In today’s lecture we learned about the importance of print. It was interesting to discover that the first print created was The Bible and the first publisher in Europe was Johannes Gutenberg. It is important to learn about print as it is the reason we are literate and has allowed us to communicate effectively.

We analysed the popular painting ‘Windows in the West’ created by Avril Paton in 1993. The painting shows a tenement building with snow surrounding it which was influenced by the west of Glasgow. Using Rod Taylor’s (1992) process, form, content and mood model we can discover what the meaning of the painting is.

Process- Due to the size of the painting, it was impossible to paint standing up at the beginning. Initially, the artist had to paint on the floor which was very difficult and uncomfortable. It took 6 months to complete. The artist had left the snow to paint at the end but found that she could not imagine what snow looked like as she was now painting in the summer. She used Norwegian architecture books to aid her in remembering snow which was successful and she finished the painting soon after.

Form- The painting has been arranged in such a way that the building is in the centre. Although this is the case, the startling white snow surrounding the building draws my attention immediately. The contrast of the brown stony building and the white snow makes the snow important as well as the building itself.

Content- The artist observed this building directly every day. She lived in a flat opposite the building but lived in the basement therefore did not have a good view. She never thought about painting the building in a different view until one winter’s day when the snow sitting on the ledges so beautifully inspired her to do so.

Mood- The painting gives me a feeling of reminiscence. The snow in the painting reminds me of winter which is my favourite time of year and reminds me of exciting times, such as Christmas and New Year.

I believe Rod Taylor’s model is a fantastic way to teach within the classroom in the future. Sometimes articulation in the arts can be difficult therefore it can allow children to express what their painting entails through prompting from the particular questions of the process, form, content and mood model.

This particular painting has potential for influencing or using as a stimulus for drama and literacy teaching. A potential literacy teaching would be to examine each flat separately and create a story for each apartment. A potential drama teaching could be to use the painting as a stimulus and link to the literacy teaching, therefore acting out each story. Another idea would be to learn about the west of Glasgow’s culture and how they speak to create a scene possibly using the ‘Glaswegian’ accent.

In the Art workshop we were mark making and learning about colour theory. This particular workshop took me back to childhood and it was endearing to create these marks again as an adult. We took a section of the ‘Windows in the West’ painting and marked polystyrene with pens.

We used paint and rollers to cover the polystyrene in paint and then stuck to a coloured piece of paper. It was interesting to see the bright contrasting colours, such as blue and orange.

I believe that this particular task would be fantastic to teach in the class. Not only is it fun for children, but it can also be linked to a task in literacy.

Our second workshop was drama which I was very excited about. I have participated in drama in the past and was looking forward to applying it in a teaching context. As a teacher, drama can be scary because it can be less structured that other subjects, therefore it is hard to determine if the lesson will be successful. I think that it is important to teach drama in primary school because I believe it can improve children’s confidence and also teachers’ confidence in their teaching. It also pulls the teacher away from teaching in a monotonous way.

We looked at different conventions of drama, such as improvisation, thought tunnel, freeze frame, teacher in role and hot seating. These different conventions were very helpful to learn because it shows that drama isn’t always about reading from a script. We looked at the story of a dragon using these different conventions to explain how the villagers and dragon acted and felt. It was difficult to ‘pretend’ in the beginning because it is not something I am used to doing very often as an adult. As the lesson progressed, I felt that my confidence improved and I really enjoyed the experience.

In conclusion, I believe that today has given me a lot of new knowledge that I can take to the classroom in the future. I have also learned in the arts that monotonous teaching should be the minimum rather than ‘the norm’. Teachers should have confidence to teach without the use of a power point which can be seen as a ‘protective blanket’. Today has also been helpful in linking subjects together, such as literacy and art.

References:

Paton, A. (1993) Windows in the West. [Watercolour on paper 48” x 60”]. Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow. Available: https://avrilpaton.co.uk/prints/windows-in-the-west [Accessed: 05 October 2017].

Taylor, R. (1992) Visual arts in education. London: The Falmer Press.

[Accessed: 05 October 2017]