GLAS Exhibition Profile
Saturday 7th August - Friday 20th August 2010
Title: Pictures
Artist: Josephine Atkin
Josephine has lived in Newport and the Newport area for 43years. Originally a journalist, she taught English at Caerleon Comprehensive School for 20 years prior to retirement. Always interested in art, she began painting seriously in the early 1990s, joining the Newport Art Society which met at that time every Tuesday evening at the Dolman Theatre.
Early pictures were often of the canal paths around Newport and local scenes, but later she and her husband walked the South West coastal path and were inspired by the pretty villages in Devon and Cornwall, and seascapes.
In 2002 they decided to walk the Camino de Santiago in Northen Spain, beginning in St Jean Pied de Porte in the Pyrenees and ending in Galicia, a distance of 500 miles. It took 32 days, and most day they found time to produce water-colour sketch of their travels. These sketches were often used to form the basis of larger oil paintings on returning home.
The whole experience proved so inspiring that they have done something similar every year since: in 2009, for instance, they walked from Seville to Santiago, over 600miles. A typical day would involve an early start, a 15mile walk, a search for accommendation, and then time spent sketching. Apart from the spiritual element of the pilgrimage which undoubtedly affects everyone who undertakes the walks they have benefited by improving their sketching ability, and providing considerable entertainment for the other pilgrims, local people and tourists.
No comments:
Post a Comment