demonstrations

Monthly meetings are held on the first Wednesday of the month, except January, at which visiting, well-known artists give demonstrations. Members and visitors are welcome to these demonstrations, for a small entry fee of $5 members, $7 non-members. They are held at Castle Glen Community Centre, 157 Ridgecrop Drive, Castle Hill (at the rear of the carpark at Knightsbridge shopping centre).

2022 Demonstrations - Wednesday 7.30pm
2 February
Christopher Vidal "Blue Mountains Landscape in Oils" 
Christopher Vidal, a Sydney artist who loves to paint the landscape as well as other subjects in oils and acrylics.  His style of painting is contemporary realism influenced by classical painters and by recent impressionists.
At age 13 he studied classical drawing in Malta, then pursued a career as a medical scientist and researcher, eventually moving to Australia permanently and then becoming a professional artist.  He produces a continuous stream of new works and commissioned paintings, and his works are found in private and corporate collections in Australia and Internationally.
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2 March
Yolanda Seach "My Journey to Abstraction" 
Yolanda will give some background on how abstract art started, showing examples and describing her journey from realism to abstraction. There have been many influences along the way and through experimenting and having a go she is amazed at how much it has helped her more traditional painting. 
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6 April
John Rice "What is Plein Air painting about" or "Secrets of Plein Air painting" 
John is an energetic outdoor painter who works almost exclusively in oils and is stimulated by the strong light of the Australian landscape.  His work stems from direct observation during “en plein air” painting trips throughout the Blue Mountains, the Hawkesbury and the Central West of NSW.  Recent painting trips have been to Sardinia, Bordeaux, Tuscany and Central Australia.
John has won many awards for his artworks and has held fifteen very successful solo exhibitions and numerous joint exhibitions.
4 May
Mariana Ariza "Watercolour Seascape" 
The ocean and the coast is a beautiful and dynamic subject. It provides us with wonderful colours and interesting shapes.  Watercolours are a wonderful medium that, like the ocean waves, have an innate spontaneity. By trying to find that balance between looseness and control, a seascape might be born!
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1 June
Florence Ilacqua "Loose and Spontaneous Watercolour" 
Florence is a Sydney based artist, who works in a varied range of wet and dry media - watercolour, pastel, acrylic, pen and ink, charcoal and oil, often incorporating them in a  variety of subjects. Of the above, her favourite is watercolour and ink, which allows the freedom of expression and spontaneous energy to work without limitation.
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2 July - Saturday 2:00pm
Kevin McKay "Urban Landscapes in Oils" 
Kevin McKay is an urban landscape painter who works en plein air and in the studio.  His work depicts eerily empty streetscapes, where the stillness of classical form and the drama of light is found in the everyday. He will demonstrate the initial stages of sketching in a composition and blocking in with oil paint and show how formal abstract considerations forms the basis for good realism.
2021 Demonstrations - Wednesday 7.30pm
3 February
Cecilia Mok "Surface Designs"
Cecilia’s oil paintings, both land and sea scapes, are fresh and impressionistic, however it is her “surface designs” that we will be asking Celia to demonstrate as these beautiful designs, which are reminiscent of Japanese papers, are something completely different to what we are normally exposed to. 
Cecilia works as an artist and surface designer in Sydney and also teaches at a children’s art studio. She is drawn to themes of wonder, storytelling and the beauty of the natural world. Her surface designs are explorations of rich colour palettes, movement and flow, and decorative illustration. 
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3 March
​Andrew Antoniou "Imagination"
Andrew Antoniou – Andrew works across several mediums. Whether he is drawing in charcoal, painting in oils or print making from his etching he creates works that are densely populated with figures in fantastical settings telling stories from imagination. He has won many awards and his works are in the collections of The Australian National Gallery, The Art Gallery of New South Wales, many other Australian galleries as well as international collections.
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7 April
Richard Chao "Wonderful People - Watercolour"
Richard Chao is a world-renowned watercolourist living in Sydney, Australia. Taking a contemporary perspective, he depicts his interpretation on the human world in his realistic paintings. Richard tries out the possibilities of watercolour as a medium with huge size paintings. His models are people from every corners of the world with diverse and unique customs and cultures, as well as religions, which amaze him.
In recent times he has been the winner or finalist in over 40 prizes and his art works have been exhibited in 5 continents.  His paintings are collected by museums, galleries and private collectors. Richard travels around the world to international art exhibitions and art festivals.
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5 May
Julianne Ross Allcorn "Watercolour and Mixed Media on Board"
Julianne Ross Allcorn has been a practicing artist and art teacher for over 20 years, painting in watercolour and mixed media on board. She has been a finalist and winner in numerous awards and has had solo exhibitions throughout Sydney and participated in a number of group exhibitions.
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2 June
Mellissa Read-Divine "Colour in the Australian Landscape" Acrylics
Mellissa will give an insight into how she makes her acrylic paintings sing with colour, using a large brush and a vivid palette to portray the landscape.
Mellissa’s paintings celebrate the shape, colour and brushstroke of contemporary impressionism. With an electric palette and layered application of brush strokes.  She is a Fellow and tutor at the Royal Art Society, has been painting and printmaking for over 20 years, and is the recipient of many prizes and awards.
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The evening demonstration will be replaced by an afternoon demonstration for November.
6 November - Saturday 2.00pm
Joe Cartwright - Watercolour Artist 
Join us for an afternoon demonstration as Australian artist, Joe Cartwright, shares his wonderful watercolour skills.  Watercolours are Joe’s passion and he believes that when done well, they are hard to beat as they have a spontaneous quality which speaks of confidence and skill.  His subjects include portraits, seascapes, landscapes, flowers, wildlife and townscapes.
1 December
Desiree Martin "Intuitive Florals" 
In this demonstration Desiree will look at painting intuitively, working with favourite floral subjects in a new and fresh way.  Using acrylic on canvas, watch the steps to work with your paint and utilise the shapes, lines, colours and patterns that present themselves as your artwork develops.
Desiree continues to learn new techniques to keep her art fresh and contemporary and is passionate about sharing all she has learnt.
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