Page 1 of 8

SASA NEWSLETTER – August 2017

President: Glenda Chambers president@sasa-artists.co.za

www.sasa-artists.co.za www.facebook.com/SASArtists http://sasartists.blogspot.com

Patrons: Sam Nhlengethwa, Conrad Theys, Hayden Proud

Secretary Liz Pearson - PO Box 2574, Clareinch 7740 Tel. 021 671 8941 secretary@sasa-artists.co.za Treasurer Kim Scarrott 021 712 3229 kscarrot2@gmail.com

Diary

AUGUST Saturday 26 Winter Workshop: Derric van Rensburg

Thursday 31 Monthly Meeting: Judges Critique

SEPTEMBER Thursday 14 Evening Life Drawing at the Athenaeum

Thursday 21 Annual Exhibition Hanging and Opening

Every production of an artist should be the expression of an adventure of his soul. W. Somerset Maugham

President’s Letter

Dear Members,

Wow! what an amazing selection weekend. Thank you so much to the council and all the members who helped to make the weekend run so smoothly. Thanks also to RHS for the use of their school once again. Very glad Mercury vanished for this one, we had a few close calls. Thank you also to our judges Hayden Proud, Andrew Cooper and Lindy van Niekerk.

Congratulations to all our winners, and all those that got work accepted, very well-deserved recognition. Once again the artwork was amazing. It takes guts and lots of goetspa to put yourself out there.

For those that didn’t qualify, brushes up (not chins up) and get painting. The next exhibition is just around the corner, as is your next sale. Your top scoring artist for 2017 were Jeremy Day 69, Laura Wenman 65, Di Ackerman 62, Anne Newham 61, Evan Douglas 61, Sonja Frenz 60, Christopher Reid 60, Wyn Rossouw 59 and Boniface Chikwenhere 59. Well done!

Remember that our three Judges will be at our next meeting on the 31st August to spread some light on the scoring, so please bring your three pantings. Lots can be learned by listening to their expertise.

Congratulations once again to all our members who got into the Top 100 of the Sanlam portrait awards. Keep painting up a storm and entering the competitions, you never know.

Our Annual Exhibition will be 21st September to 4th October, immediately followed by the Members’ 2 Exhibition from 5th to the 15th October. Please note that

no paintings can be left from the one exhibition to the next. For the Members’ 2 Exhibition, new work has to be hung or the paintings from the selection weekend that were not accepted can be hung. Liz will be sending out all the information for Members’ 2, shortly.

Congratulations to our winners of the Landscape, Life and Still Life competition, see the newsletter for the results. Thank you Margie Johnson and Laura Wenman for the very constructive critiques we learnt loads.

Life Drawing Monthly Sessions : Are the 2nd Thursday of every month at the Athenaeum at 6pm for 630pm, please no late arrivals or early leavers, as this disturbs the sessions. Thank you to Libby Harrison and Mary

McMillan for the organisation.

The Art Sauce Sketchpack project is underway and I’ve already seen some great work being produced. Have loads of fun with this project, it’s a really good discipline to do a drawing a day. Very inspiring!

Start following us on twitter, like our Facebook page.

READ the newsletter for all the upcoming events. Don’t forget about our online gallery, details on the web. Special for the year is R200 which includes 5 artworks and your cv.

To all our members surround yourself with the beauty of art …!

Happy painting!

Glenda Chambers

Page 2 of 8

Member News and Happening

The noticeboard is put up at every monthly meeting and the latest news from the art world posted for your information. You are invited to bring along your own bits of information to post on the board. Members are also welcome to put up notices advertising their art related products or classes. Please contact Irene Oxley (oxleyi1@iafrica.com) or Ronnie Biccard (ronniebiccard@gmail.com) or if you have any news you would like to share, email secretary@sasa-artists.co.za.

For August, we welcome the following new members to the society:

Cecile de Villiers Priscilla Lazarus Sue Maas Avril Retief Cathrina Eloff

Paula Breetzke Heather Bromfield Debbie Hattingh Ricky Havenga Mariqi Nel

Maximillian Goldin Ritma Grizane Frederick Krause Christine Sadler

And it’s welcome back to Georgette Taylor, Roy Bermeister and Anna Lamprecht Sadly we have to say goodbye to Lettie Strachan, who passed away recently. Lettie had been a member of the society for 14 years and will be sorely missed. Our condolences go to her husband, George and to her family.

Congratulations to everyone who entered the Sanlam Portrait Awards. By now you would have received the notification of the Top 100 entries and we congratulate SASA members who achieved this honour.

Leana Rauch (Anagnostopoulos) Elize Bezuidenhout (two accepted) Jennifer Kemlo (two accepted) Craig Paton-Ash

Christopher Reid Veronica Reid Sonja Rivett-Carnac

SASA member, Mary-Ann Wiggill, has had her work shortlisted for the Sasol New Signatures Competition. The winner of the Sasol New Signatures Art Competition will be announced on 30th August 2017 at a gala event in Pretoria,

after which the winning works will be displayed at the Pretoria Art Museum from Thursday, 31st August 2017 to Sunday, 8th October 2017. Well done, Mary-Ann and good luck for the final.

If you haven’t been receiving mail from SASA, it could be that you may have (a) changed your address or (b) email details or (c) SASA is being re-directed to your junk mail folder. Please let us have any change of personal information so we can continue to communicate with you. Email secretary@sasa-artists.co.za with any changes.

SASA Programme - What’s on

Monthly Meetings

SASA Monthly Meetings are held at the Athenaeum, Boundary Terraces, off Campground Road, Newlands, on the last Thursday of every month at 19h00. Entry is R10 for members and R20 for guests, including refreshments. We encourage you to attend these meetings, find out what’s going on in your society and connect with your fellow artists. Thursday 27th July: Alla Prima Landscape, Life and Still Life Competition: It was great having so many members take part in this year’s competition. The artwork was really good and it’s a grateful thanks to Margie Johnson and Laura Wenman for crtiquing the work for us. Their advice was both informative and instructive and much appreciated. Also our grateful thanks go to Art Sauce who donated the prizes for the evening and to Winsen’s Canvases for the donation of the wonderful canvases which our winners also received.

And the winners were Landscape 1st Beth Lowe 2nd Grazyna Janik 3rd Penny Steynor

Life 1st Penny Steynor 2nd Christopher Reid 3rd Tressen Veeramunder

Still Life 1st Wyn Rossouw 2nd Grazyna Janik 3rd Penny Steynor

Page 3 of 8

Thursday 31st August: Judges Critique: This year we have invited all three of our judges to the critique evening. Hayden Proud, Andrew Cooper and Lindy van Niekerk will be there to answer your questions and give you an insight into their thinking of how they judged the artwork. So, whether your work achieved the points to get into the Annual or not, it would be well worth bringing them along to get expert feedback. Please bring all the works, no matter the points achieved.

Exhibitions

Selection Weekend: 5th and 6th August:As you would have read in the President’s letter, we had a very successful Selection Weekend. Thanks to all the helpers and the Council, everything went smoothly

and the judging finished with plenty of time to spare. Congratulations to all the winners and those who achieved Highly Commended and Commended awards.

111th Annual Exhibition: 21st September to 4th October: Well done to everyone who had their work accepted for our prestigious Annual Exhibition. This work needs to be brought to the exhibition hall at Kirstenbosch the morning of 21st September. Please bring your artist’s receipt with you together with your artworks. Remember that if your work is sold prior to the exhibition, it still needs to be exhibited with a ‘sold’ sticker and commission still paid to SASA. No portfolio work is accepted for this exhibition. Members’ 2 Exhibition: 5th October to 15th October: Following immediately after the Annual will be the second Members’ Exhibition. If your work didn’t make the cut-off mark, you can exhibit it at this exhibition. Conditions of Entry and the entry form will be sent at the end of this month. Other Exhibitions The Cape Gallery are holding their annual Wildlife Exhibition during the month of August. SASA artists featured are Margot Hattingh, Paula Breetzke, Mandy McKay, Frederike Stokhuysen, Craig Paton-Ash, Alison van Zyl, Marilyn Southey, Sylvia de Villiers, Boniface

Chikwenhere and Gerbrand van Heerden. Work by the late Adolfo McQue will also be on display. Please contact the gallery for further information on 021 423 5309.

Constantiaberg Art Society will be holding their Spring exhibition featuring work of local artists from Friday August 25th until Thursday September 7th, between 9.30am and 5.30pm daily, in the Richard Crowie Lecture Hall (formerly the Sanlam Hall) at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. The exhibition will be opened on Friday August 25th, at 6:30 pm by Lesley Charnock, renowned local artist and teacher. Visiting the exhibition is free, but the usual Kirstenbosch entrance fee applies. Tuesdays are free for pensioners. More information at constantiabergartsociety.blogspot.com or Facebook CAS Constantiaberg Art Society.

Also on at the Cape Gallery in September is a solo exhibition, The Gold that Binds Us, by SASA Fellow, Helen van Stolk. The opening will be on Sunday 3rd September at 4.30pm and the exhibition will be opened

by Lesley Charnock. Everyone is welcome. Please contact the Cape Gallery for further information on 021 423 5309.

Bright Street Gallery presents 'Something Seasonal': a group exhibition, until 25 August Featuring artists from the Somerset West area and Cape Town, including SASA artists Cliff Davies, Zach Mukwira, with artist and gallery owner, Di White. 33 Bright Street, Somerset West. The gallery is open 09h30-16h30, Monday to Friday and 09h30-12h30 on Saturdays. For information phone Chris on 073 756 2930, email to brightstreetgallery@gmail.com

Page 4 of 8

Life Drawing

Well done to the organisers of the Saturday Life Drawing. Both Libby and Mary were well organised and everyone enjoyed the sessions.

From Libby “We appreciate all our members who make the effort to attend our life drawing sessions - your obvious enjoyment makes all the admin worthwhile.....and to those who help in setting things up and packing away after each session, we thank you. Huge thanks also, to Lyn Northam for the very generous loan of all her equipment”.

Our Thursday life drawing sessions are continuing until November, so if you would like to attend, please email secretary@sasa-artists.co.za. These are held every second Thursday of the month at the Athenaeum, and the next one will be on the 10th August and September’s one on the 14th.

Winter Workshops

The workshops will be held at the Peter Clarke Art Centre in Newlands and will start at 9.30 and finish at 15.30. The cost for the workshop will be the same as last year - R350 which includes tea and coffee, but you need to bring your own lunch. You can book by emailing Irene Oxley at oxleyi1@iafrica.com and making payment to SASA Nedbank Constantia branch 198765 account 1088006981 – please use your name as the beneficiary reference. The Peter Clarke Art Centre (formerly the Frank Joubert Art Centre) is very close to the Athenaeum and is accessed via Vredenhof Road, off Keurboom Road. Please get there early so the workshop can start promptly at 9.30.

The Karen Burns workshop was exciting and thought provoking and although everyone was squeezed into the limited space, it was well worth seeing a master artist at work. Thank you Karen.

Our next workshop will be on 26th August with Derric van Rensburg working in acrylics. This workshop is fully booked at the moment, but if you would still like to attend, you can contact Irene and ask to be put on the waiting list. Derric is an informative and knowledgeable artist with a very distinct style of his own.

Page 5 of 8

Library

Our Library is open from 17:45 to 18:50 prior to every monthly meeting. Your membership entitles you to take out two items per month. Fines from 2017 are: R20 for a DVD, R10 for a Book and R5 for magazines.

A huge thank you goes out to Elinor and Ian Fletcher for the donation of several great books to add to our Library. Also a big thank you to an ex member, Penelope Lloyd who has also donated books. We’ll have to look for bigger storage soon!

Please note that if you know you are unable to attend and return the item/s at the following Members Meeting, you are welcome to email me at audsinnes@hotmail.com quoting your Membership

Number together with the reference number/s of the item/s you have in your possession to request an extension of one month. Failing to do so will incur a fine. Should you need to extend for a second month you will incur a fine regardless, but will be noted on the system that you requested the extension.

Whilst it’s nice to boost the Library coffers, we’d much rather have the items available for everyone’s benefits.

Audrey.

Workshops, Classes and Information

Your 2017 membership card will allow you to claim your 10% discount from the following art shops: Deckle Edge – all branches, The Italian Artshop in Rondebosch, Brush and Canvas in Claremont, The Art Shop in Hermanus and Artland in Claremont. Also 5% from Art Source in town and Creative Atelier in Durbanville. You will need to present your 2017 membership card when claiming your discount. Christopher Reid will be holding workshops at his studio, 14 Fisant Crescent, Sandbaai, during the month of August. On August 12th it will be Painting Portraits, August 21st will be Plein Air Painting and he will also be

conducting Drawing classes on August 26th and 27th. Please contact him on 071 536 6207 or email info@reidsart.com for further information.

Jenny Merritt is offering art classes in the Milnerton area, in all mediums, every Wednesday evening from 6.30pm to 9pm and Thursday morning from 9.30am to 12.30pm. The classes will be suitable for medium to advanced students. Please contact Jenny on 082 663 2000 / 021 551 8926.

Page 6 of 8

Showing on Saturday 26th August and Saturday 30th September at the Ster Kinekor complex at the Waterfront. Please

contact the complex directly for more information.

Superlative

FineArtViews Newsletter | Wednesday, July 26, 2017 | Issue 2825 by Donald Fox, American Artist

On a scale of one to ten... We live in a culture that constantly compares, constantly sets one thing or one person against another, constantly attempts to define something as a ten and everything else inferior. It is a land of superlatives. I remember those superlatives from high school, but the programming began long before that. In high school there was little more than a popularity contest because kids were not that different from each other. Some may have been a bit more motivated, but most simply hadn't discovered who they were or what they could do. How we judge, or even if we should be judging, may or may not be as important as the judgments we make. The latter will certainly say a lot about us as the judgers.

When I think about art, which for me is all the time, I do make assessments; I attempt to evaluate the art of others and that of my own. Other art I want to appreciate for what it is and for what it may say. My art I want to evaluate in order to expand and improve.

Inevitably, perhaps, there will be a judgment that something is lesser, something else better. To establish a best, however, would suggest that all art is on equal footing to begin with, but that I don't believe to be the case. So has a pre-judgment been made to determine that idea?

I wouldn't compare a drawing with a painting or with a print or anything else outside the same medium. It's the old idea of comparing apples and oranges. I might prefer one fruit over another, but that is my taste and

my preference only. Someone else might not like either one or might choose bananas instead. So, can we really compare the painting of one artist with another? Is Degas better than Pissarro or is Braque better than Picasso? In the twentieth century and now in the twenty-first, we find such a range of art styles, combinations of styles, and artists borrowing styles or

moving from one style to another, it is difficult to keep track much less to compare one to another. Mostly, I

Page 7 of 8

prefer to enjoy the variety, to make the most of what each artist has to give, and to marvel at how unique and different each artist's achievement can be.

The value of art is in its diversity and within the diversity. In fact, there is so much availability of art through various media and the internet, and there is so much good art within all that diversity, that it is practically futile to single out one or a few as the best. Concentrating too much on one or two really limits one's ability to experience as much as possible. Having said that, I do, like many others I'm sure, have my favourites, and, if anything, that list is growing in number of artists as well as in varieties of style.

In the twentieth century, Picasso might be considered the most noteworthy and successful of artists (inevitably someone does reach the top of the heap in one way or another). That's not to say that he was the best artist - still a rather futile assessment. He also was the one artist that most could say they either liked or did not like his work. Or, they might have liked some of his work but didn't like the person or the persona. His oftentimes negative relationships with women put off many people. That he embodied artistic genius, however, is rarely disputed, like him or not.

In this century, the German artist Gerhardt Richter is perhaps the closest to Picasso's achievement in diversity of style (realism, pop, social realism, geometric abstraction, photography, expressive photo-realism, expressive abstraction), overall output, longevity, and influence in Europe and abroad. He took America's New York School abstraction and its contemporary unique artists like Warhol,

Rosenquist, Rauschenberg, and Johns and created a European (and ultimately universal) answer to and dialog with groundbreaking U.S. art.

How we move forward in this wired and wireless age is exciting to contemplate.

Advertising Rates

All money earned from advertising goes towards our Outreach Initiative. To advertise in the newsletter or send out an email, the advertising rates for art-related events are:

Full page R260 Half page R160 Third page R130

Quarter page R110 Sixth page R 85 Eighth page R 70

Email rates Business or non-members advertising service or goods for profit. R200 Members advertising service or goods for profit. R150

We are an affiliate member of the

South African National Association for the Visual Arts (SANAVA)

www.sanava.co.za

Page 8 of 8