CENTRE NEWS February 2015 PORT STEPHENS COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE Cultural Close, off Shoal Bay Rd, Nelson Bay 2315 In This Issue       P.O Box 227 Nelson Bay 2315 www.artscentrenelsonbay.org.au Phone 02 4981 3604 artscentre@westnet.com.au Group Reports Upcoming Events Gallery Exhibitions Monthly Featured Artist Splinters Notices PRESIDENT’S REPORT Welcome back everyone. I hope you have enjoyed the break and are fully recovered from all the usual indulgence. The gallery, grounds and environment are looking really good and I would like to congratulate all those who have been active over the break. One thing I would like to bring up, however, is when our duty people are having their morning or afternoon cuppa and there are visitors in the gallery, that the cuppa be taken in the packing room rather than at the counter. I'm sure no one begrudges our volunteers tea and bikkies but I am also sure our potential customers don't wish to see them. I thank you all in advance for your support in this, in the meantime I look forward to enjoying the fruits of all your crafts in 2015. Paul Murrant VALE ROBERT COLLIGAN Several of the long serving members of the Centre and members of the art world went to Robert Colligan’s celebration of life at the Salamander Uniting Church on Monday 19 th January. He was a member of our Trustee Board years ago. He passed away aged 89. Robert was a painter of considerable talent. He was Past President of the Royal Art Society NSW and Fellow of the Royal Art Society NSW. It wasn’t long ago I saw him painting in the rain at Birubi Beach. His friends and relatives gave us an insight into his complex past, he was a boxer, played the bagpipes, poet, had a base baritone voice that shook the centre, worked on the Sydney Opera house, interior designer, worked in advertising etc, etc. A very friendly man who will be missed. Mike Francis It is with sadness to report the passing of the following members: Jan Arneson, Noelene Kachel and Mary Nichols. Our deepest sympathies go out to their families and friends. Yvonne Hill DATES FOR YOUR DIARY Board Meeting; Tuesday February 10th 9am Manoora Room. Leaders Meeting; Wednesday February 3rd 9am Manoora Room. Patchwork Friendship Morning Tea Thursday 26th February 10am Westralia Room Exhibition Date Annex - "Small Paintings" "Life's a Beach" Featured Artist Date Current - March 18 Ken McConnell Jan 21 - Feb 18 Jan 21 - March 18 Gill Ward Feb 18 - Mar 18 March 30 - May 06 Robyn Bailey Mar 30 - Apr 29 March 30 - May 06 Margaret Watson Apr 29 - Jun 03 PORT STEPHENS ART PRIZE March 19 - March 29 "Light and Shade" Annex - "Black and White" GALLERY REPORT The gallery is looking bright and happy with its summer exhibition and paintings and other goods reflecting the summer theme. Our current theme is “Life’s a Beach”, and paintings were hung on January 21 and be up till March 18. The featured artists through this period are Ken McConnell and then Gill Ward. You will have noticed that there is a display of summer-themed ceramics in the desk cabinet, which has had many favourable comments. The desk cabinet will be modified shortly to allow easier access. The back will be closed off and it will have opening glass doors at the front. I hope all those on duty will find this much easier to manage. We are also getting a tall glass cabinet for the verandah. This will allow us more room for jewellery and also give some other groups more space to display their goods. In order to have the gallery interesting for new and repeat visitors, could all members who display their goods in the gallery refresh their displays regularly? Anything that has been in the gallery for longer than six months should be replaced with something new. You can recycle any of your items after a suitable interval. Judy Murrant MONDAY PAINTERS Welcome back everyone. Hope you all had a great Christmas. A reminder that the Art Prize isn’t far off. Entry forms must be in by the 27th February. It would be great to have plenty of paintings from our members. The gallery is looking great with all the beach scenes and the small paintings look terrific. The Archibald Prize is on at Maitland Art Gallery if anyone is interested in going. Please check our notice board to see what is happening. Cheers Moira Salamander Toys and Hobbies 3/9 Shearwater Drive. Taylors Beach 2316. Ph 49825055 Come and see Noaline and look through out our comprehensive range.       2 Large range of Quality Arts Supplies Art Spectrum Windsor & Newton Atelier Mattise Derwent 10% Discount for Art Centre Members PAINTING DISPLAY REPORT The change over for our new exhibition, “Life’s a Beach” went very smoothly, thank you to all those who turned up to help with the display. Our featured artists displays have been really great, now is the time to take the opportunity to see a lovely collection of Ken McConnell’s recent works. This current exhibition runs through to Wednesday, 18th March then the Art Prize goes on display. Hope you are you all busy getting your paintings ready for the Art Prize, lots of help will be needed with the set up so hope you will mark the date in your diary. Monday, 30th March we will hang our exhibition “Light and Shade” in the main gallery and “Black and White paintings in the annex, so we have a OIL PAINTNG GROUP A new group of painters will be meeting twice monthly, from 9:30am to 12:30pm in the Westralia Room, to concentrate on Oil Painting. The first meeting will be on Wednesday 18th Feb, then every subsequent 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month. All artists are welcome, just come along to the first meeting and bring your oil paints etc. As this is a self- help group, if you haven’t done any OIL painting before, but would like to start, please contact Nikki. Tutorials “Getting Started” can be arranged outside this class for a modest fee. Nikki Waters. Email: bayart@watersofthebay.com Tel: 0438 330 342 MIXED MEDIA PAINTING WORKSHOP We have been lucky to get Queensland artist Tricia Reust for a 2 day workshop at the Centre on Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th March 2015. Please put your name on the list in the Westralia room if you wish to attend. Check out Tricia’s work on Utube, she is just fantastic. Tricia will be able to stay a couple of extra days if we get too many for the weekend, so don’t be put off if the list is full. Nada O’Loughlin BARN POTTERS Welcome back in 2015. It’s going to be another great year with lots of wonderful ideas for potting! Thanks to Joel, the spray booth and the slab-roller have improved our working environment. A shipment of 500kg of clay has arrived so let’s start creating. Daad has offered to teach us how to create her famous/gorgeous chooks on Tuesday, 17th February, with the moulds made and donated by Teddy. EMBROIDERY Embroidery Group had a visitor last Friday, Pam Churchman from Corlette whose Horses cross stitch was completed by Nell Grant. Pam gave us a short history of the cross stitch which she was given by a friend of hers from the UK who passed away in 2013. Her friend who worked for the Australian High Commission in London for 45 years had a similar cross stitch in her home. Pam is considering donating the framed work to a Horse Rescue Home for fund raising. Penelope PATCHWORK Hope everyone has had a wonderful festive season and hope to see you all back this month. Tuesday’s Group have a new Leader, Lyn Cummings. We would like to thank Denise for her time as Leader and hope it has not been too stiff a sentence! Lyn is sure to get the girls motivated. Congratulations to Wendy Nutt for winning the Viewers Choice in the Mini Modern theme, Quilters Guild of NSW Challenge for 2104. Hopefully you have all given some thought to our Charity Challenge for Ronald McDonald House. Remember it is for all the kids. The next Friendship Morning Tea is on Thursday 26th February at 10am. Sally and Lyn MONDAY CRAFT Our friendly group of ladies enjoy various handcrafts, including knitting, crochet and embroidery. Lorraine knits cotton bandages for leprosy patients overseas and another lady knits beanies for the Seamen’s Mission in Newcastle. We crochet rugs and toys in vast numbers and these are hand delivered by Yvonne, to Ronald McDonald House for siblings of the sick children there. Our framed photo is of a cross stitched tiger, created by Luise for her “Tigers” supporter son. Isn’t it gorgeous. If you would like to join us on a Monday morning, come in and have a cuppa. Sue George. 3 Variety Discount Store 2/43 Donald St, Nelson Bay. Ph 49844230 FUSION. The Fusion group will restart on Wed. 11th February. We will be stitching and folding fabric ready for a Dyeing Workshop later in the month. All new members are welcome to come and see what we are about. Most of our projects are experimental,using unusual techniques with textiles. Sheila Francis SATURDAY KNITTERS Our Knitters Group, meets every second and fourth Saturday of the month. We will be starting back in February and welcome all standards of knitting from beginners to very competent (we could pick their brains). We meet from 1p.m. until 3.30p.m. and often have lunch in the cafe beforehand. Looking forward to seeing any knitters on the 14th and 28th February. Helen Diemar SPINNERS & WEAVERS We are off to a flying start this year with one new member on our first day back. Welcome Christine. I believe we have another new member coming this week thanks to Helen. Beryl, Merelyn and I attended the Australia Day festivities again this year and it was a great success and hopefully we have gained one new member out of it. The day did not look too promising but it was cool, a few spots of rain but nothing to spoil the day. The interest in our spinning was terrific, especially with the children. Once again I sat with Drew, the shearer, while the Alpacas were being shorn and I spun the fleece as it was coming off and there was a lot of interest in that. The new banner for the Centre looked fantastic, very professional and definitely eye catching. Well done Mike! Lyn Grigor SPLINTERS from the BOARD On the 11th December we held our General Meeting and Board of Management Meeting. A copy of the draft minutes are displayed on the notice board in the outer office for your information. We are waiting on a second quote to install a second upstairs toilet and redesign of store rooms for the upper level of the main gallery . Coming soon in the gallery will be another jewellery display cabinet. Also the counter display will be redesigned to allow for better access and display . Room 3 has been cleared and sorted by a small group (4) of merry members. Please do not think that as there is a space it has to be filled with unwanted items. If you take anything out to use please ensure that it is replaced in its allotted space. As a result of a complaint ...we respectfully request that all members refresh themselves of our “Code of Conduct”. Of great importance is how we address our fellow members and visitors so that our words or actions cannot in any way be construed as being rude. Your Secretary, Robyn Killen THE 2015 PORT STEPHENS ART PRIZE Preparations are well under way for the 2015 Art Prize and it is shaping up to be another successful and interesting event. We have Ron Dunsire, Professor Emeritus of Fine Arts at the University of Western Sydney, as our judge. The Art Prize will be held 20th to 29th March and the Official Opening and Awards Presentation Evening is on Friday March 20th at 6.30pm. Finger food and drinks will be served on opening night and entry cost is $15.00. You are all welcome to come to the opening night, it is always interesting and informative, and we expect to have some 500 works of art for you to see from all over the state. If you have any questions about the Art Prize 2015 please contact myself (49829148) or Kevin Griffey REMINDER FOR ART PRIZE PROCESS Please remember the payments for the Art Prize entries DO NOT GO THROUGH THE TILL. [ except EFTPOS transactions] Money is included with the entry form in an envelope and put down the shute in the Outer Office FRIDAY POTTERS All are welcome on Friday mornings from 9.30am to noon for pottery. Lois Morrison RAFFLES Christmas Hamper Raffle. Drawn 17th December . Results on the Outer Office Notice Board. Current Raffle. Acrylic on Canvas “ Blue Exotics” donated by Ann Margaret Mills Tickets $1 ea. Drawn 11th February 2015 WOODWORKERS At our last meeting we welcomed two new members, Neville Isaacs and Cody Sosso. Our show and tell was as usual interesting and showcased some wonderful items. Well done, fellows! Our last school project for the year was at Anna Bay Public School, 43 items were assembled by the enthusiastic students, and many thanks go to those who helped prepare the kits, as well as those who helped at the school. Our “Woodworker of the Year” was awarded to Bob Grant, our very efficient Treasurer and Newsletter Editor. The first Woodies Meeting for 2015 will be held on the10th February at 2pm. Graham Miller Editor Note. More news of the Woodies activities can be read from a copy of “Woodnews” which is on the noticeboard in the Outer Office. 4