JJ Fox winner’s talk was a treat

By James Varley

Allan Paton, proprietor of The Old Barn in Alderney, and Jersey painter Jason Butler, right. (0609627)

ALDERNEY’S art fraternity was treated to a special talk from top Jersey painter Jason Butler.

The Old Barn, off Longis Road, was the venue for Mr Butler’s Progress of a Painter show, which detailed his career from 1993 onwards.

The figurative and conceptual painter spoke of his feelings and thoughts before and after he finishes a piece of work.

‘When I start some of my paintings I have no idea how they’re going to finish off,’ he said. ‘Sometimes I make a mistake and keep that mistake in because I end up liking it.’

He added: ‘I can be quite critical of things I do because I always want to do better. But sometimes I look back at what I’ve done and think it’s all right.

‘It’s funny sometimes when you look back on your work and realise something you thought wasn’t very good is actually OK.’

Twice a winner of the prestigious JJ Fox Open Art Competition, Mr Butler was commissioned by Jersey States to commemorate the Queen’s visit to the island in 2001.

He said: ‘It wasn’t something I’d usually do and was difficult because I had to get everybody in it.

‘I had to make sure every States member and dignitary was there, no matter how small they appeared.

‘It was quite a limiting piece of work in many ways but extremely worthwhile. It’s hanging in the States Chambers now and I’m very proud of that.’

After his talk, Mr Butler said his aim is to make art as accessible as possible.

‘Hopefully this talk will get people involved and encourage them to have a go.’

Allan Paton, proprietor of The Old Barn, described Mr Butler’s visit as a ‘privilege’.

‘It’s not every day we get an artist of his calibre visiting the island.

He spoke a lot about his influences over the years and I think we’ll see his work influencing others in the near future.’

Top organist John Gibson will perform at a charity concert next month in aid of St Anne’s Church.

Mr Gibson, the principal organist of Wembury Parish Church in Devon, will perform in the church, known as the cathedral of the Channel Islands, on Thursday 14 August at 8pm.

His programme will feature pieces by Bach, Purcell, Haydn, Thalben-Ball and Lefebure-Wely.

Mr Gibson, who took up playing the organ in the mid-1980s under the tutelage of distinguished Bach scholar Peter Hurford, works as a consultant neurologist in Plymouth.