The Olympic theme for the Watford Live! Richard Harrington challenge cup art competition has been expanded to: Beautiful Britain – postcard pictures for the Olympics 2012.

The Richard Harrington Challenge Cup

The “Olympic” theme announced in the Autumn/Winter issue of the WAAF magazine still stands, but feedback from local artists suggests the choice is too limiting for most.

So we decided to embrace the theme in a way that will hopefully meet with a more enthusiastic response from artists, who can now enter work of favourite topics from anywhere in the country in the quest for adding their name to the coveted Art Deco vase currently held by last year’s winner, Bob Wallace.

Entries should be submitted on Tuesday, 29th May between 10.00 am. and 1.00 pm. at Watford Museum.

We will invite members of the public to vote for their winning choice of entries by filling out a form and leaving it in a “ballot” box. The voting slips will be collated and the winning entries will be announced at Walkabout on The Parade at 7.30 pm. on Thursday, 29th June. The Chairman of WAAF will present the Challenge Cup and cash prizes on behalf of Richard Harrington MP to the winners at the event.

The show will again be staged at Watford Museum foyer, who jointly host this Watford Live! event with Watford Area Arts Forum.

Entry details will appear in the Spring/Summer issue of the magazine with forms and rules posted on the website.

For just four nights, Micklefield Hall will become the scene of a roaring 1920s party, a gathering of old and new friends, a celebration of spring and a toast to the coming summer. A group of six friends weave their sides of the story around the house, splitting the audience and drawing them into an immersive world of chiffon and champagne.

Devised by dynamic new theatre company SPECIFIQ, this world-premiere production invites audience members to follow characters as they move freely and separately through the rooms of Micklefield Hall. Director Oscar Blustin, who recently completed a piece in a similar format for the UNESCO World Heritage Site in Durham, explains where this idea came from, and exactly how it will work:

“I often watch an actor walk off a stage and can’t help wondering what they do next – with Whisky Dusk I wanted to give people the chance to find out. The characters begin and end the play in the same place, but in between they move in and out of each other’s company and all around the building, so audience members can follow whichever characters they are interested in.”

“Some will find themselves watching a romantic scene upstairs by a crackling fire, while others may hear a quiet confession in a gloomy cellar. There are at least six possible paths through the performance.”

SPECIFIQ specialises in a form of theatrical archaeology, digging up stories from the past and dramatising them in the places where they originally happened. Although much of Whisky Dusk is fictional, the play draws on some unique historical facts about Micklefield Hall, like the late eighteenth century adjustments that Sir John Soane made to certain parts of the house. Blustin has wanted to perform here for a while:

“The idea for Whisky Dusk came to me a couple of years ago, while I was a guest at a wedding at Micklefield Hall. The house is perfect for site-specific, promenade theatre – it has a fascinating history and interesting mix of architectural styles.”

Whisky Dusk offers audiences the chance to explore a beautiful grade II listed building through an innovative theatrical experience.

Tickets include a complimentary glass of wine or soft drink, and are priced at £20, or £35 for two. Concessions (Students, Under 18s and Over 60s) are £17. Book online at www.specifiq.co.uk, call 020 8123 7474, or email info@specifiq.co.uk for more information.

Denise Butler, David Latham & Toulla Hadjigeorgiou

Three members of Watford Area Arts Forum, David Latham, Toulla Hadjigeorgiou and Denise Butler, have combined to present a spectacular exhibition at the Upper Gallery in the Harlequin Centre. It opened on Saturday, 28th April.

Each year, they spice up the show with something new. This year each artist has produced two mini paintings that come complete with their own mini easels. They also invite visitors to “vote for your favourite picture”.

For details, click here to see the poster.

Painting the Stations of the Cross

By Jonathan Hutchins

I am in the process of completing the project which I began in 2007, a project that has become a major part of my working life as an artist the last five years. I have painted two different versions with the orthodox Fourteen ‘Stations’ in each. All my Stations of the Cross are 24×18 inches in size and Oil on Canvas. Presently the first version of these Stations is in the Church of All Saints’ Harrow Weald for the forty days of Lent. All Saints’ vicar, James Mercer is very interested in supporting the arts both in a spiritual and more secular way, and regularly host exhibitions and artistic events at his church.

In January 2007 I had my first meeting with Simon Pothem, my vicar. He proved a charismatic mentor. My first idea of perhaps a nativity scene was soon discarded in favour of something more ambitious we then quickly settled on making a Stations of the Cross.
The Stations of the Cross, Simon favoured, must not be an ‘off the peg’ version which could be bought from any ecclesiastical supplier, but a group of paintings which expressed my own individual take on the theme.

To explain further my paintings I must explain Stations of the Cross:

There are in both the Catholic and Anglican Churches two established ways of making the ‘Fourteen Stations of the Cross’. The oldest and most traditional relates directly to the Via Delarosa, the Way of the Suffering. This is said to be walking in the steps of Christ and with the actual stopping places or “Stations” followed, by Jesus, on the way to his place of execution. It is still possible to follow this route in Jerusalem, although the veracity of the actual route can and is questioned. In the Traditional Version, some of the Stations themselves have been queried; did Jesus fall three times, precisely and at according to the intervals between the other Stations? Did Christ meet his mother on his way to Golgotha? Was Veronica a real person? The problem is that the Gospels do not support (or contradict) the use of these Stations. So are “Stations” followed by the Via Delarosa, absolutely true?

The Traditional form

1. Jesus in condemned to death
2. Jesus is given His cross
3. Jesus falls the first time
4. Jesus meets His Mother
5. Simon of Cyrene carries the cross
6. Veronica wipes the face of Jesus
7. Jesus falls the second time
8. Jesus meets the daughters of Jerusalem
9. Jesus falls the third time
10. Jesus is stripped of His garments
11. Crucifixion: Jesus is nailed to the cross
12. Jesus dies on the cross
13. Jesus’ body is removed from the cross (Deposition or Lamentation)
14. Jesus is laid in the tomb and covered in incense

Because the problems of establishing the truth of the “Via Delarosa” from the Gospel accounts of Christ’s Passion, in modern times a new Fourteen Stations has emerged and been sanctioned for use by both the Anglican and the Catholic Churches. This is an alternative 14 Stations which are gaining in favour. They are held by some as more true to the Gospels. Although the Traditional form is equally and still perfectly acceptable by both the Anglican and Roman Catholic Church and indeed may be held by many as the only true form of the 14 Stations); this “Scriptural” alternative only includes what is in the Gospel narrative.

The First Version which I decided to attempt was this “Scriptural Version”.

The ‘Scriptural’ Stations of the Cross

1. Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane,
2. Jesus is betrayed by Judas and arrested,
3. Jesus is condemned by the Sanhedrin,
4. Jesus is denied by Peter,
5. Jesus is judged by Pilate,
6. Jesus is scourged and crowned with thorns,
7. Jesus takes up His cross,
8. Jesus is helped by Simon to carry His cross,
9. Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem,
10. Jesus is crucified,
11. Jesus promises His kingdom to the repentant thief,
12. Jesus entrusts Mary and John to each other,
13. Jesus dies on the cross,
14. Jesus is laid in the tomb.

Scriptural Version also Oil on Canvas and 24 X 18 inches. They were my first Station of the Cross.

Simon left in late 2007 and in the autumn 2008, we had, after an interregnum the current vicar Paul Hullyer came to St John’s, he liked the paintings, as paintings. However he regretted my choice of the scriptural version and so I decided initially to paint extra ‘stations’ to replace the non-traditional ones. I then decided to go the extra mile and produce two complete versions as I now saw merits in both approaches.

The first version was completed last year; the second Traditional version is very nearly complete. the first version was exhibited in the Chapel of Bishop Ramsey School, Ruislip, last year and is now currently in the All Saints Church, Harrow Weald for the six weeks of Lent. The second version will be shown next year in St. John’s Pinner, again for the 40 days of Lent.

Don has posted a selection of images framed by the Watford setting of the show on You Tube.

Take a seat, relax and enjoy the show with gentle background music. Click here to view.

Young artists put on a good face for the opening of Art Invasion.

Students from Watford Grammar School for Girls devoted their official winter break to stage a full-scale exhibition of paintings and photographs in the gallery, where young members of the art department have already made a mark with guest appearances at the Watford Area Arts Forum’s summer and autumn shows.

This time, head of arts, Georgie Wheeler had accepted an invitation for students to “do their own thing” under the auspices of the Arts Forum.

Head of Art, Georgie Wheeler proudly presents.

As well as overall impact, the show demanded attention and drew in the viewer by dramatic and innovative detail as well as skilfully executed often mould-breaking, individual ideas.

Some works of art translate superbly into print, but the first reaction to Ross Ashmore’s Going Underground, now showing at Watersmeet in Rickmansworth, is sheer joy at having made the effort to see the real thing after being beguiled by the (printed) object and the object of the exercise.

The Rickmansworth based artist has set himself the task of painting all London Underground stations! So far he has done Zone 1 (64 stations) and is nearly half way through Zone 2 (100 stations). In all there are 270.

“A bit more ambitious than I imagined,” admits Ross. But having said, he will do it, he is jolly well going to, he adds with a smile.

If he continues in the bold, atmospheric manner now on show in the Artistsmeet gallery at the civic centre, the result is likely to be as atmospheric and varied an impression of London and its Underground serviced surroundings as you will ever get.

The individual pictures are literally dripping with atmosphere and texture, from a colourful, crowded Arsenal on matchday to the almost rustic reflection of the approach to Parsons Green station.

Knightsbridge Station

The show continues until Friday, March 2.

The Olympic theme for the Watford Live! Richard Harrington challenge cup art competition has been expanded to: Beautiful Britain – postcard pictures for the Olympics 2012.

The Richard Harrington Challenge Cup

The “Olympic” theme announced in the Autumn/Winter issue of the WAAF magazine still stands, but feedback from local artists suggests the choice is too limiting for most.

So we decided to embrace the theme in a way that will hopefully meet with a more enthusiastic response from artists, who can now enter work of favourite topics from anywhere in the country in the quest for adding their name to the coveted Art Deco vase currently held by last year’s winner, Bob Wallace.

Entries should be submitted on Tuesday, 29th May between 10.00 am. and 1.00 pm. at Watford Museum.

We will invite members of the public to vote for their winning choice of entries by filling out a form and leaving it in a “ballot” box. The voting slips will be collated and the winning entries will be announced at Walkabout on The Parade at 7.30 pm. on Thursday, 29th June. The Chairman of WAAF will present the Challenge Cup and cash prizes on behalf of Richard Harrington MP to the winners at the event.

The show will again be staged at Watford Museum foyer, who jointly host this Watford Live! event with Watford Area Arts Forum.

Entry details will appear in the Spring/Summer issue of the magazine with forms and rules posted on the website.