Guildford Art Society Programme
To see the Programme card for Summer/Autumn 2011 click PROGRAMME CARD . In the 'File Download' box click on 'Open'. If you want to print the pages go to 'File' and 'Print'. To return to the Home page click on the left facing blue arrow, then click on 'No'.
Exhibitions
The Annual Exhibition is held every year in Guildford House, in October - November. Only Full Members may exhibit.
Each year we hold Open Exhibitions where both Full and Associate Members may exhibit. In 2012 the Spring Exhibition will be from Monday 28th May to Saturday 9th June at Harvey Road Gallery. This is an Open Exhibition.
Painting Groups
From September to March The Friday Group meets at Shalford Village Hall. There is always a model and a still life can be set up - or members can do their own thing.
The spring term in 2012 will run from the 27th January to the 30th March.
For information on Friday Group contact Christine Thomas on 01483 203414 email:stilltethersend@btinternet.com
The Thursday Group meets at St. Catherine’s Hall.
For information on Thursday Group contact Philip Winkley on 01483573677
(note - there may be a waiting list)
Outdoor Painting Days
From May to September a number of outdoor painting days are organised at mostly local venues. All members may join the groups.
All talks and demonstrations will be at St. Catherine's Hall, Chestnut Avenue, from 2.30 - 4.30 on Saturdays.
Painting Demonstrations
Our winter demonstrations have a video camera focused on the artist’s work linked to a projector which gives an enlarged image on a screen revealing each step of the demonstrators techniques in progress, allowing as many as 80 viewers to watch with an uninterrupted view in close up. It can also focus on mixing paint on the palette.
Roger Dellar demonstrating at the Christmas meeting on 11th December 2010.
Outdoor Painting Days (May to September)
Always popular as it is your chance to get together with other members to paint en plein air. Share transport if possible and bring a picnic. Ring contact number if you need advice.
AUTUMN PROGRAMME 2011
SATURDAY 12th November
Paul Banning gave an illustrated talk entitled 'A Second Career'. - as described in this article by Ian Wattridge.
PAUL BANNING – A SECOND CAREER
If you missed this afternoon with Paul then you missed a treat! Before he told us about his Second Career he briefly mentioned that he was born in 1934 in Trinidad and came to England just after the war. In his boyhood days he was always passionate about drawing and after he finished school he became involved with furniture design and manufacture – even making his own prototypes. This gave him a thorough education and grounding in technical drawing, joinery and draughtsmanship. After spending over 20 years in this field designing furniture for outlets such as Heals, John Lewis and Harrods he was made redundant in 1985 and decided to try and follow his passion to make a living in the art world – as he described it his ‘Second Career’. He advocates today that good draughtsmanship produces good pictures and is essential to good art! …….and so he showed us slides of his early work – delicate watercolours of landscapes, buildings and flowers. At this time he disciplined himself to painting with not more than three washes on top of each other and preferably only one or two….but he was searching for something different! And one day whilst holidaying in France and painting en plein air, he had - as he described it – ‘a eureka moment’ as he started to paint in a much looser way, full of feeling and emotion. He started using many transparent washes – very thin so that the under colours shone through - but up to 25 washes or even 30 - one on top the other!........ and this is his current method and style. In this way he found real interest and a desire to show many subtle colours - for example in ‘plain’ walls, skies, into dark places and shadows, creating many tonal variations.
Paul prefers to paint ‘en plein air’ and illustrated this with slides of paintings made on trips to Trinidad (a place he really loves) India, the Middle East, France, Italy (Tuscany and Venice in particular) and scenes close to his Hampshire home - he is a great believer in painting local scenes, painting them through the seasons and under different conditions, creating different moods. However, many of his favourite paintings have been produced back in his studio from scenes found – almost by chance – with two or three quick sketches made on the- spot, together with a dozen photographs! We saw several illustrations from his sketch book and shown how these led to the final painting. One fine example was of Orleans Cathedral France where his sketches were made after a ‘boozy’ supper just before dark! Incidentally the painting also shows two tall posts in the foreground, which our chairman asked why Paul had not omitted these ‘lamp posts’ - as one would normally consider doing! – Paul replied that they were not lamp posts but were structures supporting overhead tram wires! Evidently his wife had also asked the same question as Glen but he simply said he had liked the posts at the time but, as a concession, he had left out the cables between the posts! - And after all he was in charge since he had designed the composition of the painting! He stated that he is always searching for scenes with atmosphere, mood and interesting light. This was illustrated with paintings that had misty backgrounds and often with light foregrounds lacking in detail. In some paintings the tonal perspective was reversed from a traditional light background and darker foreground to stronger tones on the focus or points of interest of the painting. There were scenes of sheds and farm buildings together with some of his marine paintings made on the Thames and also in Norfolk and Suffolk.
Paul currently enjoys painting scenes within buildings – in particular bric-a-brac stalls and shops and interiors of buildings and workshops. Again following on from his previous advice he showed how many transparent layers of paint can build-up ‘dark areas’ within a painting, but still show interest as well. E.g. Under a workshop bench where tools and boxes were kept – their shapes being defined but a little ‘hazy’. We were encouraged to try and omit ‘too much detail’ – simplifying foregrounds and omitting much of the detail from distant buildings! He has sold over 3000 paintings and estimated that he produced between 300 and 400 paintings a year of which about 100 would be in oils…..but said the most wonderful thing is the many people he has met! His watercolour works are produced on 200lb rough Rag paper made in Somerset - never stretched - with a limited palette of 5 or 6 transparent colours, often working on full Imperial sheets (22” x 30”). Pictures are drawn in pencil and usually the lines are left on the paper - except unwanted ones which are erased with a putty rubber. He recommended using only one manufacturer for paint – in his case Winsor and Newton – usually keeping Winsor Yellow, Winsor Blue, Cobalt Violet, Cadmium Red, Raw and Burnt Sienna in his box. Interestingly he never uses maskingfluid but sometimes uses white acrylic ink for either highlights or watered-down for a glaze to ‘pushback’ an area.
He concluded by modestly mentioning that earlier this year he had been presented with The Turner Watercolour Award at The Royal Academy of Arts. He has received numerous other awards and is a member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour, the Royal Society of Marine Artists, the Wapping Group and several other prestigious societies.
SPRING 2012
SATURDAY 21st January
Daphne Jefferis will give a slide lecture on 'The History of Watercolour Painting'.
SATURDAY 4th February
Gordon Rushmer will give a talk entitled "Travails of a War Artist"
SATURDAY 18th February
Christopher Cole will do a workshop "Painting figures (or objects) on the beach, using acrylics or oils".
MONDAY 26th March
Selection for full membership. St Catherine's Hall 9.00 - 13.00.
SATURDAY 31st March
AGM after which
Christine Hopkins will give a demonstration entitled "Urban landscape in mixed media"
SATURDAY 14th April
Antony Slinn will give a talk with slides on Van Gogh.
SATURDAY 19th May
Chris Christoforou - Illustrated talk 'Living with big cats - an artist's view'.
AUTUMN
SATURDAY 29TH September
Peter Howitt - Appraisal of members' work.
