Monthly Meetings
These are held on the second Wednesday of most months at St Georges Hall, Tiverton. Doors open at 6.45pm, for meetings between 7.00pm and 9.00pm.
These meetings include demonstrations, talks and critiques of members’ work by professional artists.
We have a tea/coffee break at about 8pm for members to chat and socialise, for about 20 minutes.
There are no meeting in August and November’s meeting hosts the AGM.
(Information for guest speakers regarding projector connection and internet can be found here.)
Meetings for 2024
| Date | Title | Speaker |
|---|---|---|
| January 10th | Landscape Demo | Hester Berry |
| February 14th | Painting Demo – “Snow s not just white” | Phil Creek |
| March 13th | Critique | Ray Balkwill |
| April 10th | Line and wash watercolour made simple | John Hoar |
| May 8th | Acrylics – The sea, the sea! | Lynda Kettle |
| June 12th | Expressive Florals | Lisa Parkyn |
| July | Reg Cull Memorial Prize Critique | Gil Armstrong Williams – Director of Art, Blundell’s School |
| September | Natures botanicals | Vanessa Worrall |
| October | Linocuts | Mandi Street |
| November | AGM | |
| December | Light in Motion | Diana Pilcher |
January 10th landscape demo by Hester Berry
Hester Berry constantly challenges herself to engage in different means of expression, exploring ways paint can represent effects such as light, time, movement and climate. She uses marks as economically as possible, distilling the image/feeling/moment into what is necessary, so that through objective representation there is enough room for subjective interpretation.
She has won or been short-listed for numerous awards including the Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year, BP Portrait Artist of the year, Sky Portrait Artist of the Year, Biscuit Factory Young Artist of the Year, Ken Doughty Art Prize.
February 14th Painting snow demo by Phil Creek
Phil Creek, BA (Hons), ATD, SWAc was born in Cambridgeshire, England. He received his Honours Degree in Fine Art Painting from Manchester University before undertaken post-graduate study in the History of Art and Design at Birmingham University.
After a career in art education, he now concentrates full-time on his painting. Phil is a founder member and Trustee of the Devon Arts in Schools Initiative (DAISI) and, more recently, Trustee and Honorary Academician of SWAc.
His paintings are inspired by the landscapes, seascapes and townscapes of the southwest of England and Cape Cod, USA where he visits each year to work in the coastal towns of Eastham, Wellfleet and Truro. He has also made many paintings of The Jurassic Coast with its varied landscape, weather and coastal resorts.
His sketchbook work is predominantly small scale and undertaken in gouache directly responding to place, time and light in the outdoors. These initial en plein air studies are developed into paintings either on the Cape or in the studio in East Devon using oils or acrylics. He is particularly inspired by coastal light and in portraying how people inhabit and relate to the natural landscape and built environment. www.philcreek.co.uk
March 14th Guest artist critique by Ray Balkwell
We are pleased to welcome back Ray Balkwill. Ray is a strong advocate of painting en plein air, with his main objective being to capture the mood and ‘spirit’ of a place. Living as he does on the coast, it is little wonder that the wide-open spaces of sea, estuary and sky have been the mainspring of his art.
The March meetings are one of the best attended meetings during the year. March is when we have the “Critique of Members’ Work” by a guest artist. It is always constructive to have another pair of eyes view your work and suggest other options that you could take with your work.
So please organise a piece of your artwork that is unframed or unfinished, that maybe you have been struggling with or would like some advice on how to further improve it and bring it along to the March meeting.
April 10th Line and Wash Watercolour made simple by John Hoar
John Hoar is a prize-winning watercolourist who has had over 50 one-man shows in England and Ireland. His dynamic impressionistic style is based on simplifying the painting process. He often paints en plein air using only a small number of brushes and a limited palette. John strips a scene down to its basics and interprets it as a loose dynamic watercolour.
John has had several instructional DVDs published by Town House Films. Simplifying Line Wash and Watercolour. Line Wash and Watercolour. Watercolour without Tears. Simplifying Watercolour and Watercolour Fast and Free.
May 8th Acrylics – The sea, the sea! by Lynda Kettle
We welcome back local Sidmouth artist Lynda Kettle. She is a professional painter, painting in watercolour, pastel, oil and acrylic. “I enjoy painting mainly natural surroundings, landscapes and seascapes”.
Her style has evolved from a fusion of her theatre and tv design skills with her dramatic flair, which has produced a highly individualistic approach with stunning clarity of detail. Her works to date have followed two main themes; environment depicting light and shade, distinct and often dramatic images; and richly lit provincial subjects inspired by her travels in France and Italy.
June 12th Expressive Florals by Lisa Parkyn
Lisa Parkyn is a contemporary abstract artist based in East Devon – a far cry from the wilds of her African childhood. Lisa has always painted since she could hold a brush. Her grandmother painted the sparse expanses of the Namib dunes and her mother still paints in Botswana.
After a career in graphic design in South Africa and London, she settled in Devon to raise a family and focus on painting. She has since been inspired by the untamed landscapes surrounding her – the Jurassic coastline, the vastness of Dartmoor and the Devon countryside throughout the seasons. Her studies in design, psychotherapy and world travels all influences her art as well.
Her work includes references of landscape, flowers and figures and is linked to intuitive drawing, mark-making, layering as well as expressive and gestural brushstrokes. She primarily creates with acrylics, pastels, charcoal, and collage on canvas, paper, or wood.
July 10th Black and White art Critique by Gil Armstrong Williams (Director of Art, Blundell’s School).
The Reg Cull Memorial Award: £25, awarded at the July meeting, by the invited guest, for the best black and white drawing or painting submitted that evening. One submission per member.
September 11th Natures Botanicals with Vanessa Worrall
Vanessa’s paintings reflect a deep connection to nature. Working primarily in oil, many canvases are worked on at a time. A finished piece will go through many processes, layering washes, scraping back, scratching through to reveal hidden gems of pigment below. Broad spontaneous brushstrokes of bold intense colour are balanced with delicate, filigree mark making of equal intensity. A finished piece evolves creating a sense of place.
October 9th Linocuts with Mandi Street
Mandi Street is a landscape artist and printmaker working from her studio at home in Exeter. Her work most often represents local landscapes, from the South West Coast Path and elsewhere. She captures the energy of a place and time, producing work inspired by the spirit of the landscapes she has visited on her walks, with a focus on light, texture and colour.
Mandi was trained as a painter and has a BA in Fine Art. She spent 30 years teaching art, as well as working as headteacher of a local school. Now she focuses on her own work, participating in local exhibitions and taking part in Devon Open Studios.
Currently, Mandi works on canvas and on paper, using collage methods, oil pastels and paint, watercolour as well as relief printmaking.
‘While I trained as a painter, and work in a range of 2D media, for the the last 6 years printmaking has been a preferred medium, specifically linoprinting. For me, mark-making and texture in relief printing does the work of the paintbrush, giving work its own life, direction and force. My approach to printmaking is quite loose and I enjoy going where the materials take me.
As I favour a reduction printing method, where only one piece of lino is used, prints are available in a very ‘limited’ number.’
As I favour a reduction printing method, where only one piece of lino is used, prints are available in a very ‘limited’ number.’
11th December “Light in Motion” by Diana Pilcher
Diana Pilcher studied fine art painting at Northbrook College, Worthing and Brighton University from 1988 to 2000. Later she undertook postgraduate research part-time at Dartington College of Art from 2005 to 2010, in order to further her practice in drawing, film and music. Prior to a career as an artist she worked in education and charitable organisations as a lecturer and researcher in London and Brighton. She holds two degrees in social sciences and one in fine art painting.
Since retiring in 2021 she has devoted her time to her fine art practice (painting and printmaking). She is based in Wellington at The Old Brick Workshop where she has had a studio since 2014.
Her work draws on a wide range of media as a source for inspiration. As a painter and printmaker, she finds strong connections between fine art and other forms, namely music, film and dance. In recent years she has developed an interest in working on paper in preference to canvas, incorporating influences from Japanese woodcut (mokuhanga) into her painting and printmaking practice.
Notes
The Reg Cull Memorial Award: £25, awarded at the July meeting, by the invited guest, for the best black and white drawing or painting submitted that evening. One submission per member.
The Alan Rigby Award: £25, awarded for the best picture developed from sketches and photos from the sketching days and painting holiday.
Sales Table Held at the May and October meetings. Members’ ‘Bring and Buy’ of art materials, books etc. No commission.
Information for guest speakers
Below are the connections that our projector can use for connection to external devices, please note, no Bluetooth or wireless.
Internet connection (or lack of)
Please note, the hall does not currently have any internet connection via WIFI or hard cable. Therefore if your presentation is cloud based, you will need to down load a copy to your device.