Art Scene With Claire Reika Wright The Blank Canvas
to be envious of and b) was any good at drawing for toffee. I did live near a treacle mine once, in a little village called Sompting which boasted an enigmatic signpost that pointed to ‘The Treacle Mines’! But I digress. There is this widely held, and usually mistaken belief, amongst people of all ages, that the world of creativity is beyond them. Of course I blame the government! Who else could be responsible for such a widespread misapprehension? Creating something, wether a silk purse, a pig’s ear or a storm in a tea cup is mightily satisfying, good for the soul and if it pleases somebody other than yourself what a bonus. If, as is often the case, even for those gifted enough to draw for toffee, one is unsatisfied with the result - well great, a chance to let off steam, screw it up, jump on it and throw it at the neighbour’s cat. (this moggy keeps cropping up!) Seriously though, the ability to create, and by that I encompass all of the arts, is within us all, we just need to have the confidence to ‘let it out’ and in particular, to my mind, ‘be original’. Do it your way, don’t try to emulate the toffee drawers! Of course, a lot of us were taught the exact opposite. Unless I could draw like Michelangelo, paint like Rembrandt and be as imaginative as Kadinsky I felt I was not getting anywhere. Thankfully these teaching methods are long gone but somehow their effects linger on. Despite much enlightened teaching methods, in all disciplines, the ‘can’t draw for toffee belief syndrome’ is alive and well. Rise above it people and find an art or craft you would like to try and just do it. As a hobby such activities beat watching the box hands down. If you want to take your hobby further do it some more but before you get frustrated remember it takes some 10,000 hours of doing it, whatever it is, to get to draw toffee like Michelangelo! You don’t have to have a qualification, though it certainly is necessary to grasp the basic technicalities of your chosen medium. Luckily
I • Michelangelo - study for David
there are many really good teachers on hand locally who can help - more of which next month.
14 March 2011
often hear people say to me ‘Oh I wish I could paint, I wish I had talent but I can’t draw for toffee’, as if I had a) any talent
What’s On?
Sibford Art Exhibition Plans are in full swing for the 15th Sibford Art Exhibition,
hosted at the village’s primary school. The exhibition runs from Saturday 26th to Sunday 27th March, with a preview evening on Friday 25th from 7.30pm. Exhibitors will include firm favourites such as Eileen Gascoigne, Nigel Fletcher and Ronnie Loxton, but also newcomers such as Ollie Smith, Nic Durrant and the Bannings from the Gower (Swansea, not Sibford). Children from seven local village primary schools will enter their own competition leading up to the exhibition, on a futuristic theme of ‘my world in 2021’. There will be an extensive range of craft stalls to browse round,
as well as ‘make and do’ area for the children. 4 Printmakers at the Heseltine Gallery An Exhibition of prints by Denise Mason, Gill Salway, Geoff Smith and Esther Hepworth at The Heseltine Gallery, Archery Road, Middleton Cheney. Until 14th March. The Caribbean is the inspiration for Denise Masons’ new prints and Artist Books. Free - flying eagles, caged finches, and water-mills create their own time- line for Geoff Smith’s etchings. The literature of distant times and exotic places form the subject matter of Gill Salway’s prints. Esther Hepworth explores screenprinting, collagraph and chine colle, using Japanese paper. Compton Verney Folk Art Season Alfred Wallis and Ben Nicholson - exhibition runs 26th March – 5th June 2011 This exhibition explores the influence of Wallis on Nicholson’s work, focusing on paintings and drawings by the two artists dating from the late 1920s. Seeing Differently West Ox Arts Gallery, Market Square Bampton, Until 6th
• Denise Mason. Carlisle Bay, Bridgetown
March. Abstract art exhibition. Artists include Jenny Eadon, Marion Hebblethwaite, and Kevin Wood. Maureen Taylor - Paintings G150 Gallery, Leamington Spa, 28th March - 10th April Oxford Fashion Week: Fashion Photography, O3 Gallery, Oxford Castle, Until 20th March.
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