Today Coochie members enjoyed a fabulous day with tutor Hilary Wakeling, as Hilary demystified the negative space. Our boards were already prepared with gesso, then a dark mother colour and first layer was a gentle blend of harmonious colours of our choice, considering our finished design. Stencils were applied and when dry, black lava flakes were discreetly placed, as well as some opaque white flakes for extra texture. Copper and/or gold acrylic liquid was also dribbled on for extra contrast. The finishing touches will be in the next post.

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Hilary is shown here with the finished demonstration of palette knife painting, also her stylish fascinator! Gilly is holding a partly finished version. What an informative and enjoyable day Coochie Group had on Cup Day!

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A horse race might stop the nation, but not the Coochie Art Group! Stalwart members donned their fanciest hats, braved the fierce winds and enjoyed a fabulous day of tuition with Hilary Wakeling. A festive Cup Luncheon, a glass of bubbles, a sweep or 2 and back to more painting with palette knives. What a great day, thank you Hilary and the great cooks of the Coochie Art Group! Next Tuesday, 12th November, Hilary will be teaching the power of painting the negative space. Visitors welcome, if space permits.

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“Simple Treasures”, Coochie Art Group’s latest exhibition was officially opened on Friday, 1/11/19 by Councillor Tracey Huges, after a warm welcome and introduction by RAG Director, Emma Bain. Members were delighted with the presentation of the Exhibition, given the complexities caused by the varying art pieces. There are wooden blocks, process journals, which chart members’ ideas developments and art works, large and small. Quite a challenge, but RAG staff managed beautifully. Thank you! ” Simple Treasures” are the members’ responses to the parts of life that bring them joy and beauty.

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Coochie Art Group members are eagerly awaiting the Opening Night festivities on Friday, 1/11/19 at 6.30pm, of our new Exhibition, ” Simple Treasures” in the Redland Art Gallery, Middle St., Cleveland. Members have worked hard all year to bring their visions of simple treasures to reality. Everyone is welcome to attend and refreshments will be served after the Exhibition is officially opened by Deputy Mayor, Lance Hewlett. Hope to see you there!

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Below is the Schedule for Coochie Art Group for the remainder of 2019.
19 Schedule Term 4.docx
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Materials List T4 2019.pdf
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Coochie Art Group is looking forward to Acrylic classes in Term 4 with talented, local, prize-winning artist, Hilary Wakeling. Hilary has sent through some images to illustrate some of the techniques we’ll be learning. Materials List to follow.

Other materials particular to each exercise –

October 15 – Masking with cut and torn paper:

Masking tape, greaseproof paper or other paper for tearing, roller and tray.

Reference photo of bird or other simple image.

November 5 – Painting with the palette knife:

A canvas board is easier to use with the palette knife. Best paint to use is Matisse Structure, but you could get by with other brands. You will need a range of palette knives. Reference photo of rough water or surf etc. You can include figures as well.

November 12 – Painting the negative space:

Stamping and stencilling materials. Sponge or roller and tray. Silhouette image, with lots of ‘holes’.

November 26 – Over lapping shapes:

Drawing paper, can be a roll of greaseproof paper.

Coochie Art Group members enjoyed a wonderful outing to GOMA, where we enjoyed Margaret Olley’s wonderful retrospective “A Generous Life” and Ben Quilty’s emotional “Quilty”. Both were thought-provoking, informative and fantastic!!!! Our knowledgeable guide, Natalie, made Quilty’s work far more approachable to me, at least, knowing the background and emotions that drove Quilty to creation. Many, were utterly poignant and tragic – the fake life jackets littering bleak island coasts – remember the Syrian exodus?, the Bali 9 tragedy and Quilty’s reaction to the time he spent as war artist in Afghanistan and the soldiers he met, were a few that still haunt me.
Margaret Olley’s aptly-named Exhibition was a revelation and an utter delight! Indeed hers was a generous life and Australia is the richer for having enjoyed her breath-taking artistic talents, her generous mentoring of emerging artists and her on-going bequests to our national galleries. These bequests from her estate have enabled the purchase of wonderful treasures from overseas.
Special thanks to our tour guide and organiser extraordinaire, Diane! Thanks Diane for a wonderful day.

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What a wonderful day with Tricia yesterday! Members learned how to pull various types of prints from our collagraph plates, stamping with made stamps, and positive and negative stamps from our images, glazing and softening the initial colours, and the importance of soft edges and blending of colours. More to come!

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