Judging the St Albans Art Society Exhibition
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The St Albans Art Society annual exhibition is currently on at St Albans Town Hall until Saturday 4th August. It’s a well organised exhibition of more than 200 works, giving all members of the society an opportunity to show their artwork no matter if they are new to art or a professional artist.
On Thursday I was kindly invited by Chairman Peter Osborne to judge the work on display and choose the winner of the Terry Biggs Cup (Best artwork) as well as works worthy of Highly Commended and Commended. I enjoyed the experience very much and I’d like to thank Peter for inviting me.
There were three works that particularly stood out for me. Firstly, my choice for the Terry Biggs Cup which was a small (about 8” across) acrylic painting entitled Dorset 2012 by Morag Saunders. It was a real gem of a painting, cleverly simple and presented in a roughly painted white box giving it a feeling that it had been reclaimed from the sea. The paint had been confidently applied using a brush and palette knife, and a limited palette of colours, effectively representing the light and atmosphere of Dorset coast.
I also selected two Highly Commended works: Bergenia Shoots Butterfly Leaves by Mary Leigh and Market Day in St Albans, a painting in Gouache by Cate Thomas.
Mary’s pastel on velvet textured paper is an excellent example of a ‘finished work’. I felt all areas of the work had been seriously considered and the work had been pushed to a consistent conclusion. It was composed very well, the depth and richness of tone and colour was very strong, as was her selection of colour and it was a very competently executed piece of work.
Cate Thomas’s painting was a beautifully rendered view from a rooftop overlooking St Albans market. Technically it was very strong and the originality of viewpoint and composition added to its overall success as a piece of art.
I also selected five works to be awarded ‘Commended’. These were works that I felt had many very successful elements to them.
Life on the Edge by Margaret Channon, a thoughtful, emotional response to family conversations.
Mud Flat Reflections at Chelsea by Lesley Dabson, a skilfully observed rendering of water and reflections.
Silhouette by Bill Blackham, a skilfully produced and drawn mono-print.
Boatyard in Gran Canaria by Maureen Carveley, a perfectly composed watercolour of boats and industrial structures.
Blue Chair by Jan Makower which showed confident risk taking with watercolour and a beautiful use of line.
During the judging, a few thoughts repeatedly entered my mind where I felt artists had made some simple errors which stopped them showing their potential. For example I saw lots of really good paintings where the artist clearly had a lot of skill, but had left one or two areas of their work unresolved. Usually just one weak area of a painting is enough to put off a discerning buyer from purchasing because that will be the point their eye always comes back to. It’s really important for artists to evaluate their work objectively when they think it’s finished to check that all areas of the work are of the same standard. Some useful tricks artists might use include pretending the work isn’t theirs, holding it up to a mirror or hiding the work away for a week. Better still, show the work to someone whose artistic opinion you respect and listen carefully to their comments.
Another area where some artist shone and others fell down was in the choice of framing. Framing is a part of the whole art piece being sold and will help create a complete desirable package. Some frames had clearly been selected to save money, others had been recycled, some old photograph frames were being used and others unfortunately had just been badly chosen. From my experience, investing in good frames will in the end pay for itself. An exhibition like the St Albans Art Society is the perfect place to visit with other artists to discuss framing. Which frames help the art package and which have a negative effect?
A word of warning, in my opinion, most framers (not all) give bad advice to artists and it’s best to go to them knowing exactly what you want, preferably with an example. Be careful with the common phrases ‘picking out the colours in your work’ and ‘most buyers will change the frame anyway’. This might be fine for selling room decoration but rarely for an artist showing their good art.
If an artwork is good enough it will be best viewed in a plain white, neutral or dark frame. Watercolours also with a wide white or off white mount, not cream (I prefer a double mount), with no colour to distract from the carefully considered artwork. Once an artist has decided how to frame their work it will probably suit all their work and add to the consistency of their practice.
I was surprised to see some really good works on sale for less than the price of a full tank of petrol. Personally I believe we all have a responsibility to promote the real value of art, whether we are an amateur or professional artist. There must be a minimum price per hour as well as consideration to all the other expenses an artist incurs in their practice. I lectured about this recently so if you’re reading this and would like to know more please feel free to email me for a copy of my notes.
The works I found most interesting were the ones where artists showed they had noticed something. It didn’t have to be political or life changing, but something more than just an accurate record of a view. A painting of a building in St Albans is just that unless the artist has noticed something about the scene that makes it special. Was it the light at the end of the day, the period of architecture, the colour of the brick or the reflections on the window?
There were a few pieces in the exhibition that showed a more experimental approach to making art. It’s my opinion that artists who work is a less conventional way, maybe more experimental or conceptual are vital in group exhibitions. They may not always be the artists who sell but an exhibition without them is less interesting and they should therefore be celebrated and encouraged. It was nice to see that the St Albans Art Society have two awards for artists who work with ‘freshness of vision’ in ‘an original way’. It would be nicer still if more artists took a risk when making work.
Finally two painting tips for beginners that sprung to mind when walking around the exhibition:
1. Harmonise your colours in a scene. For example, if you have red tractor in a green field, put some red in the green and some green in the red.
2. If you’re painting in acrylics and your work looks unintentionally childlike, try building up in thin layers using acrylic medium rather than one layer of bold colours.
Visit www.insight-art.co.uk for information about opportunities for practising artists and leisure painting classes for adults and children.
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