Impressions Newsletter

April 2010

 

Welcome to our April update.

We also welcome Penny Lennard to Impressions. Penny is a picture framer with many years experience in the trade, and she looks forward to assisting you with your framing choices. Our framing volumes had increased so much that Lewis and Kirsty have been unable to keep our turnaround times at the point where we like to keep them. With Penny’s expert assistance, we look forward to a reduced turn-around time and more time to complete other business reviews and upgrades that are planned.

We have upgraded our eftpos terminal so that it no longer shares a telephone line, meaning service at the counter will no longer be held up by phone calls coming in at the most inconvenient moment.

Over the last month, our website designer has been working to make the newsletters and some aspects of the site easier to read. Because different web browsers render web pages differently, some people have been receiving the pages as they were designed, and others were having trouble seeing all the words. So we have removed some of the design features to make it more readable for all. I would be interested in your feedback. If you think the layout is strange, have a look at the actual layout of the newsletters on our website www.impressionsnelson.co.nz.

This last month I had the pleasure of starting out the month with a visit to Motueka Art Group. They sure keep me busy there! It was lovely to see the artists working on their paintings, and to help individuals better understand what products suit their needs and how they work.

Our evening with Jack Borland from Art Spectrum was highly informative. Jack had a huge amount of information to impart, and unfortunately, the programme went over-time and some people had to leave.  There was such a high level of interest to attend, that I felt compelled to limit numbers to 55 for the sake of comfort. It was a shame that I had to turn some people away; when on the night a number of people who had booked did not turn up. The strict adherence of Art Spectrum to only using lightfast pigments in all their products, the importance of archival quality in products such as canvas (cheap canvas with poor priming will allow oil to bleed into the canvas and cause the canvas to rot), non-lightfast painting media will result in paintings fading (often dramatically) in places where fugitive pigments have been applied, and the very versatile character of the Colourfix Primers and papers were the stand-out points for me of the evening. Not to mention the huge risk to your painting of thinning the basecoats of your oil paints with solvents (turpentine) only – which causes the paint film to be destroyed so that you are left with just a layer of dusty pigment particles, upon which you expect your successive layers to bond to? The Art Spectrum oil mediums 1, 2 and 3 or alternatively their take all the guesswork out of getting the proportions right.

 

Easter Trading

This year Impressions will be closed from 5.30pm Thursday 1 April until 9am Tuesday 6 April. We regret any inconvenience this may cause.

50/50

The Nelson Suter Art Society and the Suter Art Gallery have decided to repeat the very successful 50/50 event last held in 2008, but with a new twist. There will be a week-long exhibition and silent auction for the works. As before 50/50 will provide recognised and emerging artists with an opportunity to contribute and showcase their work to the buying public.
If you are interested in participating, call in-store and pick up an entry form, order one or more A4 stretched canvases supplied by the organisers and get painting. The conditions of the event are set out on the form. Please note that artworks must be delivered to the Suter by Monday 28th June.

Impressions’ Art Club Reminder

We have noted on a few occasions that members holding Impressions’ Discount Cards are forgetting to present their membership cards, and so are missing out on discounts. We endeavour to remember to ask if customers hold an Impressions Art Club Card, but with pressure of heavy work loads (and other distractions), we do not always remember until the person has left the shop. This is especially true of customers framing artwork they have painted – as many of our framing customers are not artists and so are not eligible to be members of our Art Club. 

With the appointment of Penny to our staff, there will be occasions when she is serving in the shop, and will not know you. She will be reliant on you presenting your card to record your purchase or to give the appropriate discount. Although the information is on our database, it can cause difficulties at the counter if staff members have to go to check on a member’s status regarding discounts, which may mean that other customers are delayed in being served. I fully appreciate that many businesses issue cards, and it is very easy to leave the card you need at home on the day (Murphy’s Law!) but we do ask for your assistance in this.

Featured Artist

Ron Tippett

Ron Tippett is a semi-retired, fourth generation New Zealander. He began life in Dunedin and moved to the Nelson Area in 1992. Happily married to June, he is a father and grandfather.
                                          
Since he was a child, Ron has always loved drawing and has been an inveterate ‘doodler’; if it had a margin he drew in it. More recently he has taken the opportunity to paint in oils which he just loves. While he has no diplomas in art, he has a great love of painting and has taken tuition from some talented people including Susan Creedy, Beryl McKay, and Patricia Marshall-Arnold. Ron has been painting since 1992 and finds his inspiration is the beauty of the landscape in which we live, particularly coast and mountain. His greatest desire is always to improve on the depiction of light in his works.

        
 Ron lives in Motueka at 1 Courtney St. East, phone 03 528 8056, mobile 021 1279717. He is very keen to sell his work and is happy to undertake commissions – no obligation unless satisfied.

If you would like to be our featured artist in a future newsletter, please contact Glenys at impressions@actrix.co.nz

Texture Month at Impressions

April is texture month at Impressions. For the duration of the month, artist and tutor Larisse Hall will be displaying some of her mixed media textural art in our window. If you would like ideas for how to add texture to your work, ask in-store - we have lots of ideas and products that can help you achieve the look you are after.

Hint

Dry Mediums

One of the most popular paint mediums for acrylic artists to use at the present time is the range of wet impasto mediums – whether they are modelling compounds or impasto gel mediums. There is also a whole range of other possibilities for adding physical texture to your artwork that are dry.
Matisse puts out a range of 18 textured dry mediums, which come in 50 ml jars. These will increase your repertoire of possible effects dramatically. From glass beads, microspheres and black flake hex or bauxite and mica flakes to sand and pumice, used with paint or on top of paint, there is a whole range of other possibilities. By using a binder medium, such as Acrylic Painting Medium, or Gel Medium to adhere the dry medium, they will create special effects not achievable in any other way.

A brochure showing the full range of mediums is available in-store.
In addition, we have plaster-of-Paris, whiting, plaster rolls, and marble dust in stock. Any of these dry products can be useful for bulking up paint to create form or adding texture to your work. And there are no worries about archival qualities as there isn’t any bio-degradable content. Next time you are in-store, ask to see our illustration boards to get some ideas on how to use both wet and dry texture mediums.

Stock Deletion

Save 20% on Winsor & Newton Soft Pastels in Stock

We need to advise customers that Winsor & Newton Soft Pastels are being deleted. As always, our Art Club members on the mailing list received early advice to reap the benefits of being able to pick from the widest range of colours. But now, all remaining Winsor & Newton pastels in stock are reduced by 20% to clear the way for another range to take its place, as our beginning artist range.

Products New to Our Stock Range

Paper

This month we have added three packs of vellum papers and several Mi-Teintes papers to our range of A4 papers.

For those looking for an economical practice paper, I recommend the sheets of 300gsm Canson Mixed Media Paper which retails for just $2.10 a sheet. You will find it on the top shelf of our Canson paper rack.

Palette

The Sterling Big Brush Palette is worth checking out. This plastic palette, complete with lid has a large central “well” for mixing, as well a 2 rows of wells big enough for large flat brushes around three sides. This palette is ideal for anyone working with large-scale watercolours, ink or gouache works as well as anyone painting with acrylics. The soft-plastic construction should mean that it is highly durable.

Stocktaking Specials

As always, the end of our business year (31 March) is stock-taking time. I like to use this time to identify any stock that has reached time to go. There are always items of really good quality that get overlooked by customers, so there are always some great bargains to be had.  I suggest you check-out what products have come to light during the stock-take, and have made it into our bargain bin.

Free Oil and Acrylic Paints

No you haven’t mis-read the heading – while stocks last, when you buy any three tubes of Old Holland Oil Paint or any three tubes of Matisse Structure Acrylic paint, you will receive a free tube of Titanium White paint. This offer is strictly limited to while stocks last.

Impressions Art Club Members’ April Special

This month members save 15% on any dry medium or paint additive in-stock.
Dry mediums are the Matisse Dry Mediums (as described above)
Dry products and additives include whiting, calcite, kaolin, shellac flakes, marble dust, and plaster casting powder.

Art Tuition

Marian Painter’s Term Two Classes in Motueka
Tuesdays: Drawing and exploring other media: pastels, oils acrylics, charcoal etc.
Thursdays: Watercolour painting supported by drawing and sketching
Venue: Motueka Bridge Club Hall
7 - 9pm commencing week beginning 19th April for 10 weeks.
Cost: $100 for the course or $15 per evening. There may be a small charge for materials if students do not have their own. Tel.  526 7008 e-mail crpainter@xtra.co.nz

Many artists locally will be pleased to hear that Rose Shepard has returned to teaching art. Her classes will resume in Wakefield from 20 April. She is offering classes for adults on Tuesdays, 10am – 12 noon and from 1-3pm as well as Thursdays from 10 – 12 noon, 1 – 3pm and 6.30 – 8.30pm. A class for youths aged 13 – 20 years is offered each Tuesday from 6.30 – 8.30pm as well as a class for children aged 5 to 12 years, on Wednesdays from 4 – 5pm.  Email Rose at rose.richard.shepard@xtra.co.nz for details of the courses.

Night school classes are due to resume for Term 2 this month too. 
Waimea College is offering the following courses: -
Drawing & Composition for Beginners – Wednesdays 6.30 – 8.30pm Tutor Kathleen Matheson
Painting for Beginners – Oils and Acrylics – Tuesdays 6.30 – 8.30pm Tutor Jennifer Murphy
Painting for the Experienced – Oils & Acrylics – Mondays 6.30 – 8.30pm Tutor Jennifer Murphy
See the school’s website www.waimea.school.nz for enrolment and full course details.

Nayland College  is offering a range of courses too: -
Go to their website http://communityeducation.nayland.school.nz/courses.asp for details.

Art Competition

The entry forms for the Peters Doig Art Awards 2010 have been delivered to the store. Entry forms must be received by Saturday 24 April at the latest.

Exhibitions

Dan Campion Exhibition at Catchment Gallery will be showing from 6 April to 1st May.
Piera McArthur, Marian Wolfs & Philip Trusttum are exhibiting at Reflections Art Gallery in April.

ART SALE - 20% off PAINTINGS by David Kemp      

   
QUALITY,  CONTEMPORARY,   LOCAL WORKS.

David wants to clear studio space so as to work on two new upcoming exhibitions.

He says "This is a great opportunity to acquire an exciting, quality, contemporary landscape painting of our local area, by a significant local artist. A wide range of paintings in various media, sizes and prices are available."

Offer lasts 10 days from Mapua Easter Fair, Sunday 4 April, and thence at his Studio  at 190 Dominion Rd, Mahana until 14 April.

Contact David to make a studio appointment  Ph. 03 540 3720   E. dk@davidkemp.co.nz   Web. www.davidkemp.co.nz

 

I hope everyone has enjoyed a relaxing Easter, and enjoyed plenty of treats! Lewis and I are taking a trip to Christchurch where Lewis will participate in a Clubs NZ indoor bowls tournament. We regret having to close the shop for Easter Saturday, but once in a while it is necessary to take a few days to re-charge and refresh your personal batteries. We'll back on Tuesday 6th ready to be of service again.

Have a great month!

Glenys, Lewis and the Team.