Our AGM is to be held in the Gospel hall on Tuesday 9 May at 7.00pm. This year for a variety of reasons we have a number of positions to be filled, so please start thinking now if you are able to take up one of these committee vacancies. Ngaire, Quilliam, Lyn, Bob and Viv are all relinquishing their roles this year so we will need people for President, Secretary, and general committee members who take on roles such as Membership Secretary, Exhibition co-ordinator, Exhibition equipment administrator, Newsletter coordinator, etc. Our speaker this year is Peter Allen, long term Waimakariri Councillor and former Principal of Rangiora High School. To date we have seven nominations. If you feel you could work on the committee please let us know. Our constitution provides for nine committee members.

“The Waimakariri – Our Land” The Exhibition runs from Sunday 7 May to Monday 5 June.
As only a limited number of works can be shown this exhibition has to be pre-selected. Members will need to have their work ready by Tuesday. 25 April and, as it is Anzac Day, bring it to the Gospel Hall in the afternoon between 2.00 and 3.30pm please.
All works exhibited need to be of a high standard, ready to hang, and identified on the back. If you are exhibiting on canvas then your work must be dry.
Please fill in the form at the end of the March/April newsletter and return to the committee so that we have an indication of how many paintings to expect. Artist’s names and titles of works are also required by the Gallery for printing purposes etc, so this is an important form.

Welcome to our 2017 Painting Year. A number of folk are so keen to get back that I have booked the Gospel Hall for us to start early this year. We begin next week, Tuesday 17 January 2017, at the Gospel Hall 9.30am to 3.00pm. You will notice that I’ve said 9.30 to 3.00. This is because rather than run two different sessions the committee has decided that instead of set two distinct time limits we’re going to let people’s time preferences merge one into the other. This means that if you’re a morning person but want to stay on longer you are most welcome to do so, and just because some folk are packing up to leave by noon you don’t have to do so if you want to keep on painting, while the folk who like to come in the afternoon can come in later in the morning, see friends and what others are doing and keep going until 3pm. We are hoping this will work out better for all. Over our trial three months last year it always seemed such a pity that there was a great hiatus over the lunch hour when virtually no one was painting. Let’s use all the time we have!

The Society is showing with  this event, which includes: stalls, a café and a silent auction at the school in addition to our exhibition is very popular with a large attendance, (many people come out from Christchurch) and should result in good foot traffic for our exhibition.

Peter Smith, manager of our sponsor Gordon Harris, judged the works and was extremely impressed with the variety and standard of work.

Our major winners this year were;

The Russell Andrew Cup for “best painting in the show” was awarded to Lynette Rate for painting No M145 “Bronzed” (inset)

The Gordon Harris Award was awarded to Carol Moffatt for “Spring on the 15th Tee”

Karin Werner was voted Peoples Choice winner for “Railroad Crossing”

Merit Awards:
Water Colour “Lunch, Amsterdam” by Quilliam Collister and “Waikuku Lagoon Sunset” by Karin Werner
Acrylic/Oil “Café Culture” by Chris Heaphy and “Galina Kim Tutorial” by Viv Knowles
Pastel/Pencil “Birds”  by Jan Campbell and “Birds” by Lyn Peckover
Mixed Media “Umbra” by Susan Roxborough and “Abstract”  by June Mounter

Organisation for this year’s exhibition is nearing completion and the committee anticipates that the show will be one of the best ever. Artists from the society have been working all year in an effort to show their best work to the public.

The art is exhibited in three sections; the main section generally shows framed works and block canvases by members, while a workshop/tutorial section presents images created during the course of our tutorials and those created to fit our weekly themes. These works are mostly matted and it is often possible to purchase an exciting work at a really great price. The third section presents smaller works, which are ready to hang in the home.

Members work in a variety of media including acrylic, water colour, oil, pastel, pencil, ink and collage.

We are excited to have Corina Hazlett as our guest artist this year. She is an experienced artist with a strong interest in facilitating collaborative work created to raise funds for important causes. At our exhibition we will be running a ‘silent auction’ of a stunning butterfly hanging created by children working with Corina. Proceeds of this auction will go to the NZ Meningitis Foundation Aotearoa in memory of Courtenay Rushton who passed away after contracting meningitis.

In Corina’s words here is Courtenay’s story and the story of how the butterfly hanging was created.

In memory of Courtenay Rushton who passed away from contracting Meningitis.

  Courtenay Shavaughan Rushton died in Christchurch Hospital on Friday 3 January 2014 after being admitted with suspected meningococcal disease on December 30. Courtney was only 16 when she tragically died from a case of meningtis. She died within a week of feeling ill while on holiday with her family in Twizel over the New Year.

 I invited young artists to color in a butterfly and attach it to my butterfly tree in return they received a “every second counts” wristband in support of meningitis awareness.  The net falls from a small hoop that hangs from the ceiling. I could also then talk about how symbolism becomes important in some aspects of art. The journey of change that the life cycle presents, the beautiful butterfly is a symbol of Courtenay’s spirit.

The exhibition runs from Friday 2 until Sunday 4 September and is open from 10am until 4pm at the Rangiora Bowling Club in Good Street. Admission is $2 for adults and children are free.

TUTORIALS: The next tutorials are on Tuesday 14 June and Saturday 18 June with Galina Kim. These are at the Gospel Hall and run from 10.00am until 3.00pm. She is doing Acrylics using the palette knife. There are just two places left on each of those days, so if you wish to attend and are holding off, you will need to contact Viv Knowles, phone 310 8335 a.s.a.p. The cost is $30 and there are no refunds. For the workshop you need a 30cm x 30cm (12”x12”) or similar canvas, your own acrylic paints, and a medium palette knife. Galina will supply the medium, which is included in the fee. You are also welcome to take along your own recent work if you would like to discuss it with her.

ART ON THE QUAY: If you haven’t as yet visited the Gallery at the Kaiapoi Library, now is your chance to do so and to view an exhibition by two of our own members – Carole Moffat and Ruby Whitty. The exhibition runs for the month of June and I’m sure will be really worth viewing. Carole’s main medium is water colour and Ruby’s is acrylic.

ART GALLERY DAY TRIP: A number of you have put your name down for our subsidisied bus trip. We have decided to visit the Ashburton Society of Arts annual exhibition on the 7th of July and if time allows the Darfield and Oxford galleries on our way home. The price will be $30 per person but we will need a minimum of 15 people for this to be viable. Quilliam will be organizing this trip so please comfirm your intention. Unless we have 15 people paid up by Tuesday June 28 we will not be able to go ahead. Money will only be refunded in the event of our cancelling the trip. Cheques made out to Rangiora Art Society or cash to Quilliam. Ph 3138465

Our AGM will be at 7pm on Tuesday 10 May at the Gospel Hall. All nominations need to be in writing before the meeting. At the end of this newsletter you will find the nomination form. As you can see the role of Treasurer is vacant. Tracy Parker has agreed to take on this very important position, but it needs to be ratified at our meeting. All our other members are willing to complete another term if that is your wish, but we will need one more committee member to make up our full complement. Your present committee is Ngaire Hunt, Lyn Peckover, Quilliam Collister, Bob Cusdin, Viv Knowles, Pip Dobson, and Sylvia Potter. Our Guest Speaker this year will be our Patron, Mark Lander, who is always a joy to listen to.

The group at Ashley Gorge

Carolyn Abernethy and Lynette Rate have been pioneering an outdoor painting group on the first Tuesday of the month. Last week several of us joined them for a great day up at Ashley Gorge and came home feeling well pleased with our day’s efforts. It was great just to be out there in nature, breathing in good doses of fresh air and committing to paper the scene before us on an immediate basis.
The next outdoor painting day is Tuesday 5 April. Why not join them at Amberley Beach? Give Carolyn (03 132 8524) or Lynette (03 424 4665) a phone call to check out meeting place etc, pack your lunch and your Art equipment and you’ll be amazed at what you can produce.