Look what came out of the kiln

What an exiting day !

Last Thursday we loaded the kiln and started the firing. When firing, we have lots of little dials we need to turn to decide the maximum temperature, how fast it will go up in temperature and how long it will stay at the maximum before going down. The actual firing with a fully loaded kiln took about 7 hours. The cooling down took 2-3 times the amount of time.

This Thursday we unloaded the kiln - and look at the results:

Tracy has made 2 penguins. This is the second one. It broke it's wing so it had to be repaired before firing (which by the way was a success)

This is Ella's version of "a man and a woman" - it turned out really well

This is Ella's tortoise. The plan is to cover it in mosaics - but we will get back to that later.

Anne makes lovely abstract sculptures

And here you have more of Anne's abstract sculptures

Celina has been working on a series of 3 abstract penguins.

It is so satisfying to see that the firing worked well and that nothing got broken. Before this stage a lot of work goes in to making the different pieces.

So what's in line for the next firing ? - Well Christie has a lot of sculptures that have been left to dry. This is the most recent one:

A man and a woman by Christie

And John has been working on his "ménage à trois". A youngster who came visiting asked - "what is it" ? - together the artist and the youngster decided on slugs. Personally I go for a mix between a slug and an anenome. Decide for yourself:

John's slugs

So what is the next stage ? - That is the glazing/enamelling. We will come back to this at a later date.

If you would like to join us - pop along on a Thursday afternoon to visit.

Aquarelle Tuesday, 2 - 4.30pm with Marina

Our group of Aquarellistas has been working very hard the past weeks, for a couple of highlights in the near future! The first one being our next exhibition, from Monday 3 - Monday 10 June in Casablù in Valbonne (more about that in following posts!)

Despite all that hard work, there was also time last week to finish the excellent paintings which were started under the excellent guidance of Cathie! First of all - the rusty keys, by Cathie, Sandra and Sue

 

Secondly - the artsist's palette - still lives of painters' Tools, brushes in our case! The paintings below created by Christiane and Liz

 

 Then there were the village-views, by Sue and Wendy

And last but not least, the flowers. By Agnès, Constanza and Sandra. To be continued in coming posts, because I will give an introduction on the 'ins and outs' of rose-painting to the starters tomorrow!

Portrait drawing - Monday morning 10 - 12 with Marina

 

After 5 well-visited Portrait theory sessions on the Thursday mornings, we now moved on to drawing sessions with a live model. These sessions are meant to bring into practice everything we have learned - which is difficult, but also very rewarding! These sessions are also open for others by the way, so if you feel like coming in and give model drawing a try, you are most welcome to join!

 

The pictures below are some of the results from last week (some photo's didn't work out I'm sorry!), when we had journalist and writer Carolyn Reynier from Nice as a model. All portraits are different (a portrait has two people in it, the person and the painter!) yet all (included the ones not printed here) are a good impressions of Carolyn in all personal styles...

 

 

 



Aquarelle Tuesday 14 May 2013 with Cathie van der Stel

...working in serene concentration during Watercolour Tuesday...

You can almost hear Adèle in the background ☺

 

Last week's Aquarelle session was hosted by Cathie van der Stel - and as always she has done a great job bringing out everyones talent and enthusiasm - just look at the results of the day! Lots of work in progress, lots of work for our Casablu exhibition, roses, rusty keys and last but not least, the inspiring Subject Du Jour  'the artist palette' (paint the tools that artists use in watercolours... )

 

Liz' Artist palette - using a Trevanian style for the background

 

Christiane's work in progress...

 

Above and below Anna-Karin's subtle flowers  

Agnès' Bubble Boy

The roses in the Hangar are starting to bloom - more inspiration there! Edith and Sandra painted them, both absolutely stunning!

Edith's passionate rose

 

Sandra's three stages of (a rose's) life

Also by Sandra: 'Rusty Keys'

More Rusty Keys: by Sue

Sue is an amazing dog painter! Consistent quality - love this pup!

 

Wendy started with a challenge, this painting of the famous Church of Valbonne.

Work in progress - a great start and I can't wait to see the final aquarelle!!



Pre-Announcement Watercolour Exhibition!

 

From 3 – 10 June, the Aquarellistas of Centre des Arts ‘Le Hangar’  will show their fabulous, colourful paintings in Casablu in Valbonne.
The exhibition has an attractive concept:
All paintings have the same size and the same price.
For only 50€ you can be the owner of a beautifully framed (20x20cm) painting - by a very
talented artist.
Open from 10am - 6pm, don't hesitate to drop by...

More info about several parties, to be held during the exhibition, will follow shortly!

Yet another productive Friday at the Atelier Libre

It's incredible how fast time flies when the weather is good. There is so much to do in the garden - and most of us have friends visiting. Still, some of us find time to go up to the Hangar for the Friday Atelier Libre.

Christie is trying out a new mix for outdoor sculptures. Here you see a little man in progress - he will now stay outdoors in the wind and rain to see how he stands up.

Is this a slug, a sea urchin or a sea anenome ? Time will show.

Anne at work

Tatiana and a model of her dog

Celina worked on her large abstract

Last week John made the metal framework for his bird in flight. This week the sculpture is beginning to take shape.

And of course we enjoyed a lovely outdoor summer lunch.

If you would like to come along to an atelier libre, you are more than welcome. Send an email to info@hangarart.org to let us know that you are coming.

A very productive Friday

As you all know, Fridays have for the time being set a side for anyone who wants to work on their own. For only Eur 5 - you can work all day at the Hangar on any project you like. Those of us there today worked on a variety of projects. Just to mention some of the work: Celina finished one of here totem pole elements. John is going to try out a new product for making outdoor sculptures and was working on the wire frames. Christie was finishing off one of her sculptures.

Today was also the day when the grass was trimmed (thanks John) - so now there is absolutely no reason not to park on the upper parking space.

And lastly - and most important - today we fired our new kiln for the first time. It was really exciting. Christie, John and Celina loaded the kiln during the sculpture class on Thursday. Today we had help from Maurice (one of our members very experienced in working kilns) and did our first firing.