Impressions Newsletter May 2009

Impressions Newsletter

May 2009

Greetings

May is here and many people are looking to head towards warmer climates for the midyear. Lewis is one of those, and will be taking a once-in-a-lifetime holiday with his family (brothers and sisters) to visit their ancestral home in Italy. Hence he will be away from the business for 5 weeks while Charlotte, Kirsty and I hold the fort. We will be doing our level best to put through as much framing as possible, but some things do need the skill of a qualified picture-framer. Hence, it may be necessary to defer the framing of a few items until his return, and if we feel your order is too complex for us to handle, we will let you know. Routine orders should not present a problem, as between us our picture framing experience still adds up to something like 35 years! I will burn the midnight oil if necessary to ensure that orders are completed when required - however, we ask that you don’t leave bringing in your orders until the last moment, to enable us to devote as much time and care as the job deserves. Lewis has never had an extended holiday since before leaving school, so I think we can let him take this special time off to be with his family.

Stocktaking Specials

 

Subsequent to our annual stock take at the end of March, I have identified products in-store which are high quality art materials, but which have languished on our shelves for too long. So they’ve got to go and I’ve displayed the items on the pyramid stand just inside the door.

Many items are reduced to half price (some below half price) and others 20% and more off. I recommend you take a quick look next time you’re in as items have been disappearing fast throughout April. Examples of some of the materials are painting boards, paint colours (range of media) acrylic mediums, pencil sets, fine hog and kolinsky sable brushes. With most art materials having suffered from price rises, these special prices represent excellent value.

Arts Council Nelson Impressions Regional Art Awards 2009

Planning for The Arts Council Nelson Impressions Art Awards 2009, in association with The Dark Room are now well in hand. Check the most recent information on our website www.impressionsnelson.co.nz.

Impressions Art ClubMember’s May Special 

Save 20% on all drawing and sketching sets

Next Impressions Art Club Members’ Evening

All members and applicants are invited to the next Impressions Art Club Members’ evening to be held in-store:-Wednesday 10 June

5.30 – 6.00pm Complimentary Refreshments available

6.00 – 6.30pm Featured Artist Talk

6.30 – 7.00pm Special shopping deals available 

The featured artist is Jim Harris. “Jim Harris is an illustrator and author of children’s books. His books are best known for his detailed and humorous depictions of animal and human characters (Ref: Wikipedia).” To see a sampling of his work I recommend you go to his website www.jimharrisillustrator.com .  

Jim’s talk promises to be a very special presentation you will not want to miss. His creativity and artistic excellence are truly special. So put a ring around June 10th on your calendar if you are an Impressions Art Club member or applicant.

 Hints

Each month I like to include a few hints to guide you in your artwork. This month my hint is for you to go to http://www.dueysdrawings.com/drawing_tips.html  which has a number of sensible and helpful drawing tips.

More Money Saving Tips for Artists

Buy the best materials you can afford. Cheap brushes quickly splay and lose hairs. Cheap paints lack vitality of colour, are full of adulterants and fillers; their mix of pigments make it difficult to mix colours successfully.

Recycle failed projects. Turn the paper over and try again. Watercolourists may add some pastel to improve aspects of a painting. Acrylic paintings can be over-painted. Cut up the work and create a collage using the pieces. What you thought of as a disaster may the springboard for a new success.

Take good care of your art materials. Keep the caps of tubes and jars clean. Wash and condition brushes. Treat pencils gently – throwing them into the drawer may cause the leads to break inside.

Store art papers flat, and covered. Paper is fragile i.e. it is easy to cause creases. Keep it away from high humidity which will cause it to cockle and may cause mould to grow. Keep paper covered to prevent fading and discolouration due to exposure to UV rays.

If you own it already – use it. Art supplies can deteriorate over time. Glues can dry up – paints too especially if they’ve been opened and air has got into the container. If you have materials you don’t want to use, offer to swap them for materials you really do want. Exchange publications (eg. Buy Sell Swap weekly) and on-line sites make it possible to organise to do this for free.

Ask us for information about art products – you may find that you already have a product that will do the job you want to do without knowing it. (We often find this to be true with regard to painting mediums, which may do more than one job.) 

Exhibitions

Margaret Johnston’s exhibition of paintings and sculptures titled “Let’s face it...It Figures” opens on Monday 4th May from 5 – 7pm at the Refinery Artspace, 3 Halifax Street, Nelson

Distorted Reality – A Women’s Exhibition presented by Maria Middlebrook-Wells at Refinery Artspace, 3 Halifax St, until 23rd May.

This month we are featuring drawing products in-store and artist and tutor Ronette Pickering has kindly consented to display a little of her work as part of our window display. Ronette regularly teaches drawing classes now, having formerly taught at NMIT in their Visual Arts degree programme. 

Life Drawing Opportunity: - The operators of Gallery 203 invite interested artists to take part in a sketching session from 7pm on Friday 22nd May for about an hour. A live model will be present. This is not a tutored session, but some professional artists will be participating. The fee is $10 and bookings are essential. Ph 548 3961 to register.

 

Final Thought

We have a small assortment of readymade frames and matboards put out at special prices because they are end-of-line, seconds or odd sizes. If you are looking for good value frames or mats (mounts), I recommend you ask to see these. (The “seconds” mounts are not on display.)

This brings me to the close of this newsletter. I’m looking forward to a very busy month and wish you all a productive time too. Keep warm as the days continue to shorten and the mercury drops.

Glenys and the Team.