REPORT ON SPRING EXHIBITION 2004 - Barbara Allen

This Spring Exhibition gathered together works of high quality and there were many comments on the fine standard of entries for the Exhibition. It was good to be able to hang a wide variety of work, with a selection of prints as well as pastels and paintings and sculpture. We always wish that we could have more wall space to display more and larger paintings, as we are aware that some members would like to submit bigger canvasses. The committee will discuss how we could deal with this, but your comments would also be welcome. In the end we hung 171 of the 226 paintings submitted and 2 pieces of sculpture were included. I would like to give warmest thanks to the committee members who generously gave their time and energy to put the Exhibition together.

The Private View was on Sunday, from 2.00 pm until 4.00 pm. It was a bright, sunny afternoon and we had a good flow of visitors.

The excellent quality of the work is reflected in the sales book, which shows what is a record total of just over £7,000. A total of 12 pictures were sold from the browsers and 43 from the walls. All the artists who participated in the Exhibition can be proud of the impact which it made on visitors. I hope that we can manage to achieve similar success in the future.

A total of 2,779 visitors came into the gallery, about 600 more than last Spring and more than in the Autumn of 2003.

We are delighted to congratulate the President on being the painter of the Favourite Picture, “Bertha’s Beach”, Falkland Islands

“Oriental Poppies “ by Wendy Eldridge was in second place, with Trevor Tanser’s “Venice” one vote behind.

ANTE-ROOM EXHIBITIONS

Exhibitor Members who would like to exhibit their work in the Arts Centre Ante-Room during 2005 are requested to contact Gerry Clark (01778) 590303

COMMITTEE MEETING – 26th MAY

A Committee meeting was held in the Arts Centre studio and the following points were agreed:
October 2004 Exhibition.

Handing-in Day: Saturday 2nd October.
Private View and Opening: Sunday 3rd October 2 pm – 4 pm.
Dismantling: Saturday 16th October.

WVAS Party

An evening party will be held in the Gallery on Friday 15th October at 7.30pm. This follows a number of requests to hold the party whilst the exhibition is still intact. The format for the evening will be a speaker followed by soft drinks and wine (provided by the Society) and nibbles brought along (hopefully) by the members.

Spring 2005 Exhibition.

The Spring exhibition is being moved away from the Bank Holiday weekend. Handing-in Day Saturday 7th May 2005
Private View and Opening: Sunday 8th May 2005 - times not yet finalised.
Dismantling: Saturday 21st May 2005.

Acceptability of Work Done on a Computer at WVAS Exhibitions.

The Committee decided not to seek the views of the membership on this subject. If the Society decides that computer prints are not acceptable then it would require a change to the rules. The subject of computer prints will therefore be raised as an agenda item at the next AGM.

Sign Boards.

Keith Hensby has kindly offered to look at the design of the boards which are hung on the outside wall of the Arts Centre. He will also be reviewing the design of the exhibition invitation cards.

Payment of Membership Fees by Standing Order

The committee has agreed with the proposals put forward by Nic Hart. Some details will have to be resolved such as the need to allocate membership numbers to everybody. The good news is that there will be a discount for those who elect to pay their fees by Standing Order. More on this later.

www.wvas.co.uk

Exhibiting Members are reminded that they may send Jonty a short written piece about themselves and enclose a maximum of 5 photographs of their work which can be put on the web site. Please indicate if work is for sale. His address is: 3, Recreation Ground Rd, Stamford, PE9 1EN. Tel: 01780 766719.

‘NOT THE TURNER’ EXHIBITION

Congratulations go to Janice Gordon on having a painting accepted for the Daily Mail ‘Not the Turner’ exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London. See Web Site for details.

WVAS ACTIVITIES

Mike Alabaster has organised WVAS activities for many years and he has asked if anybody would like to take over this task so that he can take a well earned rest. It would particularly suit a member who is retired. Any member who would like to organise the Tinwell activities etc is asked to contact Mike on 01780 763806.

As members are aware, the last proposed tour was not sufficiently subscribed to be viable, so I am considering a changed format. It may be that participants would prefer a tour which would afford more opportunity to paint, rather than a purely sightseeing trip. This would naturally involve a longer duration holiday rather than a weekend break.

With this in mind, I should be interested to know how many people would be interested in a painting holiday in Northern Cyprus at Bellapias village, just above Kyrenia. This is a very peaceful spot, adjacent to Bellapias Abbey, far less developed than the Greek part of the island, where Lawrence Durell wrote ‘Bitter Lemons’. Elisabeth and I stumbled on this magical place some years ago and have returned on several occasions since, taking a party of painters twice. From the painting point of view there is a plethora of subjects, the Abbey dates back to the Crusaders and the architecture there, alone, would provide enough for a week’s sketching and painting. Just three or four miles away is Kyrenia with its harbour and waterside cafes, and Bellapias village is full of old houses, cafes and people sitting around doing very little, (the tree in front of one of the cafes is known as the ‘tree of idleness’).

We would be staying in a series of very comfortably equipped studio apartments next door to the Abbey, and there is a large swimming pool in the complex. Breakfast is provided and an evening meal if required, from produce grown in their gardens, but there are several restaurants in the village within a few minutes walk. The cost of living is cheap.

The down side of all this, is that it is not a suitable place for the disabled, because the complex of apartments is built on the side of a plateau with steep walks up and down to the entrance and dining room. The journey to Bellapias is long because all aircraft have to land initially in Turkey, although it is usually only a short stop, because N. Cyprus has no diplomatic status, and the journey from the airport to Bellapias is about an hour on a coach. By way of compensation, however, the village is lovely, and there are many Roman sites nearby which can be fitted into the programme for sightseeing and painting, and the lengthy journey (from Stanstead) prevents it from being overrun by tourists.

I propose a holiday of about ten days, allowing a full eight days in Bellapias, with a maximum of 10 people, on a basis of two sharing each apartment, next April or May if it can be arranged. The cost would be in the region of £1,000 per head depending on what I can arrange with the owner and the cost of air fares next year.

Would any members interested get in touch with me, either by phone or by letter, and if numbers permit, I will make arrangements.

Alan Lyne, All Saints House, 18 All Saints St, Stamford, PE9 2PA. Tel: 01780 481377