The Worlington Movement

On Thursday, I was invited by my friend Heath Rosselli to visit her painting mentor, Rosa Branson, in London.

Both Heath and Rosa are highly successful professional artists working in the field of portraiture and charity commissions. They champion the use of traditional materials and techniques and have set up the Worlington movement to counter what they see as the appalling lack of teaching in these subjects  in present day art schools.

Rosa, now eighty, still paints for 7 hours a day. Her passion, enthusiasm and energy are truly inspiring. It was fascinating to see her vast canvasses in the flesh as we wandered round her home and studio. Disillusioned by the 5 years she spent at art school, she then studied under Dr. H. Ruhemann , chief restorer at the National Gallery in London. In order to preserve this knowledge she has written a book which is now in the process of being published.

Joining us for lunch was Prof. Michael Baum, one of Britain's leading cancer specialists and artist Israel Zohar. Mike is shortly to retire and has already taken up his interest in art, studying under Israel Z.

Over a generous  lunch, art dominated the menu as we explored the merits of traditional techniques versus reliance on technical aids and modern materials. It certainly produced some lively and entertaining discussions.

A Critique to the Bury Art Society

Last week I was asked to deliver a critique to the Bury Art Society. This is not something I usually do. I am much more comfortable demonstrating painting techniques rather than pontificating on other people's work.

But it turned out to be a very pleasant evening. Lots of banter and lots of questions. And of course a wide variety of paintings that members had had the courage to put forward for public dissection.
Hopefully, my comments were constructive and helpful.

One to one art tuition.

I am often asked if I do one to one tuition or teach small groups in my studio. This is something I am always happy to do for a variety of reasons. Assuming the student is keen to learn and has no objection to doing "homework", he/she can make huge progress in a very short space of time.
For me that is very rewarding.
During the time in my studio, I demonstrate materials and various techniques, I set a subject for the day and oversee how the student progresses with this. At the end I offer advice and a crit. as to how the work can be taken forward. I then suggest various pieces of work to be completed before the next session. These will be commented on at the beginning of that session. As I repeatedly tell my students, it really is about practice, practice and more practice!