 Student (enrolled) – $20
A model at the Karori Portrait Group once said that over the years he had seen many examples of his brothers and cousins drawn in class. His comment highlighted how difficult it can be to capture a true likeness when painting a portrait. It was a privilege to spend five days learning the secrets of this complex process with Greg Allen. Greg emphasised the importance of understanding how to draw the five basic shapes: rectangle, tube, cone, sphere and hemisphere. For each shape it is necessary to grasp the principles of how to draw light and shadows. After all, any portrait consists of a combination of those shapes. Careful observation is vital to producing an accurate drawing. Greg used the analogy of a lawyer in court. The lawyer keeps on asking questions to build up a clear picture. We have to keep on asking questions about the size and proportions of our subject’s features. In this way we can create an accurate drawing. Our subjects ranged across eras and continents. We began in ancient Rome with a bust of Caligula. Then we moved across the Mediterranean Sea to paint an elderly Greek lady. Greg demonstrated first and then we had a go. There were some lovely representations of ‘Olympia’. We then moved on to painting a little girl – with a fresh round, face. The washes needed to be spot-on for this one. You cannot hide a mistake with a few wrinkles.
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Report by David Rodriguez
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This special day in March was enjoyed by about 30 members and friends. A big thank you to Jacky and Tony Pearson for inviting us to share their lovely new home and garden for a sunny summer day.
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Please post with subscription to: Membership, Watercolour New Zealand, PO Box 33088, Petone, Lower Hutt 5046, New Zealand
President: Vice President: Vice President: Treasurer:
John Toft Sue Wild Martin Jenkins Jill Hartstonge
04 9342699 04 526 7304 04 4797608 04 5676938
johntoft@paradise.net.nz sue.wildnz@gmail.com apdc@paradise.net.nz jillhartstonge@clear.net.nz
New members who would like a listing in the Artists Directory on our website, please email amethystsky@clear.net Watercolour New Zealand Inc.
Swanning Around by Jacky Pearson
How important it is to get the eyes right! On day 5 we faced a challenge from a Masai warrior. The palette being darker for this one – although the highlights were surprisingly light. Next came an elderly Cuban with a white beard smoking a cigar. This time we went first and then Greg demonstrated afterwards. To round things off many of our number painted a family portrait – perhaps the hardest thing of all! Many thanks to Greg for generously sharing his insights and for his encouragement as we tried to lift our portraits to the next level.
A portrait painted by Rachel McPhee
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Please circle: I am a practising artist / a keen learner / an art appreciator / partner of member ............................
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Step by step demonstrations with plenty of individual attention. Handouts and reference material are provided as well as 3-D teaching models. A range of subjects will be covered, including colour mixing, composition, tonal effects, brush handling, drawing, and perspective. Day One: We stretch paper and discuss types of paper, brushes and paint. Jacky will take you through the fundamentals of watercolour and then move on to components of a landscape. Day Two: We will paint water, boats and things nautical and finish with a critique session. Come and have fun getting started or improving.
Dates: 2–3 July 2016, 9:30am–3pm Venue: Karori Arts Centre, 7 Beauchamp Street, Karori, Wellington Level: Absolute beginners and new learners Fee: $160 All materials will be provided and included in the fee
1974 and has grown to a membership of 300. The Society Building at 192 Matai Road, Raumati Beach provides excellent facilities for artists and craftspeople to work together creatively. A large workroom is shared by painting groups, including watercolourists, spinners, weavers and knitters, embroiderers and patchworkers, and jewellery, teddy bear, doll and card makers and a pottery room used by the potters and woodworkers. The Kapiti Gallery in the same building is open to the public five days a week and showcases work by society members. Guest Artists are invited to exhibit along with members in themed exhibitions. There 10 to 12 exhibitions throughout the year. Members are also able to sell their work in the Society Shop at 20 Raumati Road, in the Raumati Village. Shop displays are updated regularly and are representative of the society’s talent. Contact details for the Society are: phone 04 9028549, www. kapitigallery.webs.com and on Facebook.
Name
Workshops
Greg Allen demonstrates
WAIRARAPA DAY OUT
Tony & Jacky Pearson’s Home by David Rodriguez www.watercolournewzealand.co.nz
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Events
Monthly Painting Group – ‘MPG’
The outdoor painting sessions have a co-ordinator for each group. If you would like to be on the email list for reminder and update, please email the co-ordinator: • Wellington – Judy Langham - judyl@paradise.net.nz • Kapiti – Eppie Murton - pauleppie@xtra.co.nz Full details of location (directions), painting subject and café are listed on the Watercolour New Zealand website www.watercolournewzealand.nz
WELLINGTON GROUP 10:00am – 12:15pm Coordinator: Judy Langham (04) 9343046 or 027-3091888 Date
Day Coordinator
26 June Diane Taylor 31 July Phil Dickson 28 August John Toft
Painting location
Café
Owhiro Bay, opposite The Bach Days Bay, on the beach near the wharf Breaker Bay
The Bach The Pavilion Franco’s Trattoria, 24 Dundas St, Seatoun
KAPITI GROUP 9:45am – 12:30pm Coordinator: Eppie Murton (04) 2931936 Date
Day Coordinator
Painting location
Café / picnic lunch
5 June
Eppie Murton
Meet at Waikanae River mouth
Local café
3 July 7 August
Eppie Murton Eppie Murton
The Red Barn in Ngatiawa Road opposite Eppie’s Park at end of Greenaway Road and walk downstream to sketch new bridge over the river.
Bring your own lunch Lunch at one of the beach cafés
OTHER DATES for your Diary 2 – 3 July Beginners Watercolour workshop with Jacky Pearson at Karori Arts Centre 15 – 30 October 2016 Splash exhibition (Opening: 14 October) 11 – 15 November Safari to Reefton (details below)
OUR NEXT SAFARI
Spring Safari to Reefton Friday 11 to Tuesday 15 November 2016 Spend a long weekend with fellow artists, painting outdoors and socialising in the lovely old town of Reefton. Make new friends. Reefton is a small town about 80 km northeast of Greymouth, in the valley of the Inangahua River, with a population of about 1000 and an array of historic buildings and local characters. As we have a ferry crossing and four hour drive to Reefton, we will want to stay three days. We’ll share rental van/s, or take your own car. Those who work may wish to fly to Nelson and hire a car. We’ll stay in “The Old Nurses Home”, a pleasant guesthouse. For this safari we’ll eat out one night and cook our own shared dinners on others. On Monday afternoon, we’ll hold a small exhibition of our watercolours, before heading home on Tuesday. Partners and friends are welcome. For further information on the Safari please email: bookings@watercolournewzealand.co.nz
Note: Rental vans need to be booked early. If you plan to travel in the shared rental van, email your booking by 12 June.