Focal point issue 9

Focal Point Issue Nine

February 2014

In-house Magazine of the

Western Cape Artists’ Society

Focal Point Issue Nine

February 2015

Editorial Another year has just begun and I can hardly believe that this issue number 9 of Focal Point. I always take time with the passing of one year and the opening of a new one to look back on the past 12 months and make some plans for the year ahead.

own members from Hermanus to join us.

These are also social events when we meet up for refreshments and get to know each other better. 

Annual Merit and Little Gems Exhibition – this event was held at the NH The Lord Charles Hotel this year and the better venue attracted many more entries for this annual event than we have experienced in the past few years.

The good news is that we sold 20 works of art and the hotel director, Serge Foulon was very pleased with the standard of work on display.

Another beneficial point was that we could exhibit for a month and we did not need to sit at the exhibition. In addition, the curator of Equus Gallery at Cavalli Estate, Carina du Randt, opened the exhibition and was delighted to see more local art. There are some photos from the opening on page 5.



We continued to have our monthly meetings and some 80 people attended the last meeting of 2014 when Penny Steynor demonstrated her masterful use of pastels after telling us lots of the advantages of using this medium.

Considering the past 12 months of the WCAS a lot has happened. From fearing that the Society may close due to lack of committee members and particularly of a chairperson we have arrived at the vibrant Society we are all enjoying today. The journey has been quite remarkable. Luckily several newer members volunteered their time to serve the WCAS and they brought a lot of new bold initiatives so that the past few months have seen the following:



The Carnival of Colour – a resoundingly successful major art happening for our area.

The event had a tremendous vibe and we introduced lots of new people in our area to our Society, gaining several new members at the event and hopefully more still to come.

Due to the hard work of the committee in obtaining sponsorship, the event broke even financially and we hope a similar event will become an annual feature on our calendar.

Plein Air Painting – at the request of members we started to organize monthly plein air meetings which were well attended. We even had SASA (South African Society of Artists) members travelling from Cape Town and our

So I am sure that you will agree that 2014 ended with a very positive image for the WCAS, and now we look forward to a vibrant 2015. We are planning more workshops for you to attend this year and a possible weekend residential art event plus the ongoing plein air sessions and our monthly meetings in the Library Hall.

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No matter what the Society offers, you can only grow as an artist if you put in the constant effort to learn and develop. This is why I enjoy art – you can never say you know it all.

In this issue we will explore:

Criteria for selection of artwork for exhibition



Preparing grounds for your paintings



10 tips for being an artist



Improving your skills at plein air outings

In addition we look at past and present secretaries of the Society and have an interesting anecdote from Di White.

I hope that you will have great plans for your own art in 2015. Don’t forget that we write this magazine for members, but we would love to have more contributions. Please let us know if you have tried any of our tips or suggestions or if you have any projects you would like help with or ideas for future activities etc.

Kathy Wivell Editor

kathywivel@gmail.com

Chris Hall Co-editor

chris87hall@gmail.com

_______________________________________________________________________________________

“In art one is usually totally alone with oneself.”

Paula Modersohn-Becker 1876 - 1907

Reclining Mother and Child Nude

Quiet Life with Oranges and Stoneware Dog

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Articles in this issue Page Branch member news

The artistic journey

Annual Merit and Little Gems Exhibition at the NH Lord Charles Hotel

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Secretaries of the WCAS past and present

6

In conversation with Shelly Deane

7

Your new committee

9

Working Plein Air

10

Ten tips for being an artist

12

Preparing different grounds for your paintings

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Criteria for selection of artwork for an exhibition

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The impact of a song

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Careers in the arts

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Humour

Paddy Murphy – Gifted Portrait Artist

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What’s On

Art Groups, Classes and Exhibitions

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Learning points

Pause for thought

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Branch Member News The 19th Annual Merit and Little Gems Exhibition Photos from the opening at the NH The Lord Charles Hotel taken by Dan du Toit and Cliff Davies

Winning artists L to R: Dan du Toit, Marianne Cronje, Haydee Breganski, Laura Wenman, Rose Hunt, Di White, and Marion Langton with Carina du Randt, Curator of the Equus Gallery (2nd from right)

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Secretaries of the

Western Cape Artists’ Society Past and Present Past We have recently seen the retirement of Chris Hall from her role as Secretary of our Society. I worked on the committee with Chris and saw at first hand the amount of work she contributed over the four years she held the post. When she first took on the role it was a new position – the previous committee had not formally had a secretary and the amount of work was not too onerous. However, when Di White took over the chair she wanted a much more communicative style of committee and Chris took up the challenge wholeheartedly.

During her four year tenure, Chris developed a monthly newsletter to keep all members informed of activities, and a Facebook page to show the work of the Society to a much wider audience.

Chris was very instrumental in drawing up the new Constitution for the Society to allow us to rename it. In addition Chris worked closely alongside Di in organizing visiting demonstrators and artists to run workshops. There was also all the arrangements to be made for the exhibitions we held at least twice a year – including co-ordination with the judges at selection and then the typing of all those lovely labels to go alongside each picture and the certificates to be presented to the winners at the annual Merit competition. There were also a multitude of jobs that Chris quietly performed behind the scenes in order to help the Society function efficiently.

When Di resigned from Chair of the Society Chris stayed on to help the new Chairperson and Secretary-designate settle in. This was very valuable and ensured continuity. Chris has decided that she now needs some time to do other things with her life, but I am sure that you will agree that she has played an immense role in the Society over the past four years. On top of that Chris is not an artist, just an appreciative observer. Weren’t we lucky to obtain her services?

Chris will continue to be involved with the Society as she co-edits this magazine and in other more minor ways. Enjoy some leisure time now Chris.

Present Our new secretary elected at the AGM on February 7th is Shelly Deane. Chris conducted the following interview with Shelly so that we can get to know her a little better.

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In conversation with

Shelly Deane WCAS Secretary 2015

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

I never wanted to be a professional artist or I would have followed that path. For me art has been a hobby since school days. But even when I was school I did art lessons after school. I tried watercolours at first, then oil pastels. Later I did pottery and painting on pottery as well.

Then there was a long gap while I pursued my career in science. More recently I took up fabric painting and it was there that I met Marianne Cronje and Pat Hillyard. After the teacher stopped the classes we decided we would all go to another artist, Malcolm Turner, at which point Eric (my husband) joined too. We have all been painting together for more than five years. It is good to pursue with fellow artists and especially with one’s partner.

Who has been the biggest inspiration or role model?

Richard Schmid has been a big influence. I love his style. He does watercolours, but mainly oils. I am frequently inspired by the ‘modern old masters’, watching videos of them at work, although I have never met in person.

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Which medium do you prefer to work in?

Oils. I liked working in acrylics but I become frustrated at how quickly they dry. I even love the smell of oils, but it takes so long to complete an oil painting. Acrylics are more modern; oils more classic so suit the style I find most inspiring. Feel and smell are all important to me.

I work neatly and meticulously (unlike Eric!) but it is good that we can paint together. He never thought he would paint, but I dragged him along and once he started, he was hooked.

What inspires you most as a subject matter?

Nature is important, landscapes particularly. I never thought I would enjoy portrait painting, but something clicked with me. You have to be exact with a portrait, which focusses me more when I work. I know I must get it right and as a result, sometimes the outcomes are better.

I am still exploring and experimenting, but I do think I do portraits better.

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

This question is probably better answered by a professional artist - as a hobby painter I feel rather on the periphery. But I do feel that the art world here is healthy. There are a lot of local art groups and artists like Roelof Rossouw do go overseas where their art is recognised and admired.

But we are a bit cut off in South Africa, for example, it isn’t easy to get art supplies. It’s also hard to attract people to do demos and have people visit our groups from overseas.

There is certainly room for improvement. Maybe the answer is digital, over the internet.

This magazine speaks mainly to part time artists who want to improve their work.

What advice can you give them?

My advice would be what I tell myself: paint more! It’s all about those 10,000 hours to reach proficiency.

For me it is important to paint with other people. With the four of us painting together it forces you to work. Maybe this isn’t so important for professionals, but for hobby artists, it really helps you to set aside the time.

Being involved with WCAS also helps as it exposes you more to the world of art.

Committee work eats into the available time though.

But above all, keep going, don’t be discouraged.

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Your New Committee On February 7th WCAS held its AGM when thanks were extended to retiring committee members – Chris Hall, Maureen Worthington-Smith and Cliff Davies. The following members were elected to act as your committee during 2015:Herman van Zyl

Chairperson

herman@hvz.co.za

021 853 3316

Shelly Deane

Secretary

smd@sun.ac.za

021 852 9132

Pat Hillyard

Treasurer

hillyardpat@gmail.com

0839740499

Diana Jones

Catering organiser

dianawj@telkomsa.net

021 855 1844

Tommi Offret

Stationery manager

loffret@yahoo.com

021 851 9329

Marianne Cronje

Demos and workshops

mcron@sun.ac.za

021 852 0350

Kathy Wivell

PR, magazine and newsletter

kathywivel@gmail.com

021 851 1762

Marga Bezuidenhout

Library, finances

mbezuidenhout@fnb.co.za

082 551 3235

Eric O’Neill

Technical/ hardware

omeg@xsinet.co.za

021 852 9132

Dan du Toit

Photographer

djdutoit40@gmail.com

021 855 3461

We endeavour to provide you with the service you expect and look forward your support in 2015.

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The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.”

Pablo Picasso 1881 - 1973

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The Artistic Journey Working Plein Air…continued from last issue

The Plein Air outings organised by the Society have been really well supported. To a few people this was a new experience and there was some uncertainty over how to go about it. One of the difficulties is deciding on the subject matter you want to capture out of the vast array of scenery in front of you. So here are a few suggestions you may find helpful. 

Make yourself a small viewfinder – a small square cut out of a larger piece of cardboard. This can be held at various distances from your eyes and helps to isolate part of the scene and you can start to consider a composition

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Look for shapes that interest you and link them together – if there are lots of disjointed shapes in the picture it will not hold together. Don’t forget to take shadows into consideration when looking for interesting shapes.

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Determine the focal point and think of the golden mean. Consider whether to use a high or low horizon.

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Make several small thumbnail sketches, using either a 4B pencil or a broad felt tip marker – blocking in the major shapes and eliminating detail. Move your position or move your shapes until you feel happy with the composition. Remember you are the artist and you can move objects around – the picture does not need to be accurate to what you see, but should be good compositionally. Successful sketches are built upon a balanced arrangement of shapes.

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Make a note of the direction of light or of the way you want it to be (you can also alter this if you wish).

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Consider the colours you want to use – again you can move away from the realistic to create the atmosphere or emotion you want to create.

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Leave out the small detail – simplify.

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When working outside you will invariably see a wide variety of greens. Before you go outside, work on your knowledge of mixing greens.

It is often a good idea to use the outing as an information collecting activity. Rather than trying to work on a finalized piece of work, you may want to make lots of sketches, think of many options, capture a moment or a movement. These can then be incorporated later into a final piece of work. You may also want to take photographs to jog your memory on some points, but using photographs alone tends to lead to too much detail and trying to be too true to the actual scene. If used merely as an aid to your sketches they will probably be more beneficial. Also if you have sketched a scene, you have really looked at it and your memory will retain much information – was it a hot or cold day, was the wind blowing, did you find a good vantage point, what annoying features did you decide to leave out? A sketch will bring it all back.

I hope more of you will take the opportunity to sketch outdoors as often as possible and that these notes may be of help to you. It’s a great social occasion too!

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Ten tips for being an artist Taken from BBC News Entertainment and Arts 18.04.2014

South African artist, Susanne du Toit won last year’s BP Portrait Prize.

Here she gives her ten tips for being an artist:

1. Surround yourself with like-minded people – be in an environment that inspires you. Learn from others and visit galleries often to see good examples of quality arts and artists you admire.

2. Find the art form that you love the most.

3. Be able to endure working along.

4. Accept your limitations – just accept what you can do and do your best.

5. Know your subjects – she tries to get to know a person before she paints their portrait.

6. Don’t rush, take your time.

7. Use photos to help you, but don’t work from them alone. She doesn’t like to be too exact, too refined.

8. Be prepared for people not always like your work. You can only paint a person as you see them and she worries that it is often not the way they see themselves and they dislike the end result.

9. Paint for yourself and be honest. Let your art have a dialogue with yourself and be proud of what you do.

10. Remember what is important to you and pursue that. You need to get used to rejection, but pick yourself up – there is always next time. Keep shooting arrows at the bull’s-eye – at some point you will hit it.

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Learning Points Preparing different grounds for your paintings Looking back over the demonstrations we have had during 2014, one thing keeps occurring to me – several of our guest artists prepare grounds to their support before they paint: 

Gavin Collins prepares his canvases with silver paint before painting in acrylics

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Jenny Merritt prepares her canvases with decorator’s pva in off-white (“rice paper” is the name of the colour) before applying her bold acrylic abstracts

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Penny Steynor told us of several methods she uses to underpaint her pastels 1. she sometimes applies water with a brush over soft pastel colour 2. or she may apply genuine turpentine over soft pastel colour (flicking some and brushing some on an upright easel to let it run down) 3. or you can use oil pastel which you go over with a stiff brush and turps.

4. If she starts with something other than pastel she goes over her underpainting with Zellen Pastel Primer (a liquid that can be diluted with water) to create tooth for the pastel.



Mel Elliott uses boards primed with household pva with a dab of glue mixed in. He then starts to paint in acrylic before working in oils.

This started me investigating and I discovered that there are so many different ways to underpaint – here are a few examples:

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1. Pastel dust before pastel painting: crush small pieces of pastel using a pestle and mortar or a hammer – don’t grind them too finely. Lay your paper flat and apply acrylic matt medium solution in broad brushstrokes. Tip pastel dust onto wet paper and brush it over the surface.

2. Acrylic underpainting for a watercolour: use a fluid acrylic paint which will mix well with water.

Wet your thick paper well and when the shine is just disappearing lay in a wash of dilute acrylic. Once this has dried it will make an insoluble underpainting and the colours can shine through the watercolours you apply over.

3. Collage ground: prepare a surface using collage e.g. newspaper, photographs, cotton waste, mesh etc. You can also experiment with coloured papers or tint your support before you begin.

4. Other ways to create texture on your support include using thick acrylic paint, polyfilla, moulding paste or gel medium.

5. If you really want to experiment with a watercolour underpainting, try gesso. Gesso can be used on paper, canvas, wooden boards and card. You can create texture with gesso, or apply to just some areas of your support. The gesso can also be tinted using watercolour or a little acrylic paint. You can also try watercolour ground which claims to turn any surface into one suitable for watercolour application.

These are just some ideas, but there are many more to be explored.

“The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery.”

Francis Bacon 1909 - 1992

Three Studies of Lucian Freud

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Criteria for selection of artwork for exhibition Following the AGM Marion Langton and Albart Samson gave us a short talk on the criteria they consider important for the acceptance of artwork as worthy of exhibition. However, as both explained, different criteria may be applied by other judges.

Marion said that for her the following were important:   

The content of the piece should communicate with the viewer The artist’s intention should be apparent Tonal values are very important – they make a picture sparkle

Albart showed us a piece of his work that had not been accepted for an exhibition and he did feel disappointed, but he then worked on it some more and submitted it for a later exhibition and it was then accepted. Do not give up on a piece that is not accepted. He then listed criteria he looks for when judging artwork:       

Application of the rule of thirds Good contrast of lights and darks Good positioning of the focal point An uneven number of main objects is better than an even number The eye should be led from left to right Techniques should be used well and appropriately The subject matter should suit the exhibition area

To emphasize the vagaries of the artworld he then showed examples of work that had been recently selected for prestigious exhibitions that were unorthodox and not what he considered works of art. These were juxtaposed with works he considers to be excellent.

This was a thought provoking presentation.

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Pause for thought The impact of a song

by Di White Kevin and I first met Chris and Cliff when they booked into Penny Lane Lodge for their holiday in South Africa in April 2008.

Only after they had arrived did we realise they were from Liverpool and had booked in to Penny Lane because of its connotations to The Beatles’ song of that title. You can imagine our surprise when we started chatting to discover that Cliff was a teacher at our old high school in Salford, which is part of the Greater Manchester district. We became great friends during that holiday.

The next year they returned and also that year a group of teachers from the Salford High School booked into Penny Lane. It was only then that I discovered that a group of schools in Salford were raising funds for a bus for Imibala in Somerset West to use. But then the shock became even greater when I found out that the person who had instigated this fundraising was Harold Riley. He is now one of the best known artists in England and I had been lucky enough to be chosen in high school to be taught by him on Saturdays.

Now he is in his eighties and is still involved in children’s art. He has painted a picture of Mandela which was auctioned for a million dollars.

He has now been to Somerset West a few times and it was a great honour for me to meet him again after all these years. He is now a director of The Imibala Trust, but still lives in Salford. I think he will be back again this year.

Chris and Cliff eventually moved to South Africa permanently and Chris started working for me. At about the same time I was on the Western Cape Watercolour Society committee when Cherry Nichols was Chairperson. Towards the end of that year I was asked to stand in as Chair as Cherry was sick and then I was persuaded to take on the Chair the following year.

There were so few committee members that I turned to Chris and Cliff and talked them into helping out and becoming committee members. They became the backbone of the Society and we all worked together very well.

They brought so many surprises and memories back to me and I would like to thank them and all the committee members that made my time as Chairperson so memorable.

I would like to wish Herman and the new committee much success and fun.

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Careers in the Arts How often do you hear that people say there is no future in studying fine art? It may be a difficult career to choose, but I have recently been reminded of some good examples of careers that can be followed by artists.

Cape Opera Set Designer I am a member of the Somerset West Decorative Arts Society (DARTS) and I attended a visit they organized the Artscape in Cape Town in October. Michael Mitchell is the Set Designer for the Cape Town Opera and he showed us how he had designed the set and the costumes for the Marriage of Figaro which was to be shown a few days after our visit.

Cape Opera relies upon its overseas tours for fund raising and so his sets have to be designed so that they can be dismantled and transported in containers and so that they are adaptable to different stages. This particular set had been designed so that it could easily be modified for the 4 different scenes used during this opera.

Michael also designs the costumes to be worn.

He starts by drawing and painting the costume for every role considering the period and location chosen for the production. The he sources the fabrics to be used and attaches swatches to his sketches. The making of the costume is partly outsources – to various costume makers. Gents’ frock coats and top hats are a major expense for the Company.

Michael also briefs the make-up artist on what he is looking for. When touring the Company now provides each artist with their own makeup kit for self-application.

He told us that stage designers are seen as the lesser artists because they borrow from previous productions, research etcetera and then they try to create their own designs.

There is a lack of training facilities in South Africa for theatre skills. Artscape is about to start a training course. Working in South Africa is very different to working in London or Milan where fabrics are brought in to the company whereas Michael has to go out and search for his. Another example is that Cape Opera do not have a fully qualified wig maker and dresser.

I was impressed by the hard work of a small dedicated team who put on these massive and world renowned productions. I also learned that Cape Opera is not part of Artscape – it uses space within Artscape.

Puppetry Anyone who saw Warhorse at Artscape could not fail to be amazed at the skills of the puppet designers, makers and operators. I also watched the DVD detailing the difficult process involved in turning a children’s story into a stage production for adults by using non speaking horse puppets.

There was a lot of very creative thinking and designing and the end result was fantastic.

No one knew whether the public would take to puppets being moved by seen puppeteers, but its international success has shown that these fears were groundless. I am sure that we will see more stage productions using similar puppets in the future.

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Managing an art Gallery Our Annual Merit and Little Gems Exhibition at the NH The Lord Charles was opened by Carina de Randt who manages the Equus Gallery at Cavalli Estate.

It had taken her 4 years to complete work for the exhibition but it was inspiring. I am sure that her students had also been inspired by seeing her work in progress.

Full time artist Jacques Vrey invited members to visit his gallery and see some of his previous and present work. He had a variety of work on display and made us very welcome.

Within the Cape Town and Boland area there are many galleries which all need managing by people who have many skills including a sound knowledge of modern art.

Di White still runs a guest house, but manages to paint for part of every day and she has opened her gallery at Penny Lane.

She invited some other local artists to join her in an exhibition at the end of last year.

Occupational Therapy Last year I helped to organize an art group for Alzheimer’s and Dementia patients on a voluntary basis. I became involved with Occupational Therapists whilst doing this work and I could see that they needed an interest in arts and crafts to be able to assist patients with different difficulties.

Teaching Many artists teach either in schools, colleges, art centres, or privately. Whilst visiting an exhibition by Marieke Kruger at the Equus Gallery I met this very talented artist who was having her first solo exhibition. She is a teacher and she had hung her large papers from the ceiling in her classroom so she could work on them in charcoal dust when time allowed.

Shopping Mall decoration Whilst helping at the Imibala Centre to teach art to school children I met Leo van Straten who was at that time managing the art centre for Imibala and also working with several shopping malls to erect displays to celebrate special events.

Conclusion These are but a few of the openings available to artists and so one should not be put off developing a career in the arts.

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Paddy Murphy – gifted portrait artist A painter by the name of Paddy Murphy, while not a brilliant scholar, was a gifted portrait artist. Over a short number of years, his fame grew and soon people from all over Ireland were coming to him in the town of Doolin, County Clare, to get him to paint their likenesses.

One day a beautiful young English woman arrived at his house in a stretch-limo and asked Paddy if he would paint her in the nude.

This being the first time anyone had made such a request, Paddy was a bit perturbed, particularly when the woman told him that money was no object, in fact, she was willing to pay up to £10,000. Not wanting to get into any marital strife, Paddy asked her to wait while he went into the house to confer with Mary, his wife.

In a few minutes he returned. “T’would be me pleasure to paint yer portrait missus”, he said. “The wife says it’s okay. I’ll paint ya in da nude alright, but I has to at least leave me socks on so I has a place to wipe me brushes”……

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Art groups and classes you may be interested in joining Thursday morning group Several artists meet in The Masonic Hall in Somerset West each Thursday morning from 9.30 until noon to work together. There is no tuition, but ideas and problems are discussed and so they help each other. At the end of each month a crit session is held when members bring along work they have completed during the past month for constructive criticism by others in the group. Cost R50 per month.

For more information contact Kathy Wivell 021 8511762

Artists offering lessons (please contact them and make your own arrangements)

Marion Langton

Watercolour for any level of student

Tel: 021 851 5687

Carol Norval

Any medium and any level of student

Tel: 082 2587739

Brindley Pritchard

Oil painting any level

Tel: 083 4598903

Gill Smulders

Oil, acrylic and watercolour any level

Tel: 021 8563797

Hazel Swart

Art therapy and lessons in all media

Tel: 083 6351159

Anita Glenister

Art for children aged 7 to 9 Adults – mixed media

Tel: 021 851 5830

Sculpture and pastels

Tel: 021 852 6254

Carl von Biljon

Members who have galleries with ongoing exhibitions of their work which you can visit: Di White, Penny Lane Art Gallery

Tel: 021 851 2520

Katharine Ambrose

Tel: 021 850 0481

Upcoming exhibitions and events Wallace Hulley, Wallace Hulley Art Gallery, 6th to 8th March

Tel: 021 851 2490

Painting demo by Ron Waldeck - Friday 6th March, 10h00 to 15h00 Bookings: Santi at Boertije and Mademoiselle Guest House Thereafter the 1st Friday of every month.

Tel: 021-855-0332

Your input is welcome and appreciated. Please send any information articles or queries etc. to Kathy at kathywivel@gmail.com 20

The Western Cape Artists’ Society

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