Kate Chapman, watercolorist, is presenting a beautiful group of paintings on the feature wall of the Wilderness Coast Artists (WCA) studio during April and May.
Her paintings celebrate and share her love of the natural world with the occasional portrait as well.
Kate chose to work in watercolour for several reasons:
She is mindful of making a low environmental impact in her life and art, so watercolour was a natural choice of medium.
She has learned and developed her
techniques through attending workshops, notably with David Taylor, Qing Zhang and Ben Winspear.
She also credits the art connections she has made through her membership of the WCA and the discussions on art days.
The unexpected nature of the medium enables her to go with the flow of the paint.
Her paintings reflect her strong connection to the natural environment.
For many years she lived in the Blue Mountains in NSW. During her working life, she researched peoples connections to nature.
Painting enables Kate to lose herself in
the process.
“Art is very life balancing,” says Kate.
It provides her with a priceless opportunity for meditation on beauty and nature.
Bright Autumn Art Exhibition
Six members of the WCA, Cynthia Boyle, Dave Butler, Catherine Cotter, Ngaere Donald, Lyn Lewis and Jan Martin entered paintings and drawings in the 64th Bright Autumn Art Exhibition.
Congratulations to Cynthia Boyle whose charcoal drawing Ghost of the Net won first prize in the monochrome section.
Also congratulations to Jan Martin with a highly commended for her watercolour, Autumn, Dargo.
The exhibition is on show until May 7 at the Bright Art Gallery and Cultural Centre.
Waterdragon Project
The Waterdragon Project is continuing with a week spent in the foyer of The Forge Theatre in Bairnsdale where members of the public contributed by painting a square to include in the overall design.
On March 28, members of the WCA attended the Creative Summit, the culmination of a month of creative activities, projects and discussions coordinated by the East Gippsland Shire’s Culture and Creativity Officers, Ashley Ball and Ryan Davies.
Wilderness Coast artists gave a short presentation focussed on the work by volunteers that goes on behind the scenes to bring a project to life.
The Waterdragon is now back home in the WCA studio in Orbost to be finished.
WCA welcomes visitors to the studio on its regular Tuesday Art Days from 10am until 3pm.
The WCA would like to thank Far East Victoria Landcare and East Gippsland Shire Council for their assistance in bringing the project to life.
Watercolour Group
WCA’s regular activities now include a fortnightly watercolour paint together session in the studio.
The first session was well attended with WCA members painting a watercolour in 90 minutes and then viewing and discussing the results.
The sessions begin at 10am and finish around 1pm on alternate Mondays.
Drawing Class
Drawing class continues fortnightly on alternate Mondays from 1pm until 3pm.
Last week members were challenged to create a still life drawing using their previous lessons on composition, design
and technique.
Selecting from a table full of multiple objects, this difficult challenge created interest and discussion.
