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Novus Studio was established in 1996 by two Fine Art graduates from the Kent Institute of Art and Design at Canterbury, Val Whittingham and Danny Green, initially to provide a jointly shared working space and mutual support in their artistic endeavours. Art classes for children were established by Val on Saturdays and these quickly became very popular, with a waiting list of eager young artists willing to demonstrate their skills!
Since May 2001 Novus Studio has relocated to pleasant rural surroundings at Manor Farm in Wateringbury, near Maidstone in Kent. With much larger premises we were able to expand and provide classes for adults during the week, as well as continuing with the Saturday children's classes, integrated with time for our own work. With Val tending to the abstract and conceptual and Danny more the figurative we now provide quality instruction, in all styles, in drawing, watercolour, oils, pastels and acrylics, in a relaxed informal atmosphere, in groups of 4 - 6 only, to maximise the personal attention each student gets.
The extra space at Manor Farm enabled us as a group to participate in the 2003 South East Open Studios, where in addition to our own work we were able to show the work of several of our students, demonstrating the considerable progress some of them had made in their short time with us. In July 2005, to demonstrate our growing confidence in the progress made and the increasingly high standard of work produced, the studio mounted its first group show at The Arts Centre, Sutton Valence, near Maidstone (part of Sutton Valence School). The show was a great success and elicited many favourable comments from visitors as well as sales and commissions for the exhibiting artists.
In 2006 we held the first of our "Painting in the Garden" workshop days, which are held in the lovely gardens of Manor Farm house,thanks to the generous support of the owners Mark and Elizabeth English, and was repeated again in 2007. We hope to be able to continue with these very popular days this year and perhaps increase their frequency. See the pictures here.
2007 also saw the first "corporate" workshop held as part of a leaving do on the theme "Wind in the willows", for the colleague of one of our students. A picture depicting the characters of this story was divided into 8 parts, one for each of the participants, who then had to paint their section on a 15cm square canvas. At the end the paintings were put together and framed and presented to the person leaving. A very enjoyable time was had by all, and we believe one person who hadn't painted since being at school went home and bought some paints and brushes to start painting, so inspired had he been! See the pictures here.
THE ARTISTS!
Danny Green paints primarily in oils but also works with pastel and watercolour. Much of his time is involved with commissioned portraits. Painting Page
Of particular interest to Danny in his work is the role of memory, especially those childhood memories that mould the people we become in later life. You can read more about the influences and meanings in Danny's work in his 'Artist's Statement' here.
Danny Green has a first class honours degree in Fine Art from the Kent Institute of Fine Art, Canterbury and also a BA in Art History from University College London. He has exhibited extensively in and around Kent and London, in both group and solo shows. He is represented on the web gallery Londonart.co.uk and at Liberty Gallery, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent.
Danny's CV
Val's photography divides itself into two main areas - portraiture and the world about us.
Whilst she has always had an interest in photographing others, Val's main concerns with portraiture evolved through time spent listening to bands playing at local bars, and addressing the transformation that these musicians underwent as soon as they began performing, and the interaction that went on with the audience.
These portraits sought to capture these elements in a single frame.
From these early works developed an interest in identifying and bringing out a persons character, both in the way people communicate with each other, either through a fleeting glance or longer gaze, and more especially the interaction with Val and the camera.
People's self perception is often different from how others see them, and Val's aim is to capture this mood in her portraits. She is currently working on a series of portraits of young teenage girls on the verge of womanhood showing how they are with their growing maturity gradually casting off the mantel of childhood.
In her other work Val seeks to combine an interest in travel and colour to produce striking images - images that are carefully composed or the result of sharply observed chance encounters.
Val has exhibited locally and holds a BA(Hons) Degree from the Kent Institute of Art and Design, at Canterbury. Photography Page
Val's CV
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Novus Studio, Manor Farm, Wateringbury, Kent ME18 5PP, UK