Early in my life as an aspiring artist I felt that perhaps my work was not very good and this lack of confidence led me to joining an ‘A’ level art group in Eastleigh in order to learn to paint “properly”.
I struggled at the beginning as I didn’t seem to be on the same wavelength as the tutor. This very quickly changed when the group was assigned a new tutor by the name of John Bowman. What a revelation this turned out to be.
For example, on one occasion homework consisted of watching black and white films with the sound muted so that we could just look at the images. This was powerful stuff.
In the early weeks in class, painting and drawing could only be done in black and white. This included a visit to Ocean Village where we had to look up at the inside of the roof to see all of the exposed pipework feeding services to the shopping area (this was 1989) and do small drawings in pencil.
On returning to class we had to enlarge these drawings and produce them in charcoal. This exercise taught us about the importance of tones in a picture.
Art comes from within
This was the start of a period of great encouragement that gave me the confidence to be free and to understand that art comes from within.
If I painted fingers that looked like sausages, that was okay – I just did my own thing.
Within a few months I had my own solo exhibition at the Tower Arts Centre in Winchester, all thanks to being set free by an understanding fellow artist and tutor.
To see more of my paintings, please visit my Facebook page: Ann Burry.
Interview: Chandler’s Ford Artist Ann Burry At Modies Place
Ann,
Thank you for sharing with us your unusual journey in art. So incredible! It’s so inspiring to see how a good teacher can transform life. John Bowman ‘set you free’ to be yourself as an artist. No one will forget a good teacher who changes our lives. Thank you for sharing your paintings, your hidden talents and your world with us. I look forward to more stories from you.
What a great story Ann! It really helps to have a tutor who understands how to nurture your own creative expression, and clearly your second tutor was a very encouraging individual. Great to see you’re doing so well with your art; keep up the good work!
Hello Karly,
Thank you so much for your nice comments, yes the tutor for a long time after I left the class he used to crit my work for me. He was a really great tutor.
Regards Ann