ROI Annual Exhibtion Gets of to a Sparkling Start

The private view at the Mall Galleries was a full house with invited guests coming from far and wide to see what many people are saying is the best ROI exhibition in years. It was opened by the former Cabinet Minister The Rt Hon Michael Portillo who is a Patron of the ROI and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Federation of British  Artists which administers the Mall Galleries.

It's now open to the public until Sunday December 18. Here are some pictures from the opening.

David Curtis ROI chats to friends

Brian Ryder AROI and his posse

Tim Benson AROI and his massive head

Current ROI President Peter Wileman and past President Dennis Syrett

Provisional ROI member Adebanji Alade shares his sketchbook

ROI Vice President Ian Cryer

ROI President Peter Wileman, his wife Jo and guest

Adebanji Alade and his picture which was the second one to sell on the day.

Adebani with the lucky buyer of his painting

The red dot is applied. Sold!

Roger Dellor ROI and his prize-winning work

The wonderful June Mendoza ROI and her portrait of Ken Howard RA painting her portrait. Look in the background and you can see June painting Ken, painting June......

Lewis McNaught from the Mall Galleries chats to Michael Portillo

Perennial  favourite Trevor Chamberlain ROI with some of his work

Peter Wileman in full flow

More pictures tomorrow including the award winners

Annual Exhibition Promises Something For Everyone

The year's annual  ROI exhibition  at London's Mall Galleries opens to the public  on Weds December 7 and runs until Sunday 18th December.  The Mall Galleries are easy to get to and are just a short walk from Trafalgar Square. ROI President Peter Wileman  commented: "This year we have something for everyone from landscapes to portraits. It's a fantastic collection of work by our members and those non-members who got through our rigorous selection process. This exhibition makes the ideal, colourful antidote to all the doom and gloom about at the moment and I hope more people than ever will find time to come along and see the hundreds of painting on display."

Here is a small selection of the pictures on display this year. Double click on the images to enlarge them.

Read Tim Benson On The Making of An Oil Portrait

Tim Benson, AROI has a splendid article in the current ediution of The Artist Magazine December edition on the making of an oil portrait in which he shares his thoughts on modern portraiture and his dynamic big brush technique.

You can read more about this on The Artrist Magazine web site: The Artist Magazine

Lucy McKie In The December Edition Of Artists And Illustrators Magazine

Lucy McKie ROI is featured in the Christmas edition of the Artist and Illustrator magazine - out now. The article includes Lucy's techniques, influences and approach to her paintings. She also discusses details on her choice of colour, brushes and preferred canvas. It's a great read so why not go out and but a copy!

Find out more about Lucy and her work  on her excellent web site: http://www.portraitpainteruk.com/

Tim Benson Taking Part In Open Studio Event

Tim Benson AROI will be showing His work as part of the 'Open Studios' weekend at The Chocolate Factory in Wood Green, North London from 11/11/2011-13/11/2011. Please click on the link for details. http://www.collage-arts.org/open-studios/ If you would like to find out more about his work please visit his  website at  http://timbenson.co.uk/

Tim says: "Come along and see some paintings"

Mel, oil on canvas 40" x 40".

Selection Day For ROI Annual Exhibition 2011

The selection day for the annual ROI Exhibition at London's Mall Galleries was held on Monday Oct 31 and here Vice President Ian Cryer gives this fascinating insight into the selection process:

Work for our annual Exhibition was selected on Monday 31^st October and just under 700 non member works were considered for the show which opens at the Mall Galleries on 7^th December . Well done to those artists that were successful as competition for the available wall space was tight. Some excellent work was presented by non members and young artists taking part in the Windsor and Newton Awards.

It has to be said that some poorly presented work was also submitted and i would urge aspiring artists to think carefully as to how they frame their work and how their work hangs together as a group and the message this sends to us on selection. Our selection committee represents literally hundreds of years of painting experience from some of this country’s  finest oil painters and we take this aspect of our duties very seriously and we do give serious consideration to the work offered.

We have all suffered at the hands of selection committees and it’s easy to take rejection personally but i would always advise artists to take an honest look at their work and consider if they really feel they sent their best work and whether it was presented as sympathetically as it could have been.

Selection at the ROI is a democratic process and good work can just fall short of the required number of votes. In which case a D is chalked on the reverse which means it is looked at again at the end of selection.   A “D or Doubtful” painting may latter be accepted or again fail to muster enough votes. At this point the available wall space also becomes a factor in deciding how many paintings we can accept.

ROI Selection Committee with Vice Pesident Ian Cryer front row right.

 I know from my own experience that from the outside selection can seem such a mystery and i hope these comments are of value to non members wishing to exhibit successfully at the ROI.

Ian Cryer VPROI

The ROI Annual Exhibition at The Mall Galleries, London runs from 7-18 December

New One Man Exhibition For ROI President Peter Wileman

Peter's latest exhibiton is at the splendid Walker Galleries in Harrogate Yorkshire and runs from November 5 -11. As it opens on Guy Fawkes night I'm sure we are in for some fireworks!

Here are some of Peter's pictures from the exhibition.

Peter's new book is selling fast and availble at only £10.69 on Amazon. Click on this link.

Painting Light in Oil by Peter Wileman an Malcolm Allsop