Show and Tell February

A lucky number of seven attended this session and that feels just right for a good relaxed group discussion and

individual presentation.

We borrow the title “Show and Tell”, which is usually associated with children’s education, to literally describe what we do in these sessions. The name conjures up the comfortable environment, which we create, where people feel enabled to share their experiences ranging from courses/workshops they have done to new method/materials and problem solving with works in progress.

Today, Amanda gave us a really interesting overview of the year long course she has started following on line. Already an excellent watercolourist with an extensive knowledge of her medium and materials, Amanda’s objective was to open her mind to a freer, looser way of working. She says that often when she starts a piece she slips back into the old habits of an illustrative style where everything she can see has to appear in the painting. Her thoughts were that a course which encouraged a more abstract approach, where exploration and mark making take precedence, would allow her to move further towards her goals. It’s still early stages but already Amanda has found elements which are now in her mental toolbox as ways of working. Some of these are

choosing appropriate media for quick scamps and also exercises to warm up before starting something more involved.

Seen here are sketches and drawings Amanda used to explain and illustrate the processes and initial stages of the course. We are now looking forward and can’t wait for the next instalment from Amanda.

Christine was searching for a balance of space and lively marks in the four small wooden blocks of pure abstract acrylic paintings she showed us. The colour palette and composition of all four was delightful and evocative, for me, of an alfresco environment but open to various interpretations.

At the same time we viewed the sketchbook Christine had brought along which had finished sketches nearer to her intended goal. It then became apparent that the format and the adjacency, surrounding and orientation of related works is something to consider in order create space in pieces of work. Christine considered cropping some of her sketches to inform her next steps for the small panels.

All in all another positive and productive morning spent discussing the methods, visuality and creation of our art which draws us all together.