Art Scilly week began yesterday (Saturday 11th May 2013) with a Welcome Evening in the upstairs Gallery space at Phoenix Studio courtesy of Oriel Hicks. From 6pm until 8pm, the place thronged with people – some of the artists and craftspeople taking part in the art festival as well as prospective and already booked visitors who would be participating in the workshops. Wine was on offer along with soft drinks, savoury nibbles and some artistically-decorated cookies courtesy of Imogen and Vickie. It was a busy ‘buzzy’ evening 🙂
Welcome reception for Art Scilly week 11th May 2013
Welcome to Art Scilly week 11-05-2013
Delicious cookies on offer at the Art Scilly Welcome evening 11th May 2013
Stephen’s “Quick Watercolour Sketching from Life” workshop was scheduled for the following morning (Sunday) from 10am until 1pm and, sadly, the weather was nowhere near as kind as it had been last year Art Scilly 2012 at Glandore Gallery
We had grey skies, murky visibility and rain by 10am when our participants arrived so Steve had already set up the easels, chairs and painting supplies indoors in the warmth and space of the Gallery itself.
Easels set up indoors at Glandore Gallery for Stephen’s watercolour workshop – ArtScilly May 2013
Painting equipment set out for Stephen’s watercolour workshop Art Scilly May 2013
We did have seven prospective participants but, in the end, one failed to arrive, so there were six. Stephen started the workshop by demonstrating and explaining some of the techniques he uses when he’s painting in watercolour.
Stephen demonstrating watercolour techniques at Glandore Gallery, Art Scilly May 2013
Then everyone settled down at an easel, prepared their paper, paints and brushes and got started. It was a very relaxed and informal session during which Stephen circulated, offering advice and help to everyone when requested. Lois had provided a selection of Scilly pebbles, driftwood, shells and seaglass so he was able to set up static arrangements for them to paint. Some just painted the still life displays and others combined them with the view out of the window.
Watercolour workshop at Glandore Gallery for ArtScilly week May 2013
Watercolour workshop at Glandore Gallery for ArtScilly week May 2013
Midmorning, we paused for elevenses and I provided Steve and the workshop participants with tea, coffee and a large freshly-baked Victoria sandwich with strawberry jam filling.
Elevenses at Glandore Gallery workshop for Art Scilly week May 2013
Refreshed, they returned to their paintings …
Paintings produced during the watercolour workshop, Glandore Gallery Art Scilly week May 2013
Paintings produced during the watercolour workshop, Glandore Gallery Art Scilly week May 2013
These were Stephen’s demonstration paintings that he did during the watercolour workshop, illustrating his methods of using watercolours to capture the sea, sky and pebbles of Scilly.
Stephen’s demonstration paintings for the watercolour workshop, Glandore Gallery Art Scilly week May 2013
The workshop ended just after 1pm when most of the participants kindly filled out Feedback forms for us. These have proved very useful for planning the workshops and activities to keep it all fresh and interesting. Some of this year’s participants were, again, beginners, with one or two having some experience with watercolours through classes taken at home. It was a nice mixed group of ladies and gentlemen and everyone said that they’d really enjoyed the workshop which was nice.
Once everyone had left, we spent about an hour putting away all the painting equipment and materials, doing the washing up and replacing all the Gallery card displays and furniture. Now it’s all ready to open the Gallery again as normal tomorrow morning 🙂
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