Your SGA Urgently Needs You
Keeping your club running and to organise events into the future requires a full committee, and we need fresh blood, enthusiastic people with new ideas to take us into 2027.
To find more about this exciting opportunity click on “News“ and Uncategorised.
Welcome to the Somerton Group of Artists.
Are you interested in art? Why not join us!
Here you will find a very friendly local artists group from Somerton and the surrounding areas, Somerset, UK. We welcome all new members who are interested in art. You don’t even have to be a painter yourself to get involved – you may just want to meet other people with the same interests. We are well established and have around 60 members of all ages and abilities.
We hold a year round programme of talks and demonstrations by professional artists with occasional day-long workshops. We have ‘painting together’ sessions and outside painting and sketching sessions in the summer. These are usually held with somewhere for lunch or tea nearby! In the winter, some members also meet weekly to paint together every Tuesday morning from 10am. to 12pm.
We hold an annual exhibition of our work, and all members are invited to participate.
If you are interested, or have any questions, please contact us for a chat or just turn up to one of our events or sessions. You will be made very welcome!
Life Drawing November 25
Many moans and groans as we began our Life- Session on Saturday, it seems I was not the only one out of practice!
As the morning progressed we began to find our way, and eventually a thoroughly enjoyable time was had by all. Sandra was a lovely model, very relaxed and not phased by our audible drawing struggles! Many thanks to Jackie and Judy for supporting us, and for all of Jackie’s encouragement. Many resolutions were made to keep up the drawing practice, and we are all looking forward to the next session! This is a popular event which is well supported, but it does need organisation. Is this something you would like to help with? Please do get in touch with the committee if you can. info@somertonartists.co.uk.
Virginia Mason; “From Special Effects to Fine Art”
An Intriguing title for Virginia’s talk and slide show at our meeting in November, which described her successful varied, (and continuing ) artistic career in the Arts, of which she is justifiably proud.
Leaving home in the East of England for a fine art degree in Bristol she could not have foreseen where her creativity would take her.
Virginia took us through her early years and influences, and showed us the development of her art. Based upon a love of drawing it took her into “wall sculptures” 3D pictures in wood , which helped gain her first employment as an architectural model-maker for a local council. It was her woodworking and construction skills which then took her, to” Lyon’s Special Effects Company,” where work included building life size shire horses and 60’ sperm whale! Later at ‘Asylum Models & Effects Ltd’ in London, she made everything from model chocolate bars ,to nuts, and puppets. Here she also gained a reputation for amazingly lifelike bee’s ,snails ,and frog models, used in stop frame animation. She was working in what must have been an intense atmosphere of long hours and constant deadlines, so although Virginia returned to work after the birth of her first baby, it was back in Bristol, and here we were all amazed to learn she joined the team at “Aardman Animations” working with world renowned director Peter Lord. On one project (director Nick Park )she headed up a team of 6 to create and build the Mrs Tweedy character (and others)in “Chicken Run!” We all remembered the Creature Comforts series which was another (smaller scale )Aardman project for ITV.
A move to Wyke Champflower near Bruton began a new period in her life, returning to her early love of sculpture taking commissions, and painting and drawing just for herself, until the need for a regular income led to a temporary job as “sculpture specialist “teaching at Millfield School. This was a turning point as she eventually became a full time art teacher at the school facing her biggest challenge yet.
The curriculum required knowledge of a huge range of art forms, media and skills, many of which she had to learn, but uses now to inform her own creative practice.We saw examples of embroidery, textiles ,stitch and paint abstraction experiments, as well as printing, frottage, and art inspired by pill blister packs!
Today Virginia confronts her own history through her art, with work which has personal meaning, abstract experimentation ,and personal figurative work. To see more;
https://www.virginiamasonart.com/
instagram; vcm333 .