2023 Program
IMPORTANT DATES FOR SPRING!April 2 @ 5pm – The Show Wrap Up Party at Carnarvon Park Lawn Bowling Club – delicious pizza and cake, coffee/tea (cost covered in your entrance fee of $15/person) plus a cash bar (and by "cash bar," we mean bring cash! Debit and credit cards are not accepted). Please ensure you have signed up and in doing so will be attending, as we are paying the facility by the number of people attending.
April 18 : VSC Executive meeting at 11 am at WPP
May 9 : AGM and lunch (info to follow) at Windsor Park Pavilion
Venue: Windsor Park Pavilion
April 4: Still Life Spring Theme, hosted by Nirmala Greenwell and Agnes Oosterhof
April 11: Character Model (a bike theme), hosted by Terry McBride
April 18: Watercolour masking, hosted by Val Lawton
April 25: Rocks!, hosted by Christine Gollner
Thanks all!
Pat Hindmarch-Watson |
|
| Message from the President |
|
|
Congratulations to everyone who contributed towards making the Victoria Sketch Club 114th Annual Art Show 2023 the most successful one ever. Your commitment of time and energy made all the difference to the outcome - thank you.
Gillian Rhodes |
|
2023 Sessions
Windsor Park Pavilion |
|
|
| Another full house today to partake in Sharon Wareing's and Maureen Ness', masters of large acrylic and oil paintings, knowledge of canvas preparation, glazing techniques and best-bet art supplies and products. |
|
| This week's session was Sketching with Weird Tools, guided by Lillian Tetreau who challenged participants to come up with out-of-the-ordinary mark-making implements, including such things as credit cards, bamboo sticks, frayed twigs, cocktail knives, basting brushes, bubble-wrap, squeeze bottles, etc., etc. Thank you, Lillian! |
|
VSC's 114th Art show (March 21 - 26, 2023), held at in Glenlyon Norfolk's Beach Drive new gymnasium, was a success with over 1,250 people attending. Members prepared and hung 148 works of art for the six-day event, of which 67 went to new homes.
Below are some shots taken of very busy crew members prepping, hanging, floor-walking and sales-taking and general-overseeing of activities over the course of the week. |
|
 | | Larry Gollner, President Gillian Rhodes and Oak Bay mayor Kevin Murdoch, who officially opened the 114th annual VSC show on March 21, 2023. |
|
History Corner
by John Lover |
|
|
In 1925, Lindley Crease, in a talk to the Island Arts and Crafts Society after a holiday in England, made a fascinating reference to a local artist, John Collins. Crease noted that when Collins’ pictures were displayed here – he had contributed to the IACS Annual Show in 1912 – they were given little notice. Yet in an exhibition at Wembley, England, pictures he asked $15 for in Victoria now fetched one hundred pounds sterling.
Crease was referring to Charles John Collings, born in Chudleigh, Devon, England, a largely self-taught artist, and frustrated architect. After exhibiting with the Royal Academy in 1893, and achieving some recognition, a restless Collings, at the age of 62, moved to Canada with his family in 1910. They settled on the remote Seymour Arm of Shuswap Lake, from where Collings found lasting inspiration for his artwork.
Satisfied with his pioneer life and solitude in the mountains he remained uninfluenced by the artistic trends of the day and developed his own unique perception of the vastness and intensity of the BC landscape. An ardent climber, he hiked the Rockies and the Selkirks and continued to travel through Western Canada until his death at 83.
He chose to sketch en plein air and finish his work in his studio, adopting the technique of using paper soaked in water and then mixing colours directly on the wet paper. Apparently, after painting a watercolour he would leave it between two panes of glass while the painting was still wet. After a period, he would remove the painting and dry it. The result of this process has been described as “a magical merging and defocusing of colours and shapes.”
Critics have found it hard to pinpoint his unique painting style. Because its coherence and consistency reflected traits of the traditional English watercolour tradition, one likened it to J.M.W Turner, but another saw influence of Japanese painting, a persuasive suggestion given that Collings was a keen collector of oriental art and crafts.
Given his isolation, it seems remarkable that he had attracted the interest of an English art dealer, Luscombe Carroll, who thought a visit to this “Recluse in the Rockies” justified the long and arduous journey to the wilderness of Shuswap. Beginning in 1912 Carroll featured Collings in a series of London exhibitions, entitled “The Canadian Rockies” which received critical acclaim. This success ensured that Collings would leave the management of his sales in such capable hands, and consequently he sought little contact with the BC art community, apart from occasional exhibitions in Vancouver. He also exhibited in Montreal, Chicago, and New York, where he achieved some popularity, but his paintings were  sold almost exclusively in England, and, as Lindley Crease’s remarks in 1925 would suggest. he remained almost unknown in BC for most of his life.
Given his preferred lifestyle it was fitting that Collings should die at his home on Seymour Arm, Shuswap Lake, in 1931. |
|
 Maureen Ness will be the Artist in Residence at The Union Club of British Columbia, located at 805 Gordon Street, starting April 1, 2023 and running through to May 31, 2023.
Maureen will be onsite painting every Thursday 10am until 2pm.
Please contact her at this email address if you would like to see this art show as you will need an appointment for viewing. |
|
Keep your eyes open for Avis Rasmussen's 2023 Retrospective, entitled 'The View From Here,' which will be held at the Victoria Arts Council Gallery, 1800 Store Street,
April 12 - May 28.
For more information and Kate Cino's interview with Avis, go to this site
Congratulations, Avis!! |
|
 Do you have paintings tucked away in a closet? Or stuffed under the bed? Why not display your beautiful paintings at the Parkinson’s Wellness Project in Blanshard Street? There are a total of 9-6ft lengths display rods.
For more info, please contact Joan Head at
head_675@hotmail.com |
|
Paint Out 2023For those of you considering participating in the September paint out, the week of September 12 - 19 at Beach Acres in Parksville, please book as soon as possible as accommodation is now limited. Quote the group rate number GRP#5.
Beach Acres and surrounding area has multiple great painting spots and the resort itself is a wonderful place to relax and paint with fellow Club members. There is other accommodation in the area of Beach Acres and the possibility of sharing with other members.
Please contact Anne (bowena@shaw.ca) if you need help teaming up with another club member.
You can make reservations by calling 1 800 663-7309 or at www.beachacresresort.com. |
|
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment