Alton Art Society's New Chair

Firstly, I wanted to introduce myself to you as the new Chair of the Alton Art Society.

My name is Kate Davis, and I have been a member of the Alton Art Society since 2004.

It is such a momentous year for the Alton Art Society celebrating 100 years since its formation, so I want to encourage each and every one of you to enter something into this year's annual exhibition!

For those that are feeling a little intimidated by the thought of showing your work to the public, please know that we all felt exactly the same that first time!

And remember that it is not a competition, but a celebration of the act of creating art by members in and around the Alton area.

There may be some of you that haven't been creative recently, for many reasons, maybe ill health, or even just a loss of confidence.

Can I make a suggestion to get you going again?...

Get yourself 3 blank postcards (or anything to hand, but the small size is less intimidating), and pick a subject, a view, an object, any subject that interests you and you feel comfortable with, and just start drawing, painting or collage on all 3 postcards at the same time (use whatever reference material that helps you).

You will find that, even if you are trying to do them the same, they will each turn out differently.

When you get to a stop (I don't say finished - because who knows when something is finished!) take a look at what you have done - what works, what doesn't work?

Take the one that you feel needs most improvement and try something a bit different with it, use a different medium and approach - try some pen work on top, or some pastel, push it in a different direction and just see what happens (and what you can learn from it) .

You could do the same with the other 2.

Then look at them all again, reassess them, and pick a favourite (or ask someone else to pick).

Now, get an A4 frame or similar, you may have one hanging around or even get one from a charity shop, and get a mount cut to fit & frame it! (I say mount AND frame - as the mount firstly can help set it off to its best advantage, can be trimmed down to fit different shaped frames, and also can be wrapped for another time as a folio).

For your second favourite, you could mount & wrap it just as a folio.

And the third, you could stick it to a blank greetings card to send as an original artwork card.

And don't forget to photograph them to remind you of what you have done.

You need not even get all your art stuff out, all you need is a blank bit of paper and a pen or pencil and start drawing away... Sometimes less is more!

Maybe you also have an artwork that you have been working on, that you just aren't happy with, but you do like one section. Could you just focus in on that area, mount and frame that part?

I hope that you will enter at least one artwork to help make the celebration of Alton Art Society's centenary year a truly memorable annual exhibition. Information will soon be coming out to you about how and when to enter, so start thinking about it now!

Good luck and just enjoy your making (although I know how frustrating it can be!!)

Best wishes,

Kate Davis

Chair (Chairman? Chairperson?) of AAS

A bit about me:

I have been away from any official duties for a few years now, although I have still been helping out here and there.

I was awarded honorary life membership for services to the art society, in 2022, having stepped down the previous year.

I had served as an AAS committee member for 16 years, organising the annual Children's Exhibition (and helping organise the main exhibition) for 15 years, started up the Thursday Paint Group (TPG) in 2009 and ran it for 12 years, instigated & organised holding TPG Allen Gallery Exhibitions, and in 2004 suggested the addition of art demo writeups to the newsletter, and then contributed them for many years.

A bit more about me - I have an appalling memory, (which I find ways of disguising but this position is going to show it up terribly), so please forgive me when I forget names, faces, words or where I have been!