Last month’s painting demonstration at Kennaway House for the Sidmouth Society of Artists featured high-flying local artist Lynda Kettle, who is a past chairman and former treasurer of the Society.

Her earlier successful career as a BBC Television set designer lends weight to the strong sense of composition in her work.

She began by taking the trouble to demonstrate the importance of the rule of thirds whereby the focus or focal point of a composition should lie a third in and a third up or down, on the paper. Her chosen medium, chalk pastels, she affirmed, is best applied to a paper with ‘tooth’, a rough surface, so that some chalk is left on its indentations and the abrasiveness of the paper itself helps to remove the chalk from the pastel stick.

'One I made earlier'

Lynda began by presenting a partially prepared paper already covered blue for the sky and taupe and grey for the ground with colours already dry and fixed by her aerosol hairspray. Then like a veritable woodpecker she dotted on various autumnal colours to represent leaves and darker shades for the trees and branches, a technique known as pointillism.

'A sure thing'

Lynda is such an assured artist that there was never any doubt that, inexorably, she would achieve her objectives and the emergence of a woodland pathway through dense foliage was something of a formality when it materialised. She has a very strong sense of colour and this, combined with a determination to obtain strong contrast between her bright foliage and the dark recesses around the base of the trees, made her picture ‘sing’, as we like to say.

'Frame and match'

She also took time out to show the importance of choosing the most suitable frame, something that can make or break a painting, she stressed. Pastel, by its very nature, is powdery and so her final act was to fix the pastel surface with her trusty hairspray.

Lynda is an experienced demonstrator when she ventures out from her studio in Libra Court, her presentation lively and informative and the well-attended ‘class’ were generous with their applause.

Festival of Art

The highlight of the year for many members is our Annual Exhibition, the Festival of Art held at Kennaway House and occupying all three rooms. Artist members are invited to submit up to four of their paintings for sale and for the enjoyment of visitors. The exhibition lasts for two weeks this year with the grand opening on Friday 30 June then through until Thursday 13 July.

Climate Change

An exciting new venture within the auspices of the Society is the introduction of outdoor sketching sessions organised for those yet small groups of members who have the necessary fortitude. The first of these took place at Connaught Gardens where, despite the threat of rain, the doughty souls present braved the cold. Fingerless gloves, being their saviour, attracted envious glances. There are plans for similar sessions at Sidmouth seafront around the area of the Ham and at Budleigh Salterton at the Eastern end of the seafront. Participating members are invited to bring their pencils, pastels, watercolours, and whatever with several layers of clothing, a hot water bottle, a thermos of chicken broth, half a bottle of brandy and a defibrillator. Of course, if it should be fine, well then, a sun hat, factor 50, sunglasses and a bottle of pop. Lastly, if you would like to learn more about the SSA or get involved in art, then please visit our website www.sidmouthsocietyofartists.com