Sheepwash Chronicle Spring 2017

The Petrockstowe Art Group
(People from Sheepwash welcome!)
The Petrockstowe art group has been in existence for at least twenty years, with four tutors to date.
Netty Holwill was our tutor from 2013 to 2016. She was running her own art classes in and around Hatherleigh,
whilst also being a senior art tutor at Kelly College (now Mount Kelly). Unfortunately her hours at
Mount Kelly increased and she no longer had enough time to continue to tutor our group. We were worried
that the Art Group wouldn’t be able to continue.
It must have been destiny that one member of the art group bought a painting from an artist who lives in
Dolton. From the purchase of a painting, a look at her website and a subsequent meeting, we have been
extremely fortunate to have gained not only a very talented artist, but also a tutor of a very high standard
in Teresa Tanner.
Teresa is originally from Canterbury in Kent and trained as a Town Planner. She spent many years working
in design for a national sewing magazine before completing a degree in Fine Art in 2000 at the University
for Creative Arts, Canterbury.
Teresa’s university work was predominantly based on large format monochrome photography, producing
room-sized images requiring very long exposures. During this time, she spent six months as the Artist in
Residence at Kings Wood, Ashford, studying trees, which led to employment as a tutor with the British
Trust for Conservation Volunteers, organizing environmental-based art projects.
Since then she has worked teaching various age and ability groups from Primary to Adult Education, and
has delivered a variety of art-based projects working in collaboration with several national bodies including
the National Paper Products Company Ltd, The Royal Opera House, The National Association of Decorative
and Fine Arts Societies, and The Wildlife Trust.
Working in mixed media and watercolours over the last decade, she has exhibited in many exhibitions
throughout Kent, London, and the South East, including solo shows.
Teresa moved to Devon in 2014 and has re-established herself running local art classes as well as working
as a tutor for The Burton Art Gallery and The Plough.
Teresa says, “My aim is to open up art to everyone, no matter what their level of ability, and to introduce
a new dimension of enjoyment. Petrockstowe Art Group are a joy to teach. They are responsive and open
to give anything a go. The cake and coffee at break time is pretty good too!”
We now have twenty-one members, and six of these are from Sheepwash.
We welcome anyone and everyone, whether they are trying art for the first time or need to hone their
artistic skills. We meet on a Friday from 10.00 a.m. until 12.30 p.m., and the cost for coming along
is £6.25. We supply tea, coffee, biscuits, and cake, which are provided by the group members on a strictly
voluntary basis.
The classes are very varied – they include working in watercolours, acrylic, and pastels. Some weeks we
just do our own thing, and at other times Teresa sets us a project to work on - for example, painting a
Greek or Roman face or bust, Aboriginal art, Byzantine icons, cave style animal paintings, and mist, snow,
and mountain techniques.
So if you have an artistic itch that you need to scratch, come along on a Friday morning! If you’d like more
information from Sheepwashers, contact Jan Burden (231480) or Louise Francis (231845).
Alison Ansell
Advance Warning
Melvyn Elliot is planning an exhibition of framed pictures sometime in early summer – the date is still to
be arranged, so look out for details.
Funds raised will be donated to the Church Roof Fund.
14