ON Friday 7th September 2018, Exeter based artist Rod Ashman attended the meeting of OVAS to give us a demonstration of his mixed media work, mostly in landscapes. He told us that he doesn’t have a definite idea in mind of the outcome, although he does work en plein air and often finishes work back in his studio. He mainly paints in acrylic because he works in layers and it is a fast drying media. He likes to capture the mood and atmosphere of a place rather than the topography, working with a big idea, taking risks and allowing the painting to develop as it goes along, producing his own experience of the landscape.

Rod works with big brushes in a physical and positive way, which prevents him from too much fiddling! He uses a limited palette of colours , starting with a big wash on heavy watercolour paper to block in the scene. Once dry he defines the composition with charcoal , then comes the exciting part of tearing the painting and the deconstructing the image , then rearranging or reconstructing it in a different way, using pins and glue to hold it in place. Then more paint, inks or pastels can be used , or more paper overlaid on the surface to finish the work.

Members of OVAS and Sidbury Art group attended the workshop on Saturday 8th to try out the inspiring and different techniques of Rod’s. Although it was challenging for many of us and out of our comfort zone , we all thoroughly enjoyed the day and felt that we had learned a lot from his teaching that we could take forward into our own painting practice.

Penny Lamb