Wine Tasting at Magnum WineShop

Our first event of the year was held last Friday, it was a wine tasting at Magnum WineShop. The evening started with an Emiliana organic sparkling wine from Chile, followed by three white wines of increasing flavour.
Then came a bit of food in between wines which was really welcome; by 8pm  I was starting to feel hungry. Cornish Brie was served with bread after the white wines, then we tasted 3 red wines with Double Gloucester, Ardenne Pate and Taw Valley Cheddar between them, and the Harros 10 year Tawny Port from Portugal which was served with handmade coffee and walnut cake.

Brian Saunders kept up an informative dialogue about each of the wines, the area they came from and anything else he thought we might need to know about them.
It was a very enjoyable evening, here are a couple of photos of those who attended:

 We held a raffle and overall raised a magnificent £459 for the Friends' projects, thank you to all those who attended and helped make the evening such a fantastic success, and to all those at Magnum Wineshop for hosting so magnificently and helped us raise such a marvellous sum.
Here's the tasting menu:

Ceramics Lunchtime talk

Sophie Cummings gave a wonderful lunchtime talk on ceramics on Friday 8 February to  a group of about 22 people. It's lovely to see these talks so well attended because a lot of thought obviously goes into preparing the talks, and they are always very entertaining and informative.
Sophie started by giving us examples of different sorts of ceramics using these pots as illustrations of what she meant:

 She talked about the fact that pots can be made from coils, from putting your thumb into clay and making a pinch pot, there was an example of one of these pots which was so smooth and symmetrical that it was hard to believe it was a pinch pot. Pots can also be made on a wheel. A variety of different clays including earthenware, porcelain and stoneware, these are fired in a kiln after drying, and often glazed to give them colour.
Peter Burgess, the Head of Ceramics at the Swindon School of Art, advised Swindon Museum and Art Gallery on making additions to a fascinating studio ceramics collection which was begun in 1965.

 Here is a photo of Peter Burgess with one of his ceramic pieces.

It ends with ' His primary interest is the relationship of glaze with the form'.
Sophie also reminded us with this old photo of a potter taking things out a kiln that the practice of making ceramics has not changed over the years. Once a piece goes in the kiln, it's a bit of a hit and miss process and the results are not always what one might expect.

There was also a photo of a potter with a large pot. It's possible to see pots like these being made on a wheel at Whichford Pottery a fascinating experience.

Sophie then talked about the ceramics on display in the cabinets and in the gallery. I'll include a couple of photos of the audience:

 And who knew when people were able to put milk in tea after the tea had gone into the cup? It was when porcelain was used to make cups because it could stand a hotter temperature than the stoneware ones.

 And remind you that the next free lunchtime talk is at 12.30pm on Friday 8 March on 'This Woman's Work' exhibition

Lunchtime talks at SM&AG

Many of you will know that curator, Sophie Cummings. gives free lunchtime talks on certain  Fridays. These highly informative, informal talks are well worth attending. They start at 12.30pm and last for half an hour, no booking is required, just turn up on the day.
A list of the lunchtime talks, along with Friends' evening talks appears on the Swindon Museum and Art Gallery website, please look at that for more details, in the meantime, here's a quick synopsis of the talks:
Friday 18 January Gifted! a talk on the new exhibition
Friday 8 February a Ceramics talk
Friday 8 March talk on This Women's Work exhibition
29 March talk Artist and Model exhibition
5 April talk on David Bent's 'Out of the Box' exhibition
I'm highlighting the fact there's a talk this Friday 18 January on the new Gifted! exhibition.

Gifted! - new exhibition in the main gallery

Or to give it the full title: Gifted! How gifts and donation have shaped the Swindon Collection of Modern British Art, I've copied what they say on their website about the exhibition:
Gifted! explores the gifts, bequests and donations that have helped establish Swindon’s collection as one of the most important collections of modern British art outside London. From early benefactor Jimmy Bomford and Frederick Phelps, to the longstanding support of the Contemporary Art Society and Art Fund, the exhibition explores how gifts have shaped the collection and provided Swindon with some remarkable and challenging works of art.
The exhibition includes paintings by LS Lowry, Graham Sutherland and Alfred Wallis, along with more recent work by Nicola Tyson, Eileen Cooper and Allen Jones.
As well as exploring the legacy of major gifts and benefactors, the exhibition also shines a light on some lesser known contributions from the Campaign to Protect Rural England and Soroptimist International.
The exhibition is fantastic, some of my favourite paintings are on display. It's well worth having a look at the exhibition which runs until 16 March. I've picked out a few  examples of work in the exhibition and taken a few general overviews of the gallery.

 I'm starting with George Downs, 'Landscape' because it looks so fantastic after it's conservation which the Friends supported, the odd angle is an error in my photography.

 Another painting the Friends helped conserve, and which is consequently now sparkly bright is Jack Smith's 'Night Sky' which looks fabulous.
I know from time spent on the front desk, that people who come to visit Swindon Museum and Art Gallery love to see the really famous artists' work we have, so I know they will be flocking to see the two LS Lowry paintings which are hung together:

'Winter in Pendelbury' which was one of the original Bomford gift paintings, on the left and 'A Procession' on the right which was bequeathed by Anthony Carlisle through the Art Fund in 1993.

 Here are some general views of walls to whet your appetite, I want you to come and see the exhibition, so this post is intended as a taster

 It's looking great isn't it? Three of my favourites below. How does Ronald Ossory Dunlop produce such memorable portraits?

 Isn't it wonderful to see Mary Fedden's 'Spanish Chair' on display again?

 And on display for the first time in the gallery, 'Regent Circus' painted in 1945 by Harold Dearden and purchased with the help of the Friends.

A reminder that the Art and Conflict exhibition is on until Saturday 19 January

Fabulous signage for Gifted! exhibition

I'm sure we've all admired the signage applied to walls giving information about the exhibition on show. It makes a well hung exhibition look fabulous, and that's true of the present 'Gifted!' exhibition. I imagined curator, Sophie Cummings, on a ladder trying hard to not get wrinkles in the signage as she applied it to the wall. But no, it is a really professional job, and is best carried out by experts. I was fortunate on Tuesday that my visit coincided with the signs being stuck to the wall in what appeared to be a multi stage process. I didn't like to follow them too closely in case anything went wrong, so discretely took a few photos:

 The first stage involved measuring where the title of the exhibition should go, and asking the other person doing this whether it looked right

 Having decided on the position, some covering paper had to be removed

 and here it is almost off

 and then completely off, and the letters then had to be rollered onto the wall to make sure they were sticking properly.

 Only after the job was done did I ask if it ever went wrong, and yes it does sometimes and the signs have to be made again.

Talks and Trips for 2019

Happy New Year to everyone. May 2019 be a year of fantastic art engagement for us all.
Flyers illustrating the talks and trips for 2019 are available at Swindon Museum and Art Gallery, on their website, and they also appear on our website. Buying tickets for talks in advance is recommended to avoid disappointment; they can be bought from our website, and from reception during museum opening hours: 11.00am-4.30pm Tuesday - Saturday.
Our first event of 2019 is a Wine Tasting at Magnum wine shop

followed by a talk by Conservation Architect Michael Gray:

Followed by Ken White in conversation with Andy Binks, this will be a rerun of the talk at Christ Church on 8 June 2018. If you missed that fabulous event, don't miss out this time.

and then we have a trip to the Victoria Art Gallery, meeting at 3.30pm, we will be shown the stores by their Friends followed by a tour of the galleries and an optional meal out in Bath before returning home.

Later on we're having a talk by sculptor David Lomax, entitled Threads in a Web

and then in May, David Bent will be talking about the wide ranging influences that have inspired his work:

Our June talk by Emile de Bruijn on acquiring works for the National Trust

At the beginning of July, we have organised a trip to the Dulwich Picture Gallery to see Cutting Edge, an exhibition of work by the Grosvenor School:

There will be a talk in July, but it is yet to be announced.

Wine and Cheese Evening

Our December Friends' event was a fundraising wine and cheese evening. The evening was based on a similar event a year ago hosted by Old Town Business Association and organised by Friends of Twigs. I talked to those involved in organising it last year, and was offered the loan of small plates and wooden circular cheese boards from Olive Tree Cafe. Wine was supplied by Magnum Wine Shop in Wood Street, and there were some fabulous raffle prizes donated, including a hamper from Da Paolo's Delicatessen, mounted prints from David Bent, a linocut from Ken White, 100 Views of Swindon book from Tim Carroll, there were 2 bottles of wine, a miniature oil painting and a clock on offer as well. You can see below some of the prizes:

 and Ken White's linocut

 having set out the cheese, pate, plates, grapes, celery, bread, tomatoes, biscuits and wine Kathy and Martin take a breather before anyone else arrives

 Another view of the tables

and Rosemary checking everything is alright

 I had mentioned there would be speakers during the evening, somehow thinking I'd be able to persuade some of the artists taking part in the Collective Open Art Exhibition to talk. This needed more thought, and was not going to happen. Fortunately for everyone present, Erik Burnett-Godfree was able to save the evening by talking about what an interesting painting Lisa Milroy's 'Small Objects' is when scrutinised.

 I took a photo of the assembled crowd listening to Erik, and afterwards took a photo of David Ash with his photograph of an old boat.

What a brilliant evening, thank you to all those who came along. We raised over £600 which was great.