Bromley Art Society Bringing Artists Together since 1947

 If B.A.S. members have seen the Easel, I would be very interested to

 hear their opinions on the possibility of injecting emotion into/onto a

 face, actually the same goes if they hav'nt seen the Easel

 Derek

It is the first Friday of the month and our monthly meeting. This week we are encouraged to take along a couple of paintings with which we are not happy and would like suggestions re. saving them. I'll be doing my bit, but be prepared to add your two-penny worth of advice. We want encouragement not destruction, happiness not grief. There can be nothing worse than destructive criticism.

If you have not had a sale for a while, take heart. I sold a piece last weekend that I made in 1978! See? The right place at the right time and the right person, and whoopee!

Just a quick addendum to my last blog, my friends at B.A.S. are of course invited to exhibit and will be very welcome

Derek

I would like to thank all who supported,  helped and encouraged me to put on at my open studio exhibition. It was a great sucess. I shall, of course, miss the paintings that sold terribly, but look forward to producing more. Happy painting to all.

On June 2nd. the village of Ightham in Kent is holding a fair to celebrate the Queens Diamond Jubilee. The village will be closed to traffic and stalls will throng the main street and square. St. Peters church will host an art and crafts exhibition featuring works from local artists including myself, but don't let that put you off as Allan Davies is guesting and I am assured the photography is worth the visit on its own. All are welcome and it would be good to see some of Ripley's friendly faces along with other B.A.S. members that I have yet to meet.

This is not to be missed. Another display of artistic talent on show. A lady travelled from Dover especially for our exhibition and bought a number of pieces. It was good to see red dots almost as soon as we had completed the hanging. Well done every contributor.

I have just watched my recording  of T.N.G.A. and was interested to hear Andres Serrano Artist/Photographer, obviously well thought of in

American artistic circles, but unsurprisingly unheard of by me, say of one students work, I don't get it, and I needed it explained to me. If only more people would take that stance perhaps we could get back to the days when Art spoke for itself. Are we not in danger of elevating ourselves by seeing in an artists work what we are told by the artist to see.

Derek

Hockney's Bigger Picture Show includes Ipad creations. It is a remarkable beast and a great pity that I cannot justify buying one for my own use. Anyway, I wonder how many members of BAS (and prospective members) are making art with their Ipads. Digital creations are already a feature of our exhibitions and examples are shown in our members' gallery. Some new BAS members are highly qualified photographers; some use computer applications, such as Photoshop, and make wonderful art. I feel that this is something to be encouraged rather than discouraged.

It would appear that my views on Modern art maybe provoking anger, which was never the intention. I concede my opinions are based on a lack of knowledge and probably a lack of soul where art is concerned. Only one painting has ever really stirred any emotion in me and that was Picasso's Crying woman. which I suppose makes a mockery of my criticising modern art in favour of the old masters. As for Elizabeth Blackadder and Michael Craig Martin I repeat my remark from an earlier blog," I just don't get it".