Viv Rand’s write-up for SSA’s Feb Demo featuring Ray Balkwill.

‘On a very wet February afternoon, Sidmouth Society of Artists welcomed Ray Balkwill to appraise members’ artworks. Ray is a well- known West Country artist whose watercolours, pastels and oils are much sought after.

He initially reminisced over his long association with the Society, going back almost 30 years both as a member and an appraiser. A strong advocate of painting ‘En Plein Air’ Ray’s main objective is to capture the mood and ‘spirit’ of a place.

To reinforce these ideas, he introduced the appraisals by identifying the key elements to look for in a picture, especially the requirement to ‘love’ the subject; without which success can be difficult to achieve.

The SSA has its own popular ‘En Plein Air’ group who meet monthly. For more information please visit http://www.sidmouthsocietyofartists.com or email: sidmouthsocietyofartists@yahoo.co.uk

He then referred back to these criteria as members shared a range of artwork. The meeting was well attended with more than a dozen pictures brought for appraisal. There was a variety of subject matter and a range of materials used.

The discussions Ray held with the individual artists as each piece was considered was lively, analytical, and well-received.

His professional advice was extremely useful to all the members as indicators to help when reflecting on their own work.

Ray also spoke of his own work and a current exhibition at Green Hill Arts in Morton Hampstead’.