Friday 23rd January 2026
Liz Seward, President of FCSA, agreed to lead the evening. She has been a member of the Society since 1979 and she brings to it her vast experience of teaching art. She remembers there was a time when she taught no fewer than 127 students a week. She did say that this would be more of an appraisal than a critique as she would concentrate on the positive aspects of all the work.
The first piece displayed on the easel was a wonderfully colourful picture of clematis and roses by Marie Bunce. She had mainly used Derwent Colorsoft pencils together with some cheaper crayons from Tesco which Marie explained are harder and help to push the colour into the paper and act as burnishers. Liz was impressed with the leaves and the good use of negative space. Liz said that artwork in colour pencils was becoming very popular. Some people in the room had watercolour pencils but these are not as good for dry work and some are not light resistant. Liz advised buying individual colours rather than an entire set some of which will never get used.
This striking portrait turned out to be a self portrait of Simon Kidd which he had done from an old photograph of himself at a different time in his life. ‘Are we who we appear to be?’ was the inspiration for this work and Liz observed that the emotional impact of an artwork was often what gave it interest. People admired how well the hair and earring had been drawn.
Liz was delighted to see that C.J. had brought along her sketchbook to show us. Liz could not stress enough how every artist should have a sketchbook to hand all the time. It is the best way to work out ideas. C.J. had used Neocolor II water-soluble pastels by Caran D’Ache which enabled her to produce such vibrant colours. These work well over acrylics and especially acrylic inks.
This pencil drawing was also by C.J. She explained that she used ChatGPT to create the reference. She wanted it to be herself on her motorbike. ChatGPT used a combination of the magazine cover and substituted the man for a lady rider. Liz suggested adding tone to the background to bring the rider forward and perhaps darken the flowing hair to give a sense of movement.
People greatly admired this acrylic painting by Lesley Kilner. It was done in an art class which was looking at rust. Lesley added the windmill and said she might call it “Revolution”. Liz liked the addition of the windmill.
This second painting by Lesley Kilner felt less finished. Liz admired the rolling hills in the background but thought that perhaps another tree would make it feel more balanced. She also said that it might be better not to take the tree on the right off the page as that tends to lead the eye away too.
Everyone agreed that the person in this portrait by Ann Bullimore was instantly recognisable as Elaine Winter. Liz wondered if the forehead was a little short but Elaine showed everyone that it was about right.
Michael Kelly painted this to consider the gains and losses of space exploration. The names on the astronaut’s helmet refer to Christina Koch, a successful woman astronaut and Gus Grissom who was killed during a pre-flight test for the Apollo 1 mission. Liz felt that the earth like planet might have been put slightly behind the head to bring the composition together but Michael intended it to be in its own space so to speak. Liz liked way the moon’s surface had been painted.
Brian Hamman’s ‘Murmuration’ appealed to people. Liz suggested lightening the tone of the tail to create a sense of distance and perhaps removing the large tree on the edge of the right side would do the same. Brian had created the murmuration with a toothbrush so changing it might be difficult but he agreed with the suggestions.
‘Clowns’ by Brian Hammans was well liked and the only suggestion Liz made was to tone down the background so that the main figure of the clown stood out more distinctly.
Janet Wilson’s breakfast table lead to quite a lot of discussion about composition. Janet herself had wondered about adding more objects and how to treat the background. Liz advised to bring the flowers forward so that the tallest object was not at the back of the group. Putting it on the third might help the composition too. The cereal bowl with blueberries was very successful.
This very lovely cat is a watercolour by Carol Emmett. She said that she used gouache to achieve the white fur and whiskers. Although it was once the received wisdom that watercolorists should not use white paint there are really no rules in art. If It works that’s what counts although Liz did warn against using China White as it is transparent; Titanium White is better and good for highlights.
Hilary Platt brought this landscape to show us. Liz was very complimentary about the colours used to depict the far distance. She said this was a good example of aerial perspective which focuses on how colours and details fade with distance, making distant objects appear lighter and less distinct. She wondered if the sun’s edges could be softened as it shines through the tree to be more realistic..
Ann Bullimore’s “Avian Bonaza” has to be admired. As Liz pointed out the essential thing with a painting like this is to ensure that every element is painted to the same standard, which is certainly the case here.
Liz liked the trees and the background very much in this painting by Hilary Platt but she questioned whether the foliage in the foreground was necessary because it might act as a barrier that stops the eye looking into the painting.
Liz admired Janet Wilson’s woodland stream, especially the fact that the leaves of the trees were an interesting green. Some of the rocks in the distance could be lightened to put them in the distance.
Janet Hole produced this dramatic image of wildebeest jumping into a river. Liz felt that there was a gap in the centre that might have had another wildebeest’s head there but the artist explained that the lower animals were in the water while the upper group were leaping from the river bank.
Carole Head’s acrylic trees on a cobalt background used complimentary colours effectively. She explained that it was painted it on a strip off canvas pad and wondered how it could be framed. It could be framed under glass but glazed paintings are so heavy that it might be acceptable to stick it to a piece of backing board instead and treating it is a canvas.
Carole Head asked if this collage on board could be entered to an art exhibition as she was concerned that all of the images were cut outs. It is very much mixed media. Liz said it was very effective and would be fine at a local art exhibition.
Janet Hole did this picture of two monkeys with pastel pencils. She did it as a drawing exercise from an image she got from the internet. There would be copyright issues if it was exhibited but as a personal exercise it was successful. A member of the audience said “Unsplash” is a website where there are lots of copyright free images available to artists.
Michael Kelly felt the subject of this painting speaks for itself. It is a very strong dystopian image of a dried up River Thames. Liz admired the astronaut figure in the foreground but wondered if the diagonal on the left was just a bit too diagonal in terms of perspective.
These little ink and watercolour sketches by Sarah Groome were made from photographs of Ljubljana in Slovenia and of Windsor riverside. Sarah said she is keen to do some urban sketching. People remembered Tushar Sabale, who gave a demonstration to FCSA quite recently, runs an urban sketching group in London. There is also UKS urban sketch groups that can be found on the internet. Liz suggested an urban sketching event might be a good idea for FCSA.
Patti Dutton is the artist of this striking eye looking through ripped paper. It is very effective and Liz particularly liked the tear drop which was in acrylic.
Patti Dutton’s close up of a rose gathered murmurs of appreciation. People liked it. Liz wondered whether the second rose at the bottom added to the whole or not. Patti agreed some of the edges could be softened.
Liz clearly delighted in this little painting by Nat Nagy. She particularly liked the bubbles and the drops of water on its fluffy feathers. Charming.
Liz questioned the amount of space that the artist, Ian Sams, had chosen to set this little flower arrangement in. She suggested it could be made into a smaller painting without so much background to better focus on the flowers . However, Ian said he liked his original version.
Simon Kidd produced this delicate hellebore with colour pencils. The structure and colours of the flower and the leaves were beautifully observed. Was the object at the base of the picture a distraction perhaps?
This bold self portrait by Nat Nagy was commended for its strong form and use of complimentary colours to very good effect. Nat had purposely worked on the facial features and left the rest of the body less well defined.
The final painting of the evening was by Elaine Winters. She was not sure how to make these wild African dogs stand out from each other. Liz identified the overpowering white fur in the foreground could be toned down and perhaps some highlights in the eyes might make the dogs’ faces stand out more.
Carole Head presented Liz with a little trough of miniature roses on behalf of Sue Whitehead and the committee to thank Liz for leading the evening once again. She had praised and appraised all thirty paintings that had been brought by members for consideration and her comments and observations were greatly appreciated.
Write up by Carole Head