What a thoroughly inspirational afternoon Mike Skidmore gave with his Zoom talk to Sidmouth Society of Artists (SSA) and Exmouth Art Group at the beginning of this month.

Mike took us on his journey from when he started painting with oils through to this present day.

He went to Art college in the 70s, where he found himself at odds with most of his peers as he was into realism rather than impressionism.

He then gave up painting for 15 years but then started again from scratch.

His philosophy is that there is no right or wrong way to paint, only the artist’s way matters.

He believes knowledge is pointless unless it is shared; techniques are practical rather than creative vehicles and there are no such things as rules, only suggestions.

With his example of still life, 'a glass topped with fruit', he took us through his use of layers, glazes and mediums, advising us always to focus on the positive aspects of a picture rather than the negative.

All the time he demonstrated with slides relevant to the talk.

This was an excellent zoom and enjoyed by everyone and Mike has agreed to come and give a live workshop later in the year!

The Sketchbook Doodlers Month finished at the end of January, another interesting exercise when the daily prompts definitely stretched our imaginations to the limits

The first live demonstration this year for the SSA went very well.

Roger Mark's report is as follows:

"The January painting demonstration at Kennaway House featured North Devon artist Hester Berry. Hester is the product of a university education, qualifying with an MA in Fine Art. She now teaches, and is a working artist who exhibits nationwide.

Fittingly, her chosen subject was North Devon’s Braunton Burrows, where nature has shaped the largest sand dunes in the UK.

Despite the lack of any natural focal point of interest in this demanding subject, she managed to fashion a powerful representation of what is an unusually wild and restless landscape.

Building her layers of oil step by step with brush and palette knife, she captured the scene’s harsh ruggedness under a contrastingly placid clear blue sky.

The large gathering witnessed Hester go to enormous lengths to mix the precise colours she desired in order to create a three-dimensional effect and stay true to the original image on her smartphone."

What else will we think up for this year, watch this space.

If any of these reported activities interest you, please contact the websites of Sidmouth Society of Artists or the Exmouth Art Group.