Note from the President
Our 2022 show exceeded all expectations! The combination of 149 high quality paintings, the new venue, and excellent hosting resulted in a record number of sales. Mike Pipes was able to report gross sales at $24,818. Donations to member Sharon Wareing's Safe Haven also exceeded expectations, at $1900+.
Please prepare your observations, concerns, and ideas about the show for our upcoming AGM.
Thanks to all, including spouses of members who came out to help on all fronts.
Larry |
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Upcoming WPP Sessions
Here are our upcoming dates
April 5
April 12
April 19
April 26 - AGM
Demos by members TBA
Be inspired, come and life draw members as they stay in one place working, bring items for your own still life, check the trees out though the windows, bring a work in progress, bring those materials bought long ago that have been sitting on a shelf... play... practice... explore... perfect... have FUN! And bring a painting for feedback.
Pat
Any questions? Email pghwatson@gmail.com |
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 | | Everyone's as busy as bees, and prepping for the upcoming VSC art in just a few weeks time. |
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 | | Nirmala Greenwell doing a live demo at 2022 art show |
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History Corner
by John Lover |
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With our Annual Show this month, we thought it might be interesting to “do a centennial” and recall what our predecessors were up to with their 1922 event.
 The venue on that occasion was the Belmont Building on Government Street, built in 1912. Sadly, that show, held in October, marked the last months of the highly influential Lady Sarah Crease, an Island Arts Club Charter Member who was to pass away the following December at the venerable age of 96.
As a teenager in England she had attended the coronation of Queen Victoria in 1837, and had later undergone the long sea voyage to Victoria with three of her children to join her husband there. A very accomplished artist, she was a prolific sketcher, and her legacy included several hundred ink, pencil and watercolour sketches, many reflecting life in BC from its Fort Victoria beginnings.
Also in 1922, the Club amalgamated with the Provincial Arts and Industrial Institute and became known as the Island Arts and Crafts Society. Under the auspices of the former Club, a School of Handicraft and Design had opened in 1913, though its life was short and craft instruction was subsequently left in the hands of BC’s school system. However, a craft section became an established feature in the Society’s annual shows, and endured until the Society’s last show in 1950
From the Club’s outset, a catalogue of works was produced for each annual show. The 1922 version, price ten cents and, for once, backed up by some advertising customers, listed 178 paintings, of which 138 were watercolours and 40 oils, together with 84 craft items. Only 5 paintings were priced in excess of $100: $30 was a more average figure. There were 79 exhibitors.
The catalogue included a membership application form, which advised that membership was open to all persons over 16 years of age, on payment of an annual subscription of two dollars. Despite the modest revenue accrued from membership dues, the Society managed to keep itself solvent in those years by hosting music concerts and other fund-raising events.
The 1922 show was lacking some of the names who were to become stars in the artistic world, although the Crease family was represented by Lady Sarah’s children Josephine and Lindley, who had inherited much of their mother’s talent.
One missing name was that of Emily Carr, who after an unfulfilled experience in Vancouver had returned to Victoria in 1913 to run a boarding house. Subsequently she did little painting in the years leading up to 1927, when she was to receive some due recognition at national level.
The ailing Samuel Maclure was also absent, and the “modernist” stars of the future, Maynard and Shadbolt, and their colleagues Ina Uhthoff and Edythe Hembroff-Schleicher, were yet to arrive on the scene. Nevertheless, standards were maintained through the contributions of such stalwarts as Tom Bamford, Donald Cameron, Tom Gore, Margaret Kitto, Maude Lettice, Will Menelaws, Lillian Sweeney and Gwladys Woodward.
Much water has flowed over the past century, but traditions have weathered the years. Acrylic work may now predominate, but the basic structure of our Show remains intact, with its 6-day duration and - not to be forgotten - the prize draw!
Illustrations: (1) Belmont Building, 614 Humboldt Street, Victoria (2) Lady Sarah Crease
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 | | Here's President Larry preparing for the 2009 Centennial Show... and this was in the month of March! |
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Artist of the WeekIf you would like to be VSC's Artist of the Week and be featured on our social media channels, here's your big chance! If you've got any questions, feel free to contact Vicky Turner.
Here is what we'll need you to do:- Attach 3 of your art photos to an email which you will send to victoriasketchclub@gmail.com
- Subject line should read: Artist of The Week
- Include a 2-3 line artist statement
- Be a social media superstar
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Forward your news and relevant pictures or links to the newsletter editor. |
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