THE RECENT art exhibition in Cliffe Castle Museum included 84 paintings by the Keighley and Bingley clubs.

I feel that both Bingley Art Society and Keighley Art Club should be congratulated for supporting their towns by including their artworks in a freely-accessible museum without any payment or award. Their generosity is appreciated.

Half of the pictures on display were of portraits or animals and the remainder were cafe scenes, St Ives in Bingley, trees, landscapes, and more.

Sadly for us, it could be two years before the next exhibition.

The painting titled Mum’s Flowers was represented on the invitation card printed at the time of the last exhibition.

Keighley Art Club member Tracy Holmes had painted a present of roses given to her mother when visiting her in Germany.

Tracy has gone on to reproduce the image, on greeting cards, each of which is different, rather than mass-produced.

The picture has attracted a wide variety of comments and it takes courage to volunteer to add images on publicity material, as it does to publicly display your work.

A comment in the Big Issue North magazine in October last year from award-winning artist Antony Gormley, who is Yorkshire-born, is that his paintings are suggestive and he doesn’t want to tell people what they are looking at. He wants people to find the meaning.

He also says that the viewer can dream in the same space that you were dreaming in. Profound thoughts.

He works daily in a studio and used to believe he made his own works. Now his philosophy is that the work is in charge.

On the other hand, our members paint on a part-time basis and mostly hope to pictorially capture images which attract us.

Antony’s works are spontaneous and fast-flowing. He releases viewers from determinisms of appearance that are an accident. We tend to paint as we see, and more in a traditional way.

There are no actual rules in art. You are free to experiment, as you see fit.

It is said that taking part in arts crafts can help keep your brain healthy. Sewing, painting, doodling, drawing, making ceramics, and other artistic pursuits, can help reduce your risk of mild cognitive impairment.

Other social pastimes such as cinema visits, book clubs, flower arranging and so on may also help. Different sides of the brain are used for these kind of hobbies, than are used for day-to-day living.

A tip from TV’s Art Challenge is that there is no right way to begin. The judges confirmed that all artists reacted differently to the subject matter. They added that drawing and painting is a ‘bug’ or addiction, but also fulfilling.

Many people seem to use the black paint and the white paint, which are too stark, unless a monochrome.

Individual style and use of techniques too numerous for this column are as important as perspective or accuracy in creating art.

Keighley Art Club meets on Wednesdays from 6.45pm to 8.45pm in Keighley Healthy Living, 13, Scott Street, Keighley. See Facebook for more information.

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