By Tanya Steele
Local art students have had the chance to see their hard work exhibited at the Sherbrooke Art Gallery, celebrating with an official opening on 25 January.
Oil and Watercolour students from 2024 were invited to submit work for the exhibition which was opened at the gallery last week.
Sherbrooke Art Society member Walburga Menk said at the opening comments that the work being exhibited was of a very high standard.
“Sherbrooke Art Society is very fortunate to have such good teachers and the results speak for themselves,” she said.
The exhibited students were those who attended classes with Phillip Wills who teaches oils and It Hao Pheh who teaches watercolours.
At the opening teacher Phillip Wills gave the audience some background as to how the Society first started 60 years ago.
“He also acknowledged the importance of the Society’s home about to turn 100,” said Ms Menk.
“Both the society and the building have survived because of the dedication of members who donate their time to the running of the gallery, and also importantly the upkeep of the building,: she said.
The gallery had the main gallery floor restumped last year and will require more serious work on the roof in the near future.
Mr Wills also spoke about the work his students have submitted and said the more advanced students were given the task of painting works by the old masters including Caravaggio, Frederick Mccubbin, Rembrandt as well as new masters such as Richard Schmidt.
The exhibition includes four copies of Caravaggio’s ‘Basket of Fruit’, one copy of ‘Young Sick Bacchus’ and four copies of McCubbin’s ‘Lost 1907’, all expertly painted by students.
Oils student Mr Azzopardi said Phillip Wills, their teacher structured the classes to facilitate drawing out the artist within each of them and give students the confidence to express it.
“Phillip has been extremely patient and meticulous about teaching us techniques used by the old masters such as learning the beautiful art of glazing in the painting ‘Basket of Fruit’ by Michelangelo Caravaggio or using impasto mediums and texture techniques in ‘Lost’ by Fredrick McCubbin,” he said.
“These are skillsets that will remain with us for good and provide us with a wider scope of application in paintings yet to come.”
Mr Azzopardi said classes have been highly rewarding on both personal and artistic levels.
“We have learned that the power of observation of the subject matter is equally as important as the painting itself,” he said.
“We have been trained to look objectively before we put paint to canvas and this has in itself urged an inner developmental process of the true self.”
The student exhibit will run until February 23 at the Sherbrooke Art Gallery at 62 Monbulk Rd, Belgrave and is open Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday from 11am – 3pm.
