N E W S L E T T E R August 2015

Ku-ring-gai Art Society PO Box 229 TURRAMURRA 2074 Mobile 0419 983 917 www.ourkas.com.au

Next General Meeting

Tuesday 1 September 2015 at 7.30pm

Masonic Hall, Turramurra

Cnr Pacific Hwy & Turramurra Ave

Next Committee Meeting

Monday 31 August 2015 at 7.30pm

Ku-ring-gai Town Hall, Pymble

President Malcolm Carver

0412 329 987 mcarver@me.com

Secretary Jan Harrington-Johnson

0400 119 211 jan.hj@iinet.net.au

Treasurer Caroline Oesterheld

0438 887 202

Patrons

Lou Klepac & Meg Stewart

Debbie is originally from the UK where she couldn't decide whether to be an artist or a surgeon. To paint things or cut them up! Logic said, become a medical illustrator. She spent years learning anatomy and went to operations, drew pictures and created very detailed work, but decided at the end of 4 years that she hated it. It had to be too accurate and you were restricted to having to draw whatever was in front of you. Debbie then moved on to draw layouts for illustrated books. She loved being in an office with other people at a publishing house where she did cookery books, children's books (40 or 50 books for kids) being able to draw an idea fast meant people could understand the idea fast.

When her husband's job brought them to Australia 21 years ago, she worked at Billy Blue teaching drawing and illustration. It was while teaching that she realised that students who struggled with their drawing often did better using the other hand - using the other side of the brain. So she gave herself a challenge and spent a year drawing one drawing a day with the left hand. Contents of the fridge, shopping bag, handbag etc anything, just to improve hand-eye coordination. She still really loves drawing and goes to Life Drawing Classes every week.

When drawing she doesn't look at the paper for the first 10 drawings or so. This gets rid of the judgement and allows you to warm up in your drawing. Loose drawings get your eye in for the longer pose. Once she decided to be a full-time artist, Debbie got a studio where she could make a mess and paint large and abstract and have a go.

She wanted the joy of slapping paint around. The Studio was the back of a butcher shop that had been empty for a long time and the Lease allowed as much paint on the floor as she wanted.

When making a painting she puts a ground down first as she likes there to be something to look at to get her mind working. The proper painting is done with oil but under painting may be done in acrylic. She loves large works but abstract wasn't right for her she feels she needs some figuration but treads a line between abstract and figurative. Layering of imagery is very important and she likes to confront herself and surprise herself. Debbie paints everything that will be blue, orange, or everything that would eventually be green in red. Colours really pop.

At present Debbie is working with a group of Artists called "Paint with Me" who work out of "Me artspace" in Atchison Street, St Leonard. This was an old Florist warehouse which Debbie came across by chance and with a lot of hard work has turned into a fabulous place to work. It is a huge space with a shopfront gallery which is rented out at discount rates for 2 week exhibitions. She also runs classes from there and other artists share the space. Debbie goes to work at the studio everyday and love the interaction with the other artists. Having this group is a change of pace and a chance to re-evaluate your work.

Debbie encourages all to keep working hard, entering competitions and to embrace modern technology by using social media such as Facebook and Instagram to promote your work.

www.debbiemackinnon.com.au

Guest Speaker August Debbie Mackinnon Mixed Media Artist

Raffle Prize

Many thanks to Geoff Buckle for kindly donating the Raffle Prize painting at the Awards Exhibition. Winning ticket: Jenny Woodwell

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Guest Art ist

S e p t e m b e r Heidi Willis

Heidi Willis is an entirely self-taught watercolour artist. Painting full-time since 2003, she has quickly established herself as one of Australia’s emerging artistic talents. At 35, her reputation as a natural history, wildlife artist and botanical artist is well established. Her works can be found in significant public and private collections around the world and she has recently returned home from exhibiting her work by invitation in Asia.

In 2004, Heidi had 20 works selected for her first Botanica exhibition in the Sydney Botanic Gardens. Her work was purchased by Dr Shirley Sherwood for inclusion in the prestigious Shirley Sherwood Collection of international contemporary botanical artists.

She was selected as a finalist in the highly competitive Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize, hosted by the South Australian Museum in 2004, 2006 and in 2007. The Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize is one of the most prestigious and sought after art prizes in Australia. This international exhibition promotes and recognizes excellence in natural history art. From over 600 entries worldwide, Heidi’s watercolour painting ‘Female Satin Bowerbird’ was selected as a finalist in the 2007 exhibition.

Producing her first graphite illustrations in 2005, both works were selected for the Margaret Flockton Award. Hosted by the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney, the Margaret Flockton Award recognises outstanding achievement in scientific botanical illustration and receives international submissions. Heidi won an awards for ‘excellence in botanical illustration’ for her pencil works in 2005 and again in 2006.

www.heidiwillis.com.au

GOLDEN JUBILEE BOOK

M E M B ER S N E W S

Website

Members will now see

there are helpful hints

for those wishing to

put up their own art.

SPRING EXHIBITION

19 October -1 November

Intake 18 October

Wine & Cheese Evening

22 October

Future Guest Speakers

6 Oct Melissa Read-Devine Painter/ printmaker.

3 Nov Marijke Greenway Oils/Mixed Media

1 Dec Peter Griffin

New Exhibiting Members

Congratulations to the following Social members who presented their paintings for Exhibition membership status at the recent intake and all were accepted: Helene Bonney, Inta Charteris, Helen Cunningham, Bruce Donnelley, Michael Fish, Maria Guthrie, Narita Narain and Ella Thapar

Exhibiting Membership Intake

All Social Members who wish to apply for Exhibiting Membership should go to our website and please read all the conditions carefully.

http://ourkas.com.au/membership/exhibiting-membership-application/

Next intakes are March & August 2016, dates to be advised.

New Members

The following new Social Members were welcomed into the Society: Helen Cunningham and Maria Guthrie.

Resignations

The resignation of Jann Craw is announced with regret. The following people have allowed their membership to cease: Geoff Brew, Jennifer Burgess, John Corner, Norma Dedman, Pamela Fairburn, Isabel Gaven, Alison Gray, Fiona Goss, Libby Hackett, Elaine Hession, Anne Lane, Geraldine Simmons, Leonie and Robert Simpson, Martin Zuiderwyk.

Vale

At the recent general meeting, the President announced the death of Doug Meares, past Property Manager, and paid a tribute to his contribution to the Society. His funeral was held on Wednesday, 5 August.

We are very sorry to inform members that due to a tragic accident Annette Neylon, who had recently gained Exhibiting Membership, has died in the last two weeks and flowers have been sent to her family.

156 of our Golden Jublilee books have been sold to date. They are available at a cost of $55 each, with $16 extra if postage is required, and can be purchased at General meetings or by ordering online. Details are available on the website.

The Committee and Members would like to give a vote of thanks to Robyne Berling, Exhibition Manager, for her management and organisation of the event. We are very happy to report that 84 works were sold - a record! Many thanks also to Jan Harrington-Johnson for organising the caterers; the judges who devoted 6 hours to their deliberations; to Suzanne Lane for all her support and assistance to Robyne; to Linda Butterfield for all the artwork for invitations, catalogue, signage, ads and the powerpoint presentation; to Bryan Freer for all his work on the website, and finally to Geoff Buckle for kindly donating the raffle prize.

AWARDS EXHBIITION

Society’s Constitution

The Ku-ring-gai Art Society’s Constitution was last revised in 2008. Since then there have been some small legislative changes affecting organisations such as ours (the Associations Incorporations Act and Regulations) that may affect our Constitution. The Committee will shortly be reviewing the Constitution generally and proposing alterations that it considers ought be made, and these will be put to a Special General Meeting of the Society later in the year. Any member who would like to take this opportunity to suggest any changes to the Constitution is invited to provide details to the Secretary, Jan Harrington-Johnson at hidale@optusnet.com.au, by the 7th September 2015. A copy of the Constitution is on the KAS website.

Library

Some books superfluous to the requirements of the library are for sale at nominal prices and members are invited to purchase them.

www.ourkas.com.au

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CASS Report

Registrations are now open for CASS Art Direct 2015!

CASS invites you to once again register your Open Studio.

In 2015 - SEPTEMBER IS ART MONTH! You can nominate any day during September to Open your Studio.

Open Studio Visiting Hours 9am to 3pm

Weekend #1 Sat/Sun: 5/6 Sept

Weekend #2 Sat/Sun 12/13 Sept

Weekend #3 Sat/Sun 19/20 Sept

Weekend #4 Sat/Sun 26/27 Sept 2015

You may wish to open for 1 weekend or all weekends or open every day! It is up to you to choose!

Studio cost is a (one off) payment of:

$50 for up to 4 Artists and

$120 for up to 20 Artists.

Refer to the website below for all that is included in the payment.

You can open 9am – 3pm/9am - 5pm or half day or until 10pm. All you need to do is advise CASS at the time of registration and your Open Studio Date/s & Times will listed on the CASS Art Direct website.

Register: www.cassartdirect.com.au

CASS AGM /COMMITTEE: If anyone is interested in joining the CASS Committee, nominations are now open.

ART SYDNEY ENTRIES: Entry now open, cut off 30th November, 2015

Email: combinedsocieties@yahoo.com.au

AWAR D S EX H I B I T I O N R E S ULT S

CONGRATULATIONS TO PRIZE WINNERS

THE SPIRIT OF 1st Prize 159 Sherna Kotwal Banksias 2

KU-RING-GAI 2nd Prize 130 David Hammersley Sunny Morning Bobbin Head Rd

3rd Prize 306 Susan White On Pymble Hill

OIL 1st Prize 107 Leonie Fisher Cockatoo Island

2nd Prize 194 Sarah McConnell North Arm

3rd Prize 65 Susanna Chen Chow Outback Impressions

ACRYLIC/ 1st Prize 295 Michelle Thomson Poppies 1

GOUACHE 2nd Prize 32 Kobie Bosch Hunter Vista

3rd Prize 4 Connie Allman Together Forever

MIXED MEDIA 1st Prize 299 Angela Van Wyk Coastal Bushland

2nd Prize 176 Judi MacLaren Haven

3rd Prize 68 Vivien Christian Dance of Life

WATERCOLOUR 1st Prize 21 Tony Belobrajdic Venice 1

2nd Prize 53 Rob Candy Late Afternoon

3rd Prize 74 Beryl Crofts Fifth Avenue New York

THE ANN GOMES 1st Prize 19 Eve Barry Winter at Perisher

MEMORIAL AWARDS 2nd Prize 106 Bill Filson Unrequited

FOR PASTEL 3rd Prize 230 Charmaine Phillips Sea Almond Leaves

DRAWING 1st Prize 129 Diana Hallowes Feeding Frenzy

2nd Prize 84 Susie Devenport International Food Queues

3rd Prize 243 Susanna Robinson Abundance

PRINTMAKING 1st Prize 121 Thomasin Graham Late Afternoon

2nd Prize 220 Jennifer O’Young Life’s Variations III

3rd Prize 276 Rhoma Stevens Springtime

MINIATURES 1st Prize 205 Noeline Millar Plein Air

2nd Prize 270 Tina Spira Tuscany

3rd Prize 147 Susan Joyce Keep the Gate Shut

WORK ON PAPER 23 Melinda Berliner Camille’s Gift

LOU KLEPAC 167 Yvonne Langshaw Pots & Plants

ST IVES VILLAGE 88 Gillian Dodds Orange District

COUNCIL PURCHASE 80 Sylvia Davies Ku-ring-gai Rocks

BRADFIELD PRIZE 130 David Hammersley Sunny Morning, Bobbin Head Rd

SILVER JUBILEE 314 Stephen Williams Sydney No.9

GRAND PRIZE 126 Rebecca Gray Morning Harbour

GOLDEN JUBILEE 278 Louise Surmon A Visit from Pamela

‘ A Visit from Pamela’ Louise Surmon

Viewers’ Choice Prize

The winner of the Viewers' Choice prize at our 50th Annual Awards Exhibition was Sylvia Davies for 'Ku-Ring-Gai Rocks' (which was also the Council’s purchase), and the winning viewer was John Thom. Congratulations to Sylvia and John.

Niven Richards is holding his

Reality Art exhibition at:

The Old Fire Shed Gallery, Wollombi

Opening Saturday 29 August at 10am with refreshments (there is a big country fair on too for your interest) followed by

Sun 30 August and weekends of Sept 4, 5, 6 and 11,12,13 10am-4pm

MEMBER EXHIBITION

Treasurer’s

Report

Financial Statement

1/01/2015 to 21/07/2015

Payments can be made to the Society at any time by post, direct deposit or online at website to:

Ku-ring-gai Art Society

BSB: 062 173 Account: 00902044

Please also email Caroline advising of your remittance aoesterh@bigpond.net.au

Please send Ku-ring-gai Art Society

news to:

Linda Joyce, c/o Ku-ring-gai Art Society

PO Box 229 Turramurra 2074

Email: lindajoyce@optusnet.com.au

Deadline for information for next

newsletter

Friday 4 September 2015

Plein Air Painters of Australia Venues Gregory’s 2000 UBD 2000

For more information please ring Jim Attril 9918 8625 or Ed Sturz 9971 5513 Founder: Allan Waite FRAS AWI

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Our KAS Workshops 2015

Check the KAS Website for booking and payment details www.ourkas.com.au

Workshop Coordinator: Thomi 0408 891 702 thomasin@bigpond.net.au

Exhibition Receipts $ 43,748 Exhibition Payments $ - 30,084

Net Exhibition Receipts $ 13,664 Workshop Receipts $ 4,649 Workshop Payments $ - 3,452

Net Workshop Receipts $ 1,197 Anniversary Book Receipts $ 9,461

$ -16,092

$ - 6,631 Membership Fees, Donations,etc $ 16,632 Other Payments: Guest speakers, newsletters, postage,etc $ -11,941

$ 4,691 Proceeds from Sale of Screens $ 12,000

Net Receipts & Payments $ 24,921

Ku-ring-gai Art Centre

Art Classes 2015

Semester 2 brochure available on website (link below)

BOOKINGS

T 9424 0310

E artcentre@kmc.nsw.gov.au

W www.kmc.nsw.gov.au/artcentre

Future Workshops for 2015

14 November - Judith White Mixed Media

11-Sep-15 Clarkes Point Rsv, Clarke Rd, Woolwich 314 F14 215 F14

18-Sep-15 Clarkes Point Rsv, Clarke Rd, Woolwich 314 F14 215 F14

25-Sep-15 Grandview Pde, Mona Vale Headland 199 H2 138 N2

02-Oct-15 Grandview Pde, Mona Vale Headland 199 H2 138 N2

09-Oct-15 Little Sirius Cove 316 K12 8 Q8

Pastels

Brandt will introduce us to the delights of chalk pastels; their immediacy, adaptability and ease of use. Use on white or coloured papers, multi-layered, or used over underpainting, pastels offer all the applications of paint without the clean up bother and drying times. Brandt will use still life and photos as subjects, including portraits, with a range of pastel techniques applied to each, allowing for time. After an introduction to materials and a demonstration, we will use portrait photos to try tonal studies using ‘a trois couleurs’ and/or black and white on toned paper – mixing blending, layering and allowing the paper to work for you.

http://www.brandtlewis.com.au

1 places still available!

Brandt Lewis Workshop Saturday 15th August 2015

Oils

Using my easy to understand method of getting the subject onto the board, painting figures and animals are no harder than any other subject. The subject photograph supplied will have all the answers, come and see how easy it is to interpret a photograph and make into a painting. The workshop will cover coming to grips with colour mixing. How to recognise and judge tone. How to simplify even the most complicated drawings. The importance of good lighting on the subject. Making the best use of composition. Plenty of handouts, individual attention, and an uncomplicated approach to painting that will make any subject not only possible, but easy. Come and join me to paint some sunlight. http://www.rospsakis.com

Ros Psakis Workshop Saturday 12th September 2015

Self Portrait

David Fairbairn is an Australian painter and printmaker who was the winner of the Dobell Prize for Drawing in 1999. He has been selected as a Dobell Prize Finalist fifteen times, won the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize in 2002 and has been exhibited in the Archibald Prize eight times. Fairbairn teaches at the National Art School, Sydney. David works on 350gsm Arches watercolour paper sometimes with oil sticks, chinagraph pencils but only uses oil paint for monotypes. He starts out with etchings then draws over the top working with charcoal and drawing inks mixed with shellac to create a glaze. David was our guest speaker in November last year.

David Fairbairn Workshop Saturday 17th October 2015