Newsletter October 2016

FORTHCOMINGMEETINGS CRAFT

ROOM LEAMINGTONART GALLERY

Monday 17th OctoberAGM with speaker SaraShalgosky, curator of the

Mead Gallery.

ExhibitionsAMA members will be

showing work together withSouth Yorkshire ArtistsThe Old Market Gallery,

Rotherham, South Yorkshire

Tuesday 17th January toSaturday 11th February.

Preview: Saturday 21stJanuary.

Editors;

Katharine Barker & Len Mackin

Diary DatesCHAIR’S LETTER

I’m sure we’ve all experienced it at some point, you getsomething all arranged, think it is ideal and are looking forward toit, then something happens to cancel all your plans and yourheart sinks. But then, the quickly put together alternative turns outto be so good, you wonder why you didn’t think of it in the firstplace. AMA’s recent exhibition was like that. Our quickly preparedweekend party and pop­up exhibition, to replace a two weekexhibition in Rugby, was one of the most fun and rewardingexhibitions of recent years, and it only lasted for two days!

We were joined, at Althorpe Studios, by the local MP, ChrisWhite, Councillor Kristie Naimo and Mayor of Leamington, AnnMorrison, who each picked a prize winner. Tea, cakes, nibblesand wine were served throughout and musicians played.Between us, we sold £580 worth of work, covering eight items,over 100 people came, 75 voted for the People’s Prize and fourlucky members went away with £25 vouchers to spend atChrome Yellow art supplies. Thank you to everyone who made itsuch a good event!

Our next event is our AGM, an evening event, with speaker SarahShalgosky, Curator of the Mead Gallery. See details elsewhere inthis issue. There will be no morning talk in October.

Meanwhile committee members are working on a small exhibitionof work by local artists, going up on the 17th October, inLeamington Art Gallery and on our big adventure for 2017, anexhibition alongside Yorkshire artists in Rotherham.

Katharine Barker

AMA Chair

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AMA Pop­up Exhibition 17­18 September, Althorpe StudiosThe first thing to say about this exhibition is that itlooked good, and that a great time was had by all.Twenty­two artists took part; around a hundredvisitors came and viewed (and some even bought).Tammy Woodrow worked her usual magic withcuration, ably assisted by Katharine; and the icing onthe cake was a charming young violinist, RichardScott, who serenaded us for the whole of Saturdayafternoon, which was far longer than we were payinghim for. Sheila Graham and husband Alan joined himon drum and tabor – metaphorically speaking, since

Alan was playing a Low “D” whistle and Sheila the Irish Bodhran drum – in an impromptujamming session. It was joyous.

Works on display ran across the whole of the AMA’s creative talents, from Tammy’s conceptualsculptures, through ceramics both functional and sculptural, to prints and paintings that rangedfrom the traditional to the abstract, touching on most points in­between. There were show­stoppers such as Elizabeth Marsh’s, “A Good Day Out at Packwood” and Brian Kelly’s highlytextured landscapes, through to quiet works that invited close examination, such as VictoriaSmith’s finely­crafted paper collages, Fiona Metcalfe’s multi­media textiles, and printmaker MoiraLamont’s ‘Red Socks’. People­watching was fascinating: it was clear that the exhibition heldsomething for everyone.

This exhibition was also special. Despite their busy schedules, Leamington’s MP, Chris White,Leamington’s mayor, Ann Morrison, and District Councillor Kristie Naimo, all accepted invitationsto choose prize winners from the works on show. They did this with enormous grace, and theAssociation is hugely grateful to them. For each, it was clear that they were making a personalchoice, and that they engaged fully with the exhibition and the works on show. A fourth prize wasa bit of fun. This was a ‘People’s Choice’ with the prize being a voucher donated by ChromeYellow, Leamington’s enterprising artshop. The ballot was secret, and it was, apparently, a closecontest. Heather Bailey was the deserved and popular winner for her highly textured and sunnylandscape,”Tracks”. The other prize winners were Philippa Powell’s quasi impressionist“Allotments”, chosen by Chris White MP; Margaret Condon’s etching, ‘Where the Bee Sucks’,chosen by Cllr. Kristie Naimo; and Katharine Barker’s two part ceramic, terra­cotta with a pewterglaze, chosen by Mayor Ann Morrison. Until Sheila Graham opened the presentation envelope atthe prize­giving ceremony, Katharine had absolutely no idea that her work had been selected!The Sunday closed with a group photograph taken by a photographer from the Four Shiresmagazine. There’s no guarantee of an article in our own right – but look out for a mention of theAMA in a piece about a day in the life of our MP, Chris White.

We should also thank Jonathan and Suminder, proprietors of Althorpe Studios, for allowing usthe use of their Gallery at a reduced rate, and for helping us to manage the event so smoothly.

Margaret Condon

See the prize winners work on the page below

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Prize winners

Heather Bayley ­ winner Peoples Choice Philippa Powell ­ winner MP Chris White's Choice

Margaret Condon ­ winner Cllr Kristie Naimo's Choice Katharine Barker ­ winner Mayor Ann Morrison's Choice

New AMA member JOHN HUNT held a very successfulexhibition of his paintings and drawings at the AlthorpeGallery in September.

Behind John you can see his excellent portrait ofLeamington's well known and highly regarded art critic,David Philips.

At very short notice, Marie Calvertagreed to replace our Septemberspeaker, who was unable to honourher advertised engagement due tocircumstances beyond her control.Anya’s talk has not disappeared, butis simply rescheduled; we wereextraordinarily lucky in finding Marie,with whom we spent a delightfulmorning discussing both her workand, more generally, sources ofartistic inspiration, and the creativevalue and social application of art.

Marie’s full time work is as anIntegrative Psychotherapist, using thecreative arts and a variety of artisticdisciplines with her clients in atransformative process, listeningrather than directing, and picking upon unacknowledged verbal andbehavioural clues to encourage

healing and self­knowledge through creative play. Outside of this, for the past fifteen years shehas pursued a parallel life as a painter. Marie introduced herself as an amateur: but it rapidlybecame clear as she talked with passion, and described her practice, she was anything but:seen in the context of her professional career these two important aspects of Marie’s daily lifecame together to describe a working artist.

Inevitably perhaps Marie’s training isnot entirely conventional.Discouraged at school by someunderwhelming ceramics and aninsensitive teacher, one master hadthe insight to guess that Marie mightpaint well. That seed, sown long ago,bore late fruit and continues toflourish and encourage. For manyyears Marie used the camera as herpreferred tool to satisfy her ownartist’s eye, capturing sea and sky,light and mood, and theever–changing weather, each imagecapturing a fleeting moment at a unique point in time. These things, an inexhaustible source ofinspiration, continue to engage her. Encouraged by a friend, she returned to painting, reskillingherself and finding her own artistic voice, a journey that still continues. Marie has learned muchfrom working artists, particularly from the tutors of the School of Art in St Ives; and acknowledgesthe influence of contemporary painters such as Kurt Jackson, Neil Davies, and Gary Long. She

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Marie Calvert: A Dialogue with Light

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quickly realised that photography and the painter’s art are different disciplines. In consequence,Marie’s studio paintings are based en plein­air sketches and colour studies, for which pastel is afavoured medium: those she showed us were jewels in their own right.

For an hour or so, we were privileged to share stopping points on Marie’s artistic journey, fromearly and relatively conventional works, mostly executed in acrylic, to large scale and very freedrawings in charcoal, wash, and collage, that commanded admiration from her audience. Aparticularly successful Turner­esque painting was unmistakeably of turbulent weather over aCornish sea; other paintings captured the space, light, and otherness of her much­loved Cornishsea and coast. Marie described the dialogue she has with her paintings, in a constant process ofrevision, erasure, layering, and play. She saw a tension between control and lack of control,using this proactively by, for example, turning a painting upside down, or using her less dominanthand, as a catalyst to reveal an image that could emerge organically from the plane surface ofthe canvas. A painting of waves breaking on a shore was effective testimony of Marie’s practice,the painterly resolution capturing the energy and power of the waves.

This was an exciting talk, impeccably timed, given by an artist of courage and talent who, whilststill developing, has already found a personal and authoritative voice. For her audience, it madesuch a difference being able to see and handle original paintings, encouraging both questionsand interactive conversation with the speaker. The last question? Where next? In the process offreeing up her paintings, both by practice and through tuition, and hovering on the boundariesbetween realism and abstraction with images that engage and draw in the viewer, Marie is surelyfinding the freedom to be herself.

Margaret Condon

Marie Calvert...Continued

Morning Talks and a Telling Off for AMA!

I’m sorry to have to report, we have been TOLD OFF! For some months now, Leamington ArtGallery, where we hold our morning talks, has not opened its doors until 10.45. This is a costsaving measure. The Gallery staff, very kindly, allow the speaker and a couple of committee

members in earlier to set up, but the gallery itself is not open. Floors are being mopped, displaycases may be open, museum objects may be being moved and invigilators are not in place.

If, by chance, you are let in early, you must not wander off around the art gallery, but comedirectly to the Craft Room. Ideally, everyone should wait in the foyer, café or library until 10.45

and then come through as speedily as possible. We won’t start until everyone is sat down.

If the Gallery is open, the double doors will open automatically as you approach.