00:00So we're here at Walsall Art Gallery and here we find Steve. Hello sir. This is a
00:06piece of your work next to you isn't it Steve? It is, this is a piece I did last year,
00:11about this time last year actually, I was doing a demonstration at the art gallery.
00:16I wasn't sure exactly what I was going to draw or paint on the day so I decided to
00:21go outside and look back at the gallery from a couple of
00:25different perspectives and then create the image of those perspectives all in
00:29the same space. Fantastic, so the exhibition here, it's Walsall, what's the name, Walsall...
00:34It's the Walsall Society of Artists. And it's the 70... It's our 74th annual
00:40exhibition and it's our 75th year of being in existence. Awesome, how long
00:45have you been into art yourself and painting for Steve? I've always had a love of art, only really started doing my own
00:50take on cubism towards the end of 2019, so it's a relatively recent
00:57thing really. And generally, is that the style of your work then? Yeah, it's quite abstract.
01:01I sort of create a simple sketch ordinarily and then start throwing some
01:05lines through it to create some movement and then I start manipulating those
01:09lines and then that creates an illusion of depth, pushing some into the
01:13background and bringing other bits into the foreground. Awesome, and you've
01:17actually been doing some live work as well here today haven't you, so people can
01:20kind of catch you and see how it comes together. What is it that you get from
01:25being part of the the art group then Steve? I guess there's a social side to it,
01:29there's a learning side I guess? From my own personal point of view, it's that social element, getting to meet like-minded people, we have lots of
01:40demonstrations and the like, so you pick up new hints and tips from other
01:46artists generally. I'm soon, apparently soon to become the chairman. There we go,
01:53in a month or so isn't it? Absolutely, and the main ethos of the society is not
02:01only be for our members, which are the core of the society and really important
02:06to us, we want to be community-facing as well.
02:09Yeah. Warsaw, it's got a history of being a creative town. Well, the standard of the
02:15works, you know, it just shows that there's a lot of talent out there isn't there?
02:19Absolutely, absolutely, and we want to nurture that and harness that and show it off basically. Yeah, totally. How long's the exhibition up on here for Steve?
02:27We're here until the 3rd of February I believe it is. Yeah, so people can call in. Plenty of time for people to come along and have a look.
02:36Do you kind of meet up as a group then? Do you have kind of a base where you get together?
02:40We do, we get together on the second Thursday of each month at St Martin's Church in Warsaw, just off the Sutton Road.
02:48Yeah. And we get together every second Thursday of the month. We get together about seven o'clock on the
02:53evening, have a bit of a catch-up and then we generally have a demonstration which starts at
02:587.30 through till 9.30. Fantastic, and people can actually, public can actually come and vote for
03:05their favourite piece can't they? They can, they can. Is there anyone taking the lead at the minute?
03:10I don't know. I've not looked at the voting slips. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, there's a few contenders I would
03:17imagine. Yeah, yeah. Any particular favourites? Obviously yours is great Steve, that's a given.
03:22Any particular favourites yourself here? If I had to pick, if I had to say not yours, pick another one
03:27for me. Anyone that's caught your eye? I'm automatically drawn to there's one by Elizabeth Whitehouse.
03:32Go on, let's go and have a look. Elizabeth Whitehouse. Yeah, it kind of reminds me of the day when I used to have hair.
03:39I miss those days Steve. And I used to have hair like that as well. Oh did you?
03:44I think it's an amazing piece of artwork. It is cool isn't it? Yeah. I mean you know Mohegan's the part
03:51anyway, but there's a lot of character going on there isn't there? You can, you know, it's one of
03:55them pictures you look at the expression on the faces and you can almost hear him as well as,
04:00do you know what I mean? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, fantastic. I've been thinking about growing a
04:04Mohegan myself, it wouldn't be any good. Perhaps we can learn, we can glue one on.
04:09It was a couple of years ago but not anymore. Yeah, you've got an upside down one.
04:14Yeah, well thanks ever so much Steve. Exhibition looks awesome, so well done
04:19to all involved and get yourselves down here guys and check it out.
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