Focal point issue 4

Focal Point Issue Four

June 2013

In-house Magazine of the

Western Cape Artists’ Society 1

Focal Point Issue Four

June 2013

Editorial We are so excited that we are now The Western Cape Artists’ Society as it opens so many new doors to artists in this area. As the editor of this magazine I am now feeling a little daunted as we are spreading our wings. I would love to receive articles from sculptors, ceramic artists and pastelists as well as painters of all media so we can cover all aspects of our new status within our magazine. So please send me your articles or links to other articles that I may be able to use.

In this issue we are focusing on pastel painting and the use of inks for those who wish to try using these exciting media.

One suggestion made at our AGM was to assist in selling paintings on-line. We do not have the resources to establish a website for all our members, but Chris Hall has set up a Facebook page and we hope that many of you will start to use this and that you will find it useful in many ways. Please see separate article on using our Facebook site. We are also running an article on how technology can be used in several ways to assist your creativeness.

We still have several problems we are grappling with. One is to find a suitable venue to hold our exhibitions where we can install sculptures and ceramics without the fear of them being stolen or damaged. Imibala have offered us exhibition space in June and this is the ideal venue as far as security goes and Imibala are trying hard to promote their gallery and so this may be an important relationship.

Another venue that has been offered is the P J Olivier Art Centre in Stellenbosch and we are investigating that possibility. If anyone knows of other secure venues suitable for exhibitions, please let us know.

As we had quite a large sum in the bank at the end of last year we have decided to continue to sponsor Elihle Mukane (now in Grade 4 at ACJ Pakade Primary School) through the Imibala Trust Sponsor-a-Child Programme. Also, in lieu of paying to use the Imibala Gallery in June we will sponsor a high school learner, Lucus Valashiya, who is a dedicated and promising young artist.

Following a suggestion made at our AGM we have purchased four DVDs for members to borrow, but we must ask for a deposit of R100 and members MUST return the one they have borrowed at the next meeting. The titles are: Brush up on Watercolour Watercolour Trade Secrets with Matthew Palmer Interactive Acrylics with Fraser Scarf Oils for Everyone with Michael Sanders So as you can see we are certainly spreading our wings in an effort to assist a wider range of creative people in the Western Cape. We appreciate any suggestions from our members.

In fact we need to hear from you all – please send any comments to kathy@trainexp.co.za or chris87hall@gmail.com.

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Articles in this issue Page Branch member news

Across the Palette exhibition 2013

4

Ray Potter Workshop

5

The long read

The use of technology by creative people

6

In conversation with‌

Jess Wilsworth

8

The artistic journey

Into pastel painting

11

Learning points

Colour triads

14

Technical information

Inktense blocks

15

Easy steps to photographing your art

18

A quick guide to Facebook

20

Upcoming exhibitions

21

Opportunities to exhibit

22

Out and about recently

23

What’s on

Review

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Branch member news: Across the Palette Exhibition Following our name change to the Western Cape Artists’ Society, a new category, photography, was included in the exhibition. In future we intend that all our exhibitions will be ‘across the palette’.

The winning artists, pictured on the front cover, are (from left): Antoinette Nystad, Giorgio Guasco, Marianne Cronje and Gill Sellier.

Other prizes: Highly commended – Marion Langton, Diane White and Marianne Cronje.

Commended – Marion Langton, Gill Sellier, Giorgio Guasco, Minnie Gerber and Marianne Cronje.

“Big Feet” best pastel by Marianne Cronje

“Overberg” best acrylic by Antoinette Nystad

“Beyond” best watercolour by Gill Sellier

“Art Connoisseur” best photograph (joint) by Giorgio Guasco

“Gaudi Mosaic” best photograph (joint) by Giorgio Guasco

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Ray Potter Workshop – Mad about fences “I’m mad about fences” - this is the self-confession of Ray Potter, well known local artist, who gave an exciting workshop to our members on 4th May entitled “Limited Palette and Line”.

Ray both inspired and entertained us as he led us through the exercises he had planned around the topic.

He loves adding fences to his pictures whenever he can and we ended up doing the same.

We not only learned how to use a limited palette and the adding of interest to the focal part of the picture with ink line, but then how to add the spice to the picture with a little zing of contrast.

Many of us battle to paint trees and Ray gave us a lot of guidance with this.

On the right is the one of the examples which Ray painted for us on the day.

Some of our ‘Ray-inspired paintings’ are shown below.

We had a fun learning day and thank Ray very much. We hope to invite him back for another workshop in the future.

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The long read: The use of technology by creative people “Once a new technology rolls over you, if you’re not part of the steamroller, you’re part of the road”.

Stewart Brand

I’m beginning to feel a bit like the above quote and feel that I’m being pushed or pulled into moving up a notch with my technological knowledge – it’s become rather stagnant since I retired, but now there is so much happening on Facebook, websites, iPads, etc. that I feel I’m becoming part of the tar on the road. So I’ve decided to take a look at how technology is affecting the art world.

Facebook WCAS is also being dragged into the twenty first century and we now have our own Facebook page which members can enter art related comments, upload their pictures and comments, and read posts from other members. For a simple guide on using Facebook, see page 20.

Computer programmes You can now manipulate your photographs using computer programmes – Picasa, Photoshop, Windows Live etc. - allow you to change colours, re-size, merge details, take away red-eyes etc.

Picasa can be downloaded free of charge – have a play and see what you can do.

Selling artwork online This is an increasingly popular method of selling work and if you want to consider this route take a look at http://emptyeasel.com/ for some great tips and advice.

Art lessons You can receive lots of free art lessons on different media – some are written demos with examples shown and some are videos. If you want to try a new technique or media give it a try.

Art clubs Join an art club to receive regular newsletters or upload your work for others to see.

Subscribe to art magazines You can often receive an on-line copy of an art magazine (just as you are doing with Focal Point) if you prefer it to a hard copy.

Purchasing art supplies, books and videos Many art suppliers now offer an on-line ordering and delivery service. This can save you petrol and time.

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Creating artwork on tablets and smart phones David Hockney was one of the first to take up this new method of creating artwork, click on the link here for an interview in which he speaks to BBC Click about creating digital artwork for an exhibition in Paris.

Many others are also experimenting with this. For examples of work by artist Tony Hogan go to his website: www.hoganart.co.uk

David Hockney on getting his first iPad said “I thought the iPhone was great, but this takes it to a new level – simply because it’s eight times the size of the iPhone, as big as a reasonably –sized sketchbook. …Anyone who likes drawing and mark-making will like to explore new media.”

Apps for learning about art There is a long list of applications (Apps) that one can install for use with art on your tablet or smartphone. Here is a list of just some of them: Artfinder – free for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad – with this you can enter a gallery, photo or artwork and learn about that painting.

The Art Guide – free for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad – a database of 600 of the UKs most important collections Tate guide to modern art terms - £1.99 for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad

Love art national gallery - £1.99 for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad – this app allows you to explore brushstrokes and read stories behind masterpieces in the National Gallery Letters of Vincent van Gogh – free for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad Paris Museums and Exhibitions - £0.69 for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad

Painting whilst you sleep I recently made a hotel reservation and received notification that I could put an app on my iPhone that could make an artistic picture of my dreams when it is left next to my head during the night See the result on the right:

But as David Hockney also says “the trouble with high tech is that you always end up using scissors.”

Please let us know how you are using technology to assist with your artwork.

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In conversation with

Jess Wilsworth Continuing in our interview series with some of our long-standing members, I interviewed Jess while she was sitting at our recent exhibition at the Imibala Gallery.

At 91 Jess is still very much on the ball and still experimenting and learning in order to exercise her creativity. Here she is with her beautiful painting “Marine Impressions�.

Interview by Chris Hall

When did you first realise you wanted to be an artist?

Ever since I was a little child, I was always drawing and sketching. We lived in Kenilworth and from the age of about twelve I used to go into Cape Town on the train by myself to visit the big art galleries there. I have lived with the love of art all my life.

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Who has been your biggest inspiration or role model?

The Impressionists - Monet a all the rest. I love the colours. My poppies have always sold well. Good colour is so important. I can’t do beiges and dull shades.

When I was living in Mozambique in the 1950s, the wives of the British and South African consuls were both artists. It was they who introduced me to oils. I had only sketched before that, never painted.

In Durban I studied portraiture under Rosa Hope. In Johannesburg I painted with Rowena Bush. Later, when we returned to Cape Town and came to Somerset West I met Marion Langton. Norma Moore was the Chair of the Somerset West Art Group then. I learned a lot with them and became secretary for a time.

Which medium do you prefer to work in? Why? I have been through all media, but apart from the mess, I still like oil. I can’t get the mix of paint on the canvas with acrylics, they dry too fast for the way I like to work. I’m a messy artist: I like to use my hands. I can’t work with gloves at anything; nothing feels quite right, but oil paint is difficult to clean up.

All the paints you get are better now. The colours have improved. The Italian ranges are particularly good. I once bought paints in Switzerland; they were wonderful. I don’t think you can get them in South Africa.

I have done lots of other things – mosaic, murals and ceramics. I don’t like just to paint.

What inspires you most as a subject matter?

Flowers and landscapes, and the colours of the sea. I’m particularly inspired by beaches and soft sand, and the way the water runs over the sand.

When I was living in Durban I was secretary to the art group there. The whole group often used to meet together to work. We had many portrait subjects and I remember one old Indian man who sat for us. He had long, long hair which he usually had pinned up. One day he loosened it for us and there were metres of it! We had some very beautiful Indian women to paint as well. They wore such beautiful saris.

I exhibited and sold a lot in Durban. In fact, I sold well enough to buy a second hand car, and later a new car.

Have you ever experienced a real bolt of lightning – a moment that changed your art going forwards?

Well, I have literally experienced a bolt of lightning – when living in Durban. There was a huge storm and the lightning struck our house quite spectacularly.

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I have done many things. I once did two large murals for a wealthy Indian man which my husband helped me install on either side of the entrance to this great big house. I also worked with mosaics. Luckily I had friends who had a factory in Johannesburg. I used to drive up there and select from the broken tiles in lovely colours.

I studied sculpture with Hanna Lourie and also got into pottery and china painting. I bought a small kiln and taught my husband to use the wheel. He was better at that than me. Then I bought a larger kiln and started buying plates and jugs from the Continental factory and painting onto the china. I even decorated a 120 piece dinner service for my daughter-in-law. It is quite a complex business to paint onto glazed pieces and then fire them a second time. I still have my small kiln in my garage here.

How do you feel about the South African art world at the moment?

Times aren’t easy. The most important thing is to get out there. Your art won’t sell itself sitting on your own walls. Many galleries charge such high commission, but you need to push yourself, join groups and enter exhibitions.

This magazine speaks mainly to part time artists who want to improve their work. What advice would you give them?

I like to help people with ideas and advice. But the most important thing is the passion to create and keeping the creativity flowing. Keep going!

“Poppies” – Jess’s miniatures displayed at the Imibala Gallery, June 2013

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The Artistic Journey – into pastel painting The fine line between chalk, pastel and crayon These materials have been used throughout history to express a passion for drawing with colour.

Chalks were historically mined from the earth and bound into crude sticks, but natural chalk is a thing of the past and the commercial product that most closely resembles chalk for art use is the Conte crayon.

These come in classic shades and are formulated in stick form so you can sharpen, cut or shape them to meet your needs.

Soft pastels are made by mixing dry pigment, water and a weak gum binder into a paste which is then rolled or extruded mechanically into stick and air dried. Using different brands of soft pastel will quickly show you that some brands produce sticks that are harder than others. The more expensive brands contain more pigment and less binder and thus tend to be softer and more crumbly. Round pastels tend to be the softest – they come in different widths and vary in width. These really come into their own for broad areas of brilliant colour. You can work with the side of the pastel or use shorter, broken bits for smaller scale. The softness makes them ideal for blending and smudging with the fingers or a torchon.

Soft, buttery pastels are best when you want to achieve a painterly look. For linear effects a harder stick will probably be better. Pastels have to be mixed on the paper and so most pastelists regularly hunt for particular colours and therefore use several brands.

Square pastels are often known as chalks, chalk pastel or Conte crayon and they are generally harder than the round ones. They cover the paper rapidly and are excellent for drawing and sketching in line and tone and are often used to add detail to soft pastel work. You can hatch and smudge them to blend.

Pastel pencils have a similar consistency to soft pastels, but they contain a small amount of plasticizer to form them into leads. These hold detail well and are less messy to use and can be sharpened to a point.

They can also be easily brushed with water or solvent for aquarelle effects. They can be mixed with round or square pastels, but if you try to use them with coloured pencils the wax in these will resist the pastel – so do not mix.

Most artists use a fixative as a final coat, but some disagree with using such as it can alter the colours of your work. One artist I read of recently uses a flat piece of wood to bang on the back of his completed work to dislodge any loose pastel powder, and he uses no fixative and has had no problem with powder falling onto his matting board.

Crayons are colour sticks with fatty/or waxy binders. These were used by Ingres, Toulouse-Lautrec and Picasso. These can produce tonal shading and deep chromatic intensities that far exceed anything possible with soft pastels. Always use artist quality oil pastels or crayons and avoid those produced for children.

“Bright colours or dark ones, sparkling clarity or misty atmosphere, landscape, still life, portrait – I haven’t met a subject, style or mood yet that cannot be portrayed beautifully in pastel.”

Dave Beckett 11

Myths about pastels 1. Pastel is not a permanent medium – pastel composed of almost pure pigment is in fact more durable than most other mediums – it will not crack or blister and as long as it is not hung in direct sunlight and kept in a dry place it is permanent.

2. Pastels are weak, pale and wishy-washy – you can underpaint with watercolour or acrylic or you can do a “turpentine breakdown” whereby you paint over pastel on sandpaper with turpentine and a bristle brush to make the pastels flow together. Once the surface is dry, you can go back in with pastel. Manufacturers produce a good range of darks, and many artists have developed ways to produce their own darks.

3. Pastel is for sketching only – although pastel is a good sketching medium many full paintings are also produced with pastels.

4. Pastel is unforgiving – You should use the fat over lean method. Use your pastel pencils or harder pastels first, saving the very soft ones for the last layers. Mistakes can be painted over or wiped out with a chamois, a razor blade, an old scruffy bristle brush, or a variety of erasers. A pastel of the same colour and value as the background can also be used as an eraser. If you are over-enthusiastic in your erasing, a spray fixative will usually restore the tooth of the support.

Paper to use with pastels Traditionally pastel paper is a soft, fibrous paper that helps the adhesion of the pigment. It comes in different colours and grades. The fine grade is for line work whilst the coarser grade is good for broad, free strokes. Coloured sheets provide a good toned background and so your choice of colour should enhance the subject of the work.

Storing pastels Pastel pencils can be bound together with an elastic band. Round and square pastels will shed dust on each other and so it is best to store them by colour, keeping blues and greens separate from reds and oranges and so on. Store them in a shallow plastic box or wooden tray with dry rice. The pastel dust that comes loose will adhere to the rice rather than other pastels.

Using those tiny pieces of pastel These are worth their weight in gold and should not just be discarded. Crush them up with a pestle and mortar or a hammer – not too finely since the gritty bits will leave lovely streaks - and then use the pastel dust to create exciting and unusual backgrounds for your drawings.

Simply wet your sheet of paper with water or apply acrylic matt medium solution in broad brushstrokes (the latter is more permanent) and sprinkle on the powder and spread the pigment around with a wet paintbrush. Blot off any excess water with kitchen towel. The colours will settle unevenly and create a lovely irregular background. Colours dry lighter but if you find the colour is stronger than you wanted blot off the excess pigment with kitchen towel. This will create a weathered look. Blot off more colour from the area which will be behind your subject or leave them blank when applying the dusted pigment.

These backgrounds can be any colour, two-toned or multi-coloured, but make sure to work with colours that will enhance your chosen subject.

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Achieving washes with pastel 1. To get clean, transparent tints of colour, use a heavily charged brush to take colour from the pastel stick and apply it to dry paper. For the best glazing results, let the underlying colour dry first.

2. For a variety of effects, wet the paper and then draw on the surface in the traditional pastel manner.

3. To overlay pastel colours on top of one another, use dry on a dry surface, then apply water when finished. For a Degas-like effect, keep repeating, building up thick layers.

Note on Pastel “Painting” I recently saw a letter where a pastel artist was asking whether her pastel work should be called painting or not. If she calls it painting she receives strange looks. What do our members using pastel call their work? Please let us know.

UNISON PASTELS AVAILABLE AT THE ITALIAN ARTSHOP

SPECIAL OFFER IN JUNE:  Get 10% off any set of 18 or 36 Unison pastels ***************

Mail order our specialty- R25.00 postage irrespective of size of order.

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Learning Points – Colour Triads

An artistic triad consists of three colours that are equally spaced on the colour wheel. Colour triads are however not limited to pure and saturated colours but can be secondary and tertiary colours – as long as they are equidistant on the colour wheel. So we can use such triads as:

Basic triad: Primary red, yellow and blue (or magenta, cyan and yellow) or cadmium red, cadmium yellow and ultramarine blue.

An intense modern triad can be achieved by using Hansa yellow medium, quinacridone magenta and Pthalo blue.

Secondary triad:

green, orange and violet mixed from two of the basic triad.

Tertiary triads:

yellow/green, violet/blue and red/orange blue/green, yellow/orange and red/violet

The tertiary triads are more challenging because the hue is influenced by the complementary colour – by careful mixing you get a whole range of browns, greys and neutrals.

It is best to make one of the colours within the triad your dominant colour and the other two to be used as accents. By carefully choosing your dominant colour you can create a mood for your painting e.g.

RED, yellow and blue will provide a vibrant, lively and warm scheme, whereas BLUE, yellow and red suggests a cool quieter mood. So carefully choose your dominant colour to match your selected subject.

Activity Try creating works by using different triads - three colours per picture. By doing this you will be learning about the properties of your colours and how they work on the paper and how they work together whilst creating vibrant works of art.

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Technical information Using Inktense and other mixed media There seems to be a lot of new interest in inks and I have read several articles on different types to be used in artwork. I will write a fuller article in the next issue, but for this one I will concentrate on the new Inktense which is obtainable in pencils or blocks. I say “obtainable�, but I have found it quite difficult to find any of the blocks in South Africa at the moment, although the products are available to order online from Art Attack Art Suppliers

Cherry Nichols gave us a demonstration recently in which she used Inktense blocks in her work. These are some notes I took at the demo.

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Using tissue paper, gold leaf and Inktense blocks along with watercolour Cherry started by drawing roses onto her stretched piece of Fabriano paper. She then wet the paper with a wet sponge and streaked shades of red, orange and blue over the paper leaving some white areas. She then splashed and sprayed the paper to disperse the colours – these are to be her softest shades.

She then tore small pieces of coloured tissue paper (mainly red with a little dull yellow) and fixed these to the paper with a brush and water only – pushing the tissue into the shapes she wanted to form a background to her flowers (and I think some to be petals?). A mixture of Acrylic Matt Gloss Medium and Acrylic Gloss Glaze (Dala) was then brushed over the tissued sections.

Tiny pieces of gold leaf were added here and there to the tissued sections over the glaze – applied with a dry brush and pushed into position and shape and then glazed over.

A wet brush was used to pick up colour from the Inktense Blocks and added around and partly over some of the tissue – more water was added in places and other colours from Inktense were applied over the first colour – blending etc. This was all work on her background and then the roses started to pop out.

Watercolour was then blended into the rose petals taking care to keep the light tones light, just darkening the shadow area and applying a little Inktense for the darkest areas.

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Member Contribution: Ann Selbach I first used watercolour for the sky area, part of the background and some foreground.

Some parts of the trees were also firstly painted in watercolour. Then I used the Inktense Block to draw with and to add colour blobs in the trees. Each time I would take a wet brush and wash over the Inktense, like one would with ink, only this sets as one wets the Inktense Block section. It is similar to using watercolour pencils, only much more vibrant and intense. Once you have washed it, it sets and cannot be washed out again.

I know you can also use the wet brush directly onto the block, like using normal watercolour. It’s great fun to play around with them, to see what affects you can get.

Anyway, I really enjoy working with them.

Inktense techniques 1. Washes – make washes by scraping some of the colour from the block or pencil into a palette and then mixing with water, or by running a wet brush along the edge of a block to pick up colour (as Cherry demonstrated).

2. Make a palette by scribbling colour onto a piece of watercolour paper and then picking up the colour with a watercolour brush.

3. Create texture by using the side of block rubbed along rough paper or by putting a wash into a spritzer bottle and spraying onto the paper, or by grating the ink into wet paper.

4. Draw using the edge of a block or a pencil – you can then add water if you wish as Ann did.

Editor’s note I have just managed to get my set of Inktense Blocks, so I will be experimenting and will give feedback in the next issue. In the meantime I would like to hear from other users.

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Easy steps to photographing your art You may want to photograph your art to keep a record, post on our Facebook page, compile a portfolio, or to submit your work for on-line exhibitions.

You need to achieve good, representative images of your paintings, where the colours and the tonal values are as similar to the original as possible, and the image is in good focus.

But don’t worry; you don’t need to know much about photography, as even the most basic digital cameras will do most of the work for you.

1. Getting it straight How you compose your shot is important and it is always best to photograph your work before it is framed. Photographing behind glass is a huge problem.

Tape the unframed painting onto a lightweight backing, so that it lies as flat and as smooth as possible. Place on an easel that is adjusted to stand straight up, or use tic-tac to attach it to a neutral wall.

The camera should be about a metre from the painting, preferably on a tripod - a tripod allows you to adjust the height easily, and you can move forward and back if necessary. The back of the camera should be parallel to the painting, either at rectangles to the floor or with the camera tilted to the same degree as your work, so that they are still parallel to each other. The lens should be in line with the centre of the painting. In the case of digital cameras with 'zoom' functions, you may need to adjust the zoom to minimise 'barrel' distortion.

Now your painting’s edges will be nicely parallel to the edges of the viewfinder or the display on the back of the camera. Fit the painting into the display or viewfinder frame as much as you can; this will give you the best quality image.

If you are photographing a few artworks, if the sizes vary, avoid zooming in or out too much.

Rather move the tripod closer or away to fill the frame. Too much zoom distorts. If you have a portrait format painting, lay it on its side and photograph it that way to fill the frame efficiently.

You can always rotate it later on the computer.

If the work is large, lay it flat on the floor and shoot from above looking down (use a chair or step-ladder to obtain ample distance if it's really large). If you tilt against the wall from the baseboard or the edge of a table -- however slightly -- will distort the view.

Additionally, if you are taking a picture of a three-dimensional object that is sitting on a flat surface, position yourself at eye level with the object. You may need to kneel down or raise the object on a firm, flat surface.

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2. Get the light right Indirect lighting is good and natural indirect lighting is even better. A room with windows can offer indirect sunlight, even on an overcast day. You do, however, want to avoid sunlight striking your object directly, as this will cause glare.

However, if the room is dark, artificial lighting will work. In this case, two or more light sources -- preferably of similar wattage strengths -- should be set at about 450 angles to the piece, out of the peripheral vision of both you and your camera lens. Your goal here is to light seminaturally but not to cast shadows. Move about to achieve the most even lighting you can.

3. Working without a tripod Still photography is best done with a tripod. However, if you don’t have, you can do the following to minimize any motion: 

Hold the camera with both hands.



Draw in both elbows until they're close to touching one another, then firmly hold elbows and as much of your forearms as possible to your chest. This will leave your hands free to aim and shoot, but your arms as still as possible.



Hold your breath just before and while hitting the shutter.

4. Turn OFF the flash A flash aimed directly at the piece is, 99 times out of 100, your enemy when photographing art.

If there is a highlight or shiny area to be found, your flash will find it, spotlight it brilliantly and render it nearly unrecognizable in the resultant image. The glaring spot will bear little resemblance to that which a person actually sees with the naked eye.

Your flash levels tones, eroding contrasts and wiping out shadows. You want to represent the work as you composed and executed it, not as the flash decides is optimum. Unless you know how to "bounce" flash from the camera to a middle surface and then to your object, turn this function off.

In summary, to take the best possible shot of your work of art you need to: 

Make sure your view is square, plumb and level;



Use indirect lighting;



Keep your hands steady;



Turn off your flash.

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A quick guide to the WCAS

page

Apologies if this seems to talk down to anyone, but I am assuming some people haven’t a lot of knowledge or experience of using computers and the internet etc. Here we go.

To start: press the ‘Ctrl’ button (bottom left on your keyboard) and at the same time, click here. This will take you directly to our Facebook page.

Alternatively type the words: ‘Western Cape Artists’ Society’ into Google or other search engine. This will bring up a list of headings, one of which will relate to our page. Click on that title. Our page will come up.

If you already use Facebook – you will be familiar with the look of the page. If you have never used Facebook, you will be asked to sign up. Just follow the instructions, it’s quite straight forward. Go on, be brave…

So now you’re ready to go. Things you might like to try…

Click on the ‘like’ button next to our name.

At the top of the left hand column there is a box where it says ‘write something’. Move your cursor to where it says this and send us a message. Maybe you enjoyed our opening at the Imibala Gallery recently? Maybe you sold something? Tell us and tell the world! Share your thoughts; make our Facebook page look lively and where it’s happening!

Or in the same box you can upload photos. Click on where it says ‘photo/video’. Here you can add pictures of your paintings. Provided you have the photo on your computer, you simply click where it says ‘browse’, find the photo in your computer files. Then double click (click twice quickly) on the file name and click ‘post’. Wait for a little while and there is your photo. But be aware that the larger the file the slower it will be to upload. Large files may not work.

If you get stuck, make a note of your difficulty and let me know: chris87hall@gmail.com.

If there are some common areas of confusion I will circulate some answers.

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What’s On Imibala Gallery, 16 Bright Street, Somerset West 021 852 2411 July 9th until 20th July

“Midwinter Exhibition” by “Erinvale Artists”

Liebrecht Gallery, 34 Oudehuis Street, Somerset West 021 852 8030 September 2013 October 2013 November 2013

Philip Badenhorst will be showing “The chequered flag” Wendy Gaybba will be showing “I recall a gypsy woman” Andrew Barlow, Jaco Coetzee and Kennett Sinclair will jointly present “In the sweat of your brow”

The Studio, Kalk Bay 122 Main Road, Kalk Bay email news@thestudiokalkbay.co.za June 13th until 26th June Marc Alexander will be exhibiting “Touch” th th June 27 until 10 July Laurel Holmes will show “Light play” Ongoing exhibition of resident artist Donna McKellar

The Cape Gallery, 60 Church Street, Cape Town 021 4235309 Until 29th June

Annual Winter Solstice Exhibition

Kalk Bay Modern, 1st Floor, Olympia Buildings, 136 Main Road, Kalk Bay 0217886571 Until 25th June

“Thinking aloud”

Rust-en-Vrede Gallery, 10 Wellington Road, Durbanville 021 9764691 18th June to 18th July

“a group exhibition of miniatures” in Salon A

Artb Gallery, The Arts Association of Belville 021 9171197 12th June to 19th July “Monochrome” group exhibition of mainly drawings

AVA, 35 Church Street, Cape Town 021 4247436 3rd to 27th June 1st to 26th July

“Critic’s Choice” – a group show “Artthrob” a group show

Casa Labia, 192 Main Road, Muizenburg 021 788 6068 1st June to 27th July

“Portals” by Anthea Delmotte

David Krut Projects, Montebelo Design Centre, 31 Newlands Avenue 021 6850676 Until 31st August

“The Benediction of Shade” – a group show

34 Fine Art, 2nd Floor, Hills Building, Buchanan Square, 160 Sir Lowry Road, Woodstock 021 4611863 Until 17th August

“From the Gallery Collection – a group exhibition 21

Johans Borman Fine Art, 16 Kildare Road, Newlands 021 6836863 Until 12th July

“Allusions of Abstraction”

Art at Tokara, Tokara Winery, Crest of Helshoogte Pass 021 8085900 Until end August

“The Garden”

D Street Gallery, 112 Dorp Street, Stellenbosch 021 882 3337 Until 14th July

“Vanitas II” work by 20 artists

Sasol Art Museum, 52 Ryneveld Street, Stellenbosch 021 8083691 Until 29th June Until 20th July

“Silence Portraits” by Johann du Plessis “Solipses V” by Wm Botha

Opportunities for artists Imibala Art Gallery, Bright Street, Somerset West call for submissions: 1. Local Artists’ Exhibition: August (date to be confirmed) Submissions from local artists in and around Somerset West are invited for an exhibition to be held in August. Three paintings per artist in any medium may be entered for selection

by Imibala.

2. Exhibition of Botanical Art – 16 – 28 September 2013 Submissions of botanical art in any medium are invited. The selection by Imibala will be held at the beginning of August (date to be advised)

Urban Sketch Group Fawa Conradie has advised me that this new group will meet and sketch together once or twice per month. Google Urban Sketchers for details of this world wide style of sketching anything, anywhere.

They are planning trips to the penguin colony of Stoney Point, Bettie’s Bay and a trip to Philadelphia and Riebeek Kasteel.

More information on these opportunities will be given in our monthly newsletter.

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Out and about recently…

I managed to attend the Hermanus Fynarts for a day early in June. I saw their art exhibition in the old synagogue and then visited several artists in their own galleries/studios. Shelley Adams is a very creative and spiritual artist who describes her work as joyous and uplifting and she believes that we are all on a journey of spiritual growth. Her work included oils on leather, canvas on canvas and many mixed media.

A few doors away Terry Kobus had an exhibition of Nguni Cattle – some painted on wine barrel tops.

They were luminous and riveting. He also had some of his drawings on display and believes that drawing is everything - he quoted “you can make a good drawing into a bad painting, but you can’t make a bad drawing into a good painting”.

Further along Main Street Lembu Gallery is the studio of the “red elephant” artist, Ed Bredenkamp. I saw Ed at his easel meticulously creating his next wild life picture in bold colour on unusually prepared support. His red elephants have brought him fame and are amazing.

At the Bellini Gallery, Liz van der Walt was showing her collection of calm seascapes and beach scenes.

Outdoors I saw large sculptures created by Dylan Thomas on the theme of cats and the human figure.

Fée Halstead of Ardmore Ceramics was interviewed by Louis van Heerden at the Marine Hotel. Both interviewer and interviewee interested us with their friendly and informative repartée. Fée gave us an insight into the difficult conversion she had to make from painting on canvas to working with clay, initially without a kiln using the traditional Zulu non-fired method for making vessels.

I will definitely book a longer stay for next year’s Fynarts at Hermanus.

Kathy Wivell

We were sorry to hear of the passing of Dot Dickson, founder of the Deckle Edge. A sad loss to the art world.

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