President’s Message and February 2017 Newsletter

Message from the President

Welcome back to another year of pastelling.

It has been great to see such a good number of members at the first few weeks of our year. We have already had some new members enrolling and annual subscriptions are being paid promptly,

Last year we maintained a healthy membership of just over 130 and it has been fantastic to see many of our south of the river members attending demonstrations and contributing to the exhibition

As you will note from the Newsletter we have two demonstrations booked in March and May, our AGM will be in April and the Unframed Mother’s day sale extended to run over three days in May

Hopefully you are all thinking about paintings for the unframed sale and our Annual Exhibition later in the year Many thanks to all the committee members who willingly give their time to plan and organise these events and contribute to the smooth running of our society Happy Painting!

Val Brooks

Pastel Society of Western Australia Newsletter February 2017

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President’s Message and September 2016 Newsletter

Annual Exhibition –

Congratulations to our fabulous artists!

Our annual exhibition was a great success. Our judges, Sally Douglas and Brian Aylward had a very difficult task selecting the award winners with so many fantastic artworks.

So many visitors commented on the high standard of the work and the way it was displayed, and the raffle for our door prize took record donations.

Many thanks go to all the willing volunteers who assisted in setting up and packing down the exhibition. Such a wonderful team of good natured helpers!

On a personal note, my thanks go to Rayma, Adrianne and Lee for guiding me through the process for my first year as President at the exhibition.

Congratulations everyone
Val Brooks

Read more:
Pastel Society of Western Australia Newsletter September 2016

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President’s Message and April 2016 Newsletter

Hello Fellow Painters,

It’s hard to believe that almost four months of the year have passed and we are heading towards our first big fund-raising event for the year – the Unframed Sale at the Floreat Forum on May 7th. It is a great opportunity to show off our talent to the general public, to raise funds for the society, and for art-lovers to purchase high quality art at unframed prices. The success of the day relies on all of us contributing, so please add your name to the list of contributors!

Our pastel year began with a bang – the visit to Perth by Master Pastellist (PSA), Stan Sperlak. And what a visit it was, beginning with a record turnout of members to see his Monday demonstration and followed by his 2-day workshops later the same week. It was a successful event for the Society on all counts.

Feedback from participants was excellent and we were all inspired and refreshed by Stan’s generosity and positive teaching approach. While the work and organisation involved for these kinds of activities is always considerable, we all agreed that it is important for our society to continue to look for opportunities to bring artists of note to Perth. We are now beginning to build our finances so that this can happen in the future – and every little bit of fund-raising helps! Your society is now, in 2016, the largest ever, with around 110 financial members and growing.

Monday nights (north of the river) and Tuesday afternoons (south of the river) continue to see many members joining together to paint and share ideas. But there is always room for additional members so, if you haven’t been for a while come and share your latest artwork with friends and a cup of coffee. Got a painting problem? Then share it with our expert pastellists who are always willing to give advice and critiques in a warm and encouraging atmosphere.

Where else could you get such masterful advice for free!

By the time this newsletter reaches you, we will have our new committee for 2016. Many thanks to Val Brooks, Rayma Reany, Lee Calley, Mark Thornton, our newsletter editor Karyn Platt and committee members who have so willingly agreed to provide the expert guidance and experience for your society over the next 12 months. As you know, I have stepped down from the President’s position for family reasons so this is my last letter to you all. I leave with considerable thanks to my colleagues who worked with me over the past two years and to all of you, the members, who make the job of President an easier one than it might otherwise be. I can honestly say I have enjoyed almost every minute of it. Let’s continue to work together to make this a flourishing and welcoming society for anyone wishing to pursue pastel painting.

Yours in art.
Adrianne

Pastel Society of Western Australia Newsletter April 2016

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President’s Message and January 2016 Newsletter

Message from the President

Very Best Wishes for 2016 to all!

Looking back over 2015, it has been a good year for our society. We began the year with our finances in reasonably good order with a small cash surplus, and with our membership in the nineties. We ended the year with well over 120 members, many being part of our new south-of-the-river group at Attwell, led by Deb Weber. It was good to see many new members at our Christmas Party and, as you will see from this newsletter, it was a great night and a successful and happy end to our year.

What is now becoming an annual event in May – the Unframed Exhibition and Sale at the Floreat Forum – again proved popular with the general public, and added much-needed dollars to our finances. Many thanks to our tireless Vice President Rayma and her many helpers that made the day such a success. A reminder to start thinking now of some artwork for this year’s event! Once again, it will be held on the Saturday before Mother’s Day, at the Floreat Forum.

Our highlight event, the Annual Exhibition and Sale at Sorrento went off without a hitch, thanks to the wonderful contributions from the Committee and all members who participated. Once, again, it was an exhibition that stood out for the outstanding quality of the paintings and the quality of the display and organisation. This event truly reflects the supportive culture that has come to typify the PSWA, something that all of you should be very proud of indeed! This year’s Annual Exhibition will be held at Sorrento, on the weekend of the 20th 21st August – another one for the diary.

Your committee has already been working towards making 2016 an eventful year for members. All preparations are now well in hand for the visit from Stan Sperlak in March, with venues organised for the workshops and pre-workshop tutorial, and a Monday demonstration by Stan for all members on 29th February.

So put it in your diary now for this not-to-be-missed evening! Those of you who are participating in these workshops will find an important update later in this newsletter. We do have a few places left – but they are filling quickly.

A very big thank you to my close colleagues and friends who have worked tirelessly over the year to organise events, manage emails, finances and newsletters, and to all of you for your support and assistance. Let’s look forward together to a year of successful artistic endeavours, and with much warmth and laughter.

Yours in art,
Adrianne

Pastel Society of Western Australia Newsletter January 2016

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President’s Message and September 2015 Newsletter

Hello PSWA Colleagues,

Congratulations to all the members who contributed their paintings, time and multiple talents to making our 2015 PSWA Exhibition such a success! This year saw the largest number of members entering the largest number of paintings. Despite the current economic climate and the inclement weather, we exceeded our 2014 effort both in the number of paintings sold and the total value of sales. In addition, if our door prize is any indication, we had a substantial number of people attending over the weekend of the exhibition. All in all, a great effort by everyone. Our Guest Speaker, Mr Luke Simpkins, Federal Member for Cowan, was well-received on Opening Night, providing an entertaining speech and presenting our awards. Congratulations to the well-deserved winners – the details are provided later in this newsletter. Thank you also, to all our sponsors who make these awards possible. Comments from the general public who attended indicate that the PSWA continues to provide a high quality exhibition, both in the standard of paintings and their individual presentation, and in the overall layout and display.

In July, we were presented with an informative and interesting demonstration by local artist and teacher Caroline Marinovich. Her demonstration was peppered with many useful tips and unique approaches to pastel painting which kept us all involved. The newsletter describes her demonstration in more detail.

Our Society continues to grow with well over 100 members. An exciting new initiative is the development of a “south-of-the-river branch” of the PSWA, thanks to the enthusiastic efforts of our new member Deb Weber, who both suggested and initiated this group. It reminds us that we are truly a state-wide group, representing pastellists from all over WA. The number of enthusiastic inquiries we handled at the exhibition about this new initiative bodes well for its future. Details about the group, and meeting place and times are provided later in the newsletter. Please spread the word to any who might be interested in joining this group. All will be members of the PSWA. Our thanks go to Deb for her commitment and enthusiasm in getting this initiative up and running.

Our other exciting initiative – the visit of Master Pastellist Stan Sperlack in March 2016, is well on track and in the next weeks we will be spreading the word outside the Pastel Society and asking for a definite commitment from those interested in attending one of his workshops. So if you want to be listed for a workshop, do it soon! Many thanks to Margaret Verge and her husband who have kindly agreed to host Stan during his stay. Check out the finalised details and dates in this newsletter.

Now that our Annual Exhibition is over, we can all settle back into the lovely, relaxed painting groove on Monday nights in our bright and warm surroundings. Let’s keep the Monday buzz going!

Yours in painting,
Adrianne Kinnear

Pastel Society of Western Australia Newsletter September 2015

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President’s Message and May 2015 Newsletter

Hello Fellow Pastellists,

It’s hard to believe that we are almost into the mid-year, with our thoughts already turning to our Annual Exhibition in August. It has been wonderful to see so many of you bringing your pastels on Monday nights and creating a “warm and fuzzy” buzz around the hall. Let’s keep this momentum going. We are fortunate that many of our top pastel artists attend these nights and give their advice and encouragement so generously. Congratulations to June Payne who won the mat frames and voucher in our first raffle for the year. And while we are talking about winning, it is great to see so many of our members taking off awards and prizes for their paintings in art events around the state – congratulations to you all! (See details later in the newsletter).

Early in the year, we were treated to a very special presentation by Pascale Doumerc who took us on an historical tour through the ages of pastel as an art form. We were all very much the wiser for her beautifully illustrated talk. Thank you Pascale! Our next demonstration will be on June 15th when pastellist and teacher, Caroline Marinovich will demonstrate a cafe scene. Some of you may remember that Caroline was one of the judges at last year’s exhibition.

A very big thank you to Rayma and her team for the recent Unframed Sale at Floreat. Again it was a resounding success with nearly 40 paintings sold. Together with the raffle of Rayma’s beautiful poppy painting, we raised over $500 dollars for our Society. Thank you to all who contributed their time and paintings – this event is becoming an important one in our annual calendar.

It’s time to turn your pastels into beautiful paintings for our Annual Exhibition and sale. It will be held at Sorrento Life Saving Club again on the weekend of the 21st – 23rd August. This year we have made every effort to ensure minimum competition from other exhibitions, particularly in the northern suburbs. We have a reputation now for the quality of our exhibitions so let’s work to make this one of the best we have produced.

Lastly, for those of you, who are yet to indicate your interest in a two-day workshop with Master Pastellist Stan Sperlak next March, please let me know. The first workshop is almost full and we are hoping to be able to offer a second. We will be opening the event to artists outside the Society once we are sure all those members who wish to participate have indicated, so please let us know if you wish your name to be added to the list.

Yours in painting,
Adrianne

Pastel Society of Western Australia Newsletter May 2015

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Presidents Message and January 2015 Newsletter

Message from the President

Happy New Year to all! I wish each of you has a healthy and successful painting year!

After a successful 2014, we start the New Year with a reasonably healthy bank balance to take us forward to new events in 2015. A huge thank you is due to our Vice President Rayma who worked constantly throughout the year to organise the Unframed Sale, numerous raffles and of course our Annual Exhibition. Being a small society, every little bit counts and your contributions have been very important. The sales of your unframed paintings and raffle contributions, for example, brought in almost $1000.00 last year, a very useful addition to our finances. Our Christmas Party provided a very happy and joyful ending to the year, and was the largest ever, with over 60 people attending. Our website has been improved and now presents a clean and professional face to the public. I would encourage those of you who aren’t represented in the web gallery to think about choosing three of your best paintings to exhibit here.

Your committee has already begun work, and our exhibition will be held at Sorrento again, on 21 – 23 August. This year we have been careful to choose dates that hopefully do not conflict with exhibitions of other art societies. And don’t forget the Unframed Sale at Floreat Forum on Saturday 9th May (the day before Mother’s Day). Definitely time to dust off the pastels, if you haven’t already, and join us on Monday evenings.

More immediately – an important event is coming up for all members – the AGM on the 16th February! It is important that as many members as possible attend, and it is your opportunity to input your ideas and have your say about what you would like for the society for 2015. It is also an opportunity to nominate someone for office, or for the committee. Why not “kill two birds with one stone” and pay your membership dues at the same time! These are due in February and it does help us if dues are paid as soon as possible. You will find renewal forms with bank details (if using direct debit) and nomination forms in this newsletter, as well as some important dates for this year.

Happy Painting!
Adrianne Kinnear

Download Newsletter
Pastel Society of Western Australia Newsletter January 2015

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Presidents Message and November 2014 Newsletter

Message from the President

It is hard to believe that a year has passed already, but what a successful year it has been for our Pastel Society, with increased membership, reasonably sound finances and a wonderful, high quality Exhibition at Sorrento. Many congratulations to those who took off Awards on the night and thank you to all the members who contributed their art to make the exhibition one of such high quality. As many of you know, I was unable tocontribute ‘on the day’ so it is with more gratitude than usual, that I wish to say a huge Thank You to all the wonderful members who contributed tirelessly to make sure things ran smoothly and that our art was presented in such a quality environment. To Rayma and Lee for their tireless leadership and organisation, to Celestine and Bruno for their continued vehicle support, to the setup, front desks and ‘behind the scene’ teams, to Clive Jarman for the important technical and welding expertise, all of you are outstanding and generous people who continue to make this society one of the most rewarding to be a part of. I have experienced many working groups over the years, so I feel I can say with assurance, that the Pastel Society is quite unique in the generosity of spirit that pervades our group, and the willingness of you all to continually put up your hands throughout the year to work towards common goals. I feel very privileged to be part of it all.

We will finish the year with our usual Christmas Party (details in this newsletter) so please attend if you can as it is a great, fun night and an opportunity to end the year on an informal and very friendly high! This will be the society’s final event for the year. We will resume our Monday meetings when the school term commences on Monday, February 2nd, 2015. To our new members who have joined us in the last months of this year – please come and join us in the new year to meet us all and paint together.

To all members, on behalf of all of us on the committee, thank you for your contributions this year, have a very Happy Christmas, and a safe and successful New Year!

Happy Painting in 2015,
Adrianne

Pastel Society of Western Australia Newsletter November 2014

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Presidents Message and July 2014 Newsletter

Welcome to the July Newsletter!

A very special welcome to all our new members who have joined us in the last months. It has been a very active first half of the year for our society with demonstrations from Brian Aylward, who showed us how effective black paper can be, and from Val Brooks who inspired us all to construct our own travel diaries. Monday nights have been well-attended with up to 30 members adding to the weekly vibe. Our Unframed Sale at Floreat, masterfully organised by Rayma, was an outstanding success. Thank you to all who contributed paintings and who assisted on the day. The society was successful in winning not one, but two community grants this year. The City of Stirling has provided $1227.00 towards the rental of the Sorrento Exhibition venue, and the City of Wanneroo has given us $500.00 towards improving the electrical supports on our exhibition stands.

The clock is ticking down to our Annual Exhibition which will be held on October 10 – 12 at Sorrento Lifesaving Club. I encourage all of you to start thinking and painting as this is the event that showcases our society and all the wonderful skill and talent in it. This year we will have quite a bit of competition with at least two other major metropolitan art shows on the same weekend – all the more incentive to produce our best and spread the word everywhere we can.

Finally remember that if you have any items you want to sell that may be of use to other members, you can advertise them through the society and at the same time, contribute a little of the sale price to help the coffers.

Happy Painting!
Adrianne Kinnear, President

Pastel Society of Western Australia Newsletter July 2014

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Presidents Message and May 2014 Newsletter

Welcome everyone, to our second newsletter for 2014. A particularly warm welcome to all our new members. It is so good to see the new faces on a Monday evening and so many “old” ones, and to “feel the vibe”. Our AGM in February saw some new faces joining the Committee (including mine, as President) and I would like to thank all those who volunteered to join with me, and to those tireless workers who agreed to continue to contribute this year and share their expertise and knowledge with those of us who are new to the Committee. It was a great pleasure to celebrate the 80th birthday of Betty Mclean, one of our longest serving members, with a Life Membership (and of course a birthday cake). Thank you Betty, for all your work over the years, and may you celebrate many more birthdays and paint many more beautiful paintings!

The year’s activities began well with a very interesting demonstration by Brian Aylward and his striking bush land scenes. About 30 members attended and were very appreciative of Brian’s easy communicative style. Other demonstrations planned by the Committee at this stage focus on keeping a sketching travel diary (Val Brookes will demonstrate this for us on May 12th), and later in the year, Jana Vodesil will demonstrate portrait painting.

Our exhibition, our major event for the year, will be held at Sorrento Life Saving Club, October 10 – 12 so please put the dates in your diaries. I would particularly like to encourage all our new members to consider submitting paintings. There is always lots of assistance around if you need it. Thanks to Rayma Reany’s tireless efforts, we will hold an ‘unframed paintings’ sale at Floreat Forum on May 10th . This event gives excellent exposure to our Society and helps to raise the status of pastel painting in WA. It also provides opportunities for the general public to purchase quality art at an affordable price. Please spread the word – use your Face book page if you have one, to let your networks know about this.

Please don’t hesitate to give us your ideas and suggestions for keeping our Society vibrant and effective, and above all,

Happy Painting! Adrianne Kinnear, President

Pastel Society of Western Australia Newsletter May 2014

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