Please remember that the closing date for applications and payment to Tim Walker is July 20th. It is our 40th anniversary year so it would be nice for us all to put in the effort to make this year’s exhibition a very special one for the society.

The rules and judging categories are similar to last year but please note that members may now exhibit up to six works for judging, which may be any combination of framed pictures, paintings on canvas stretched on a wooden frame or 3D works.

In recent years space has not been a problem, but just in case we are fortunate enough to get a bumper number of entries, your committee felt it would be wise to say that up to three will be guaranteed display, while up to another three may be held in reserve. I think the guarantee of display space for at least three works is good in that it frees the artist from any pre-judgement by a third party as to what should be put on display. Any judgements or rankings as to the relative merits of works of art are notoriously capricious and subjective, so at least at a local level OVAS offers the opportunity for artists to showcase works of their own choice rather than that of a hanging committee or a commercial gallery owner, which I think is one of the key benefits of OVAS membership.

Although your committee has certain delegated powers to act on behalf of OVAS to ensure its smooth running, it is important to remember that the society is run by, and for the benefit of, each and every member. For those exhibiting, please remember to sign up to one of the stewarding sessions as soon as you can, but more than this, your committee would be very grateful for offers of help with other aspects of the exhibition, in particular with setting it up on Wednesday August 5th and dismantling it from 5pm onwards on Saturday the 13th. Please contact any committee member if you are able to offer such assistance.

Also, it really helps to tell your friends, relatives and acquaintances about the exhibition. We need as many visitors as possible to make it all worthwhile and although we do our best with notices in local media, posters etc., word of mouth has proved to be the most potent form of raising awareness in the past. If you have any other ideas for ways in which you could help with publicity, naturally these will be most welcome.

 

Regarding matters other than the exhibition, since my last newsletter we have been fortunate to be entertained by some most accomplished artists at our regular monthly demonstrations and in this context I should express my appreciation to Penny Lamb for making the arrangements. I should mention in particular Gregory Wellman for his paintings of the Maasai, Marilyn Allis for her watercolours of a train and a street café and our President, Phil Creek, for his wonderful painting of an almond grove in Andalucia. Please check our web-site for full reports and also details of future demonstrations, including one next year by Jem Bowden who has just won the Society for All Artists Artist of the Year award.

We also have some Saturday workshops organised for which it is important to sign up as early as you can as numbers are limited and they tend to get over-subscribed.

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We are fortunate in having some new members who have joined us recently and our warm welcome to them. We are still well below the maximum number that we can comfortably accommodate however, so please tell your friends who may be interested in the visual arts about our interesting and varied schedule of events And I’m sure we can all look forward to our society going from strength to strength.

 

With best wishes to all,

 

Mike Bird, chairman