Artists' groups work together
ART groups, especially those with access to purpose-designed facilities, offer artists and guest artists the opportunity to explore different genres, and discover new techniques.
Most importantly, they provide a welcoming, safe, and convivial opportunity for social interaction and the sharing of knowledge and experience.
The Culliford Gallery at the Toowoomba Art Society, 1 Godsall Street, is hosting Face to Face, an exhibition of works by the U3A portraiture group.
This cohort of artists has met under the auspices of the Art Society for some 23 years.
For two hours every Friday afternoon the members work from a live model.
They observe the nuances of light and shade, colour, and shape, and how this awareness helps to translate the three-dimensional human form into a pictorial rendition of the subject.
Historically, the art of portraiture has been about more than capturing the likeness of someone, although in the centuries before the advent of photography, identifiable likeness was an essential factor.
However, the notion that the visage should convey more than its physical attributes, that the facial expression should suggest something of the inner being of the sitter, as so eloquently implied in the portraits by Rembrandt, is significant in how we “read” the work.
While some artists may be drawn to portraiture as a way to explore concepts of identity, or issues of social, or political complexity, for the most part, this exhibition reflects a fascination with the genre, the concentration required, and the challenges offered in achieving the likeness of a fellow human being.
Working across the mediums of pencil, charcoal, ink, paint, and pastel, the artists have documented and interpreted their subjects.
Although the meetings emphasise drawing from life, the group is encouraged to explore avenues outside the classes.
This can be seen in homages to heroes like Mahatma Gandhi, as dramatic effects expressed by Dave Brundell and Geoff Tenbrink, and also in the self-portraits by Betty Tan.
The pastel sketches by Meaden Turner, charcoal studies by Maree Cameron, and the watercolours by Bernie Whisson add further to the visual interest.
We may not know the people depicted, but the artists have made us want to meet them.
The Perinet Gallery at the Art Society is presenting Inspired, an exhibition of watercolour paintings by Catriona Fitzgerald.
The artist has recently rekindled her love of art, and this has been expressed through her exploration of the watercolour medium.
Landscape, big skies, and roiling clouds, bush tracks and birdlife, these are shown in swathes of colour.
Detailed highlights and softened backgrounds add dimension to her fauna and flora studies.
However, it is in her handling of watercolour with its sense of ordered chaos, that Fitzgerald shares her response to place captured in moody skyscapes, diffused light, dappled patterns, and reflections upon water.