Newsletter  No. 4      October  2009

President’s Press

This is our third President’s Press and again, welcome to the Hinterland Art GroupNewsletter, I hope you enjoy your visit to our website. We continue to update regularly, so visit the website  often and you will see how we grow and grow.

This Press is released after each of our general meetings and it is always encouraging to see so many of our members attend and contribute to the success of the group. The September meeting was no different. The involvement and contributions shown by the members is awesome and makes being a member so much fun.  This month we are very excited about a number of events:

1. Alan Fall’s exhibition which has had fantastic reviews
2. Members have entered art work in Regional Shows and won awards
3. Our trip to Kenilworth takes place on Saturday and we have a bus full of members and friends
4. Our first workshop since the AGM has taken place on 20 September with many more planned over the coming months, you can find this information on our website
5. We had our eagerly anticipated GRAND GALA on 4 October 2009, with sausage sizzle, garage sale, art and craft sales, artists painting, demonstrations and much, much more.
6. Planning for a Group Exhibition in February 2010 has commenced, with an idea not only for individual contributions but a Group Project as well.

So you can see how much fun we have, not only being artists, but by being volunteers, motivators, teachers, and friends…

New members are always welcome, you do not have to be Rembrandt or Picasso, just an interest in art, the community and keen to be part of the group.

Lies Donovan

Disclaimer : The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily the formal views of the Management Committee of Hinterland Art Group.

Lojo

Editor

2008 – 2009 Committee

HAG  CALENDAR

14 November 2009, 1 pm - Saturday

Meeting re HAG Multi Artist Painting for HAG exhibition at Cooroy Butter Factory on 5 February 2010. This exhibition is in the planning stages with a theme of “The Hinterland” but the actual name of the exhibition is yet to be decided and it is hoped to finalise details of the name and choice of picture at this meeting planned for participating artists.

14 November 2009, 3pm - Saturday

Opening of Bev Watkin’s exhibition, “An African Affair”.  This exhibition will contain acrylic paintings with an African theme by Bev and photographs of African wildlife printed on canvases by Bev’s son, Alan.

28 November 2009, 9am - Saturday

Management Committee Meeting, Banana Shed.

28 November 2009, 10am - Saturday

HAG General Meeting, Banana Shed.

13 December 2009, 12pm - Sunday

HAG Christmas Party at the Banana Shed. It will be a shared lunch with each member required to bring a plate and own personal drinks.

30 January 2010, Saturday

Opening of art exhibition - Deb Dougherty.

5 February 2010, Friday

Opening of HAG Art Exhibition with a Hinterland Theme, at Cooroy Butter Factory.

10 April 2010, Saturday

Opening of exhibition – Trish Howie and Bev Watkin

14 November 2010, Saturday

Opening of HAG Exhibition.

Please note that all exhibitions are at the Pomona Art Gallery unless otherwise indicated.

SUNDAYS AT THE GALLERY

On Sunday 4 October, the Gala Opening happened with a bang.  There were combined events of garage sale, a sausage sizzle as well as demonstrations by our Workshop Tutors – Bob Silver (Water Colours), John Lodge (Oils), Moriarty (Ceramics) and Lisa Davis (Hebel Sculpturing).

It was a great social outlet for old and new members and also a chance to meet some of our tutors as well as a successful fundraising activity.

Opening of the gallery has continued and have shown to be busier in general on Sundays than on Saturdays.  Anyone wishing to be on the roster for Sundays should contact Bev Watkin.

WORKSHOPS NOVEMBER TO DECEMBER 2009

FOR MORE INFO OR TO ENROL IN WORKSHOPS – Call

54720852  (Lies) or  5485 1571  or  0417514015 (Jocelyn)

HAG Kenilworth Bus Trip

On Saturday, 26 September, 2009 13 members of Hinterland Art Group and a couple of art gallery volunteers went on bus trip to the Kenilworth Art Festival. The first stop was at the main Art Gallery which showed the entries to the $15,000 Kenilworth Art Prize.  There were many interstate entrants and the one which stood out on the stage was a very visual and surreal painting by Neil Taylor, called “The Deep Forest”.

One of the main attractions of the day, apart from the exhibitions were the “Masters at Work” exhibition by John Wilson, Ross Paterson, Colley Whisson and Terry Lewitzka.  Members interested in oil painting were particularly impressed with the free demonstrations by these hugely successful Australian artists and could have spent hours watching them at work if time had prevailed.  It was with great disappointment when the artists proved they were normal humans by stopping for lunch and then it was time to return to our bus.

There were art exhibitions at other galleries in Kenilworth, such as that of Pam Walpole’s “Of Tracks, Tides and Territories” at Lasting Impressions Gallery. Pam’s paintings cover huge landscapes of the coastal regions and vast open spaces of inland Australia such as the open plains along the Oodnadatta track, following the Old Ghan Railway line.

Pam’s paintings are very impressive with bold expressive brushstrokes and a minimal palette.

“It will rain tomorrow” mixed media 31 x 29 cms

ARTY  TITBITS

Portrait  Painting (Wikipedia)

Technique and practice

Anthony van Dyck, Triple portrait of King Charles, 1635-1636, shows profile, full face and three-quarter views, to send to Bernini in Rome, who was to sculpt a bust from this model.

A well-executed portrait is expected to show the inner essence of the subject (from the artist's point of view) or a flattering representation, not just a literal likeness. As Aristotle stated, "The aim of Art is to present not the outward appearance of things, but their inner significance; for this, not the external manner and detail, constitutes true reality."^[1]

Artists may strive for photographic realism or an impressionistic similarity in depicting their subject, but this differs from a caricature which attempts to reveal character through exaggeration of physical features. The artist generally attempts a representative portrayal.

In most cases, this results in a serious, closed lip stare, with anything beyond a slight smile being rather rare historicallyPortrait painting can depict the subject 'full length', 'half length', 'head and shoulders' (also called a "bust"), or ‘head’, as well as in profile, "three-quarter view", or "full face", with varying directions of light and shadow.

Occasionally, artists have created portraits with multiple views, as with Sir Anthony van Dyck's "Triple Portrait of Charles I".^[5] There are even a few portraits where the front of the subject is not visible at all. Andrew Wyeth's Christina's World (1948) is a famous example, where the pose of the crippled girl with her back turned to the viewer integrates with the setting in which she is placed to convey the artist's interpretation.^[6]

Among the other possible variables, the subject can be clothed or nude; indoors or out; standing, seated, reclining; even horse-mounted. Portrait paintings can be of individuals, couples, parents and children, families, or collegial groups. They can be created in various media including oils, watercolor, pen and ink, pencil, charcoal, pastel, and mixed media. Artists may employ a wide-ranging palette of colors, as with Pierre-Auguste Renoir's On The Terrace (1881) or restrict themselves to mostly white or black, as with Gilbert Stuart's Portrait of George Washington (1796).

Sometimes, the overall size of the portrait is an important consideration.

Creating a portrait can take considerable time, usually requiring several sittings

Managing the sitter's expectations and mood is a serious concern for the portrait artist.

As the famously prickly Gilbert Stuart once replied to a client's dissatisfaction with his wife's portrait by retorting, "You brought me a potato, and you expect a peach!"^[17]

A successful portrait, however, can gain the life-long gratitude of a client. Count Balthazar was so pleased with the portrait Raphael had created of his wife that he told the artist, "Your image…alone can lighten my cares. That image is my delight; I direct my smiles to it, it is my joy."^[18]

The worst wound we can be asked to endure is that of self-criticism.

Better it is to live one day strenuous and resolute than to live a hundred years sluggish and dissipated.