Commentaries by Janice Mills

Commentaries

It is the intent, of these commentaries, to give an insight into the thinking behind many of the works in this site. I have also included my thoughts on subjects that may be of interest.

These commentaries will be published from time to time.

McClelland Guild of Artists Monthly Demonstration August 2011
Wednesday, 10 August 2011 McClelland Guild of Artists in Frankston had it's monthly demonstration on August 10, 2011. The guest demonstrating artist was Agata Lelek.
View commentary »

Pastel Society of Victoria Monthly Demonstration August 2011
Tuesday, 2 August 2011 It is enough of a pleasure to have one talented and entertaining artist as a demonstrator for the evening, but when you have two extraordinary talents together, it is more than double the event! For the demonstration at this meeting we had the pleasure of observing the talents of Geoff Hook and George Haddon.
View commentary »

Pastel Society of Victoria Monthly Demonstration July 2011
Tuesday, 5 July 2011 For the July demonstration at the Pastel Society of Victoria we were privileged to have Judy Drew for a two hour demonstration of her skills in portraiture. Judy works mostly from live models, so this was a great opportunity to see both the model and the work in the same place.
View commentary »

McClelland Guild of Artists Monthly Demonstration July 2011
Sunday, 3 July 2011 McClelland Guild of Artists in Frankston had it's monthly demonstration on July 2nd, 2011. The guest demonstrating artist was Maxine Wade.
View commentary »

Berwick Art Society Monthly Demonstration June 2011
Thursday, 23 June 2011 Janet Matthews is well known for her detailed pencil work on wildlife, especially birds. Her work has appeared on Australian stamps and she has exhibited widely both in Australia and overseas.
View commentary »

Pastel Society of Victoria Monthly Demonstration June 2011
Tuesday, 7 June 2011 Even though the venue for this demonstration was the Pastel Society, as with previous demonstrations that are outside of the medium, there are many lessons that can be learned and that are applicable to any medium. Amanda Hyatt admitted freely to not being a pastelist but quickly went on to show that she did have a good working knowledge of it that we could relate to.
View commentary »

McClelland Guild of Artists Monthly Demonstration June 2011
Sunday, 5 June 2011 Margo Vigorito is a delightful demonstrator, I never tire of watching her paint and explain her techniques. She is very inclusive and full of fun. This does not however take away from the very important skill she passes on with each demonstration. Her style is very bold and expressive and as her paintings show, she takes the normal look and realism of a scene and turns it into a bright creative artwork.
View commentary »

Berwick Art Society Monthly Demonstration May 2011
Thursday, 26 May 2011 Malcolm Beatty has been practising as a professional artist for over fifteen years. He admires the work of John Singer Sergeant, but freely admits to being mostly "self taught" and having developed his own approach to painting. He describes his style as representational rather than non-realist, as he likes to take a scene and pull out the features he likes and emphasise them rather than making a mere copy. He works mainly from photographs he has taken on various trips, although he does have a collection of beautiful water colour sketches that he has done on site in various locations. Malcolm is best known for his water colours, for which he has won many awards. They are loose and vibrant with clean colour, loads of light and always interesting.
View commentary »

McClelland Guild of Artists Monthly Demonstration May 2011
Sunday, 8 May 2011 Known mostly for his water colour skills Greg Allen admitted to us that ha has not painted in oils for nearly a year and he was as interested as we were in how the demonstration would turn out. My main interest in this demonstration was to watch Greg's technique in his application of paint to result in his great use of light and shade.
View commentary »

Pastel Society of Victoria Monthly Demonstration May 2011
Tuesday, 3 May 2011 Originally from England, Glenn Hoyle trained as an artist starting at the age of only 15. Living in a mostly industrial area in Northern England he was sent out by his tutors on to the streets to learn his craft by drawing from real life. A bit of a task as he suffered what many of us have from well meaning but ignorant observers, who suggested that he should not waste his time drawing and go out and get a real job. Thank goodness for him and us, he pursued his calling as an artist as well as taking on a career as a graphic designer.
View commentary »