By Engelbert Schmidl
EASEL, brushes and canvas at ready … Hobsons Bay residents have plenty of opportunity to express their artistic passions this weekend.
The Hobsons Bay Arts Society members’ winter exhibition opens Friday night and community art workshops are being held this Saturday and Sunday.
The assistant secretary of the Hobsons Bay Arts Society, Kirsten Craggs, said the two events gave residents a chance to appreciate and participate in artistic activities at a local level.
Artist Bill Kerr will run the Saturday morning portraiture workshop.
Art has been a lifelong pursuit for Mr Kerr, something he was fortunate enough to do for a living as a commercial artist with companies like Amcor, where he was the head office artist.
“It was a fantastic job,” he said.
He hoped the workshops would provide people with an insight to how the painting process worked and the impetus to have a go themselves.
When people draw, most don’t actually see what’s in front of them, they miss the subtle details in light and shadow, he said.
Mr Kerr, 70, said one of the reasons for the workshops was to attract younger people to join the Arts Society.
“Somebody has to take over from us old bastards, we need to grab some young ones,” he said.
A lot of people enjoyed painting when they were younger but often let it slide with work and family pressures, he said.
Mr Kerr, the society’s vice-president, has been with the group for eight years. It was established by Joan Craggs 36 years ago.
The Hobsons Bay City Council helped the society run the workshop with a community arts grant.
The exhibition opens at 7pm on Friday 6 July and everyone is welcome.
It ends on Sunday 22 July and is open daily from 10 until 4pm.
The Louis Joel Arts and Community Centre is at 5 Sargood St, Altona.
For inquiries about the weekend workshops, call Kirsten Craggs on 9360 7323.
