Weald of Kent Art Society

WOKAS Autumn Exhibition  8-13 November 2021
Featuring the inaugural NFU Mutual Art Prize 
See art from exhibition online now

This year's Weald of Kent Art Society Autumn Exhibition - the first physical exhibition post-lockdown - ran from 8 to 13 November 2021. It was held for the first time in St Mildred's Church, a centrally located venue in Tenterden. A great number of visitors to the exhibition commented on the beautiful exhibition space and the high standard of work on display.

A highlight of this year's exhibition was the announcement of the winner of the inaugural NFU Mutual Art Prize - awarded for a single piece of art on show. WOKAS Chairman Clive Dand said the Society is delighted to have NFU Mutual's support for the creative arts: “It has been a difficult time for all artists during lockdown, trying to find inspiration while being confined, and this Art Prize is just the boost we all need.”  

The WOKAS Chairman's Prize in 2021 went to Leelee Kock for her collagraph piece of 'Pears and Plum'.

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Visitors to the exhibition also voted for their favourite piece of art and these are the results of the public vote:

1. 'A Quiet Place' by Tony Langham

2. 'Attitude' by Nicola Colbran

3. 'Crash Landing' by Graham Lock

4. 'Sheep Station' by John Hamilton

The artist with the most votes overall was Giuseppe Bertoli, followed by Nicola Colbran.

Demo with Hashim Akib

Magic with acrylics

Before a full house, Hashim Akib worked his magic with acrylics. His interpretation of a tea-time scene in a hotel started with some well considered downward strokes with a wide brush on a dark blue canvas. Gradually the picture emerged and suddenly a point was reached where the seemingly random dabs with all sides of the brush had created tables, faces and flowers in the wider setting of a heigh ceilinged room. Hashim's commentary - not only on painting matters - was most interesting. He says: "There is no right way - right is what feels right for me."  He feels it is important to be unpredictable and make a conclusive mark.

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Workshop: Life Drawing

Masterclass with Clive Dand

Clive Dand who led the workshop said “14 WOKAS members worked very hard for four hours and produced some excellent work”.  Clive considers life drawing one of the most important exercises in training the eye and giving you confidence to decide on composition and tone. It is intense and exhausting, always a struggle, but also rewards the artist with a feeling of accomplishment. This is very much how those WOKAS members felt for whom it was a new experience to draw a model in quick successive poses.

Altogether thirty-two artists were featured in the exhibition with over 150 works of art on show. 

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See the online gallery of works exhibited here.

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Click to browse the exhibition catalogue here.

WOKAS member Rowena McWilliams' illustrated talk provided insight into her working methods and included practical advice on framing, submitting to exhibitions and marketing your work. Rowena also demonstrated how she came to take painting a step further by animating elements of her paintings. During November her work is on show at ArtSpring Gallery, Tonbridge. www.rowenas.art