This week we were delighted to welcome back Musselburgh Art Club for our annual joint meeting. One of the art club members had brought along a photographic print of an Alpine mountain landscape, which Joe Fowler was happy to critique. Joe went on to show a selection of prints created by club members. There were some beautiful landscape images taken from around the world and some portraits of interesting people. Joe explained how he would often make a picture from several components placed on top of each other using layers in Photoshop. Sometimes you would capture a great portrait of someone against the wrong background, and he would replace this background to improve the composition. Joe also showed a few of the club’s abstract prints, which showed how photographers can be creative and turn almost anything (even spoons and wrapping paper) into an interesting image.

The art club showed us a selection of their paintings. There were some lovely portraits, still life and landscape paintings. Some of the landscapes in those paintings were familiar to camera club members, having been painted from photographs taken from popular viewing points. Light, colour and composition are just as important in a painting as in a photograph. There were some paintings that made a bold statement by using a restricted pallet of colours. At one point, what looked from a distance like a painting of a mountain scene turned out to have been created from hundreds of shreds of torn paper. There was a discussion about how paintings are mounted. Oil paintings tend to be displayed unmounted unless they need to be displayed behind glass, in which case a mount helps to separate the painting from the glass. Other paintings can be displayed with a complementary mount board.

During the break we had time to chat over tea and cakes and look more closely at the works presented. Thank you to the art club for entertaining us once again, and to our caretaker for helping us at the end.

• Doug Bernt tells me that the 159th Edinburgh International Exhibition of Photography is open for entry and will be accepting prints until 5th June 2023. He says: “Fees are reduced this year – 10% discount for coordinated entries of 10 people or more. Entrants are admitted free (normally £5) to the exhibition and can pick up a copy of the printed catalogue. As you are close, entries could also be dropped off with me or at EPS to save sending them in. The RPS Visual Art Group Members Exhibition and the RPS Scotland Members Exhibition will also be on display with the International.“
  See the exhibition web site for more details: https://www.edinburghphotosalon.com/
• Member Derek Muller will be riding on 21st of May 2023 to raise funds and awareness for prostate cancer in the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride. Click the following link if you would like to sponsor him: https://www.gentlemansride.com/rider/DerekMuller448548
• Next week we have our digital knock out competition on the theme of “Black & White”. Please bring along 3 JPEG images on that theme. We will show the images and vote for our favourites on the night.

See you on Thursday.