In today’s art lesson, we began by making our own paintbrushes using the materials provided – such as wool, feathers, buttons and cotton wool. This was an activity I had never done before today because in school we were provided only with ordinary paintbrushes. I thoroughly enjoyed this activity and it was interesting to see the variety of creations made from the same set of materials. We discussed that when using a uniform tool such as a paintbrush children are likely to compare their artwork. However, when using a tool created ourselves the product is a result of our own creation and so are less likely to compare the art with others’ as they are all different.

After this we were then read a description of a picture and we each painted our interpretation of it. Today’s activities could relate to at least two of Eisner’s (2002) “10 lessons the arts teach”. One of which being that the arts can be interpreted from many angles and the second being that the arts are about accepting the unknowing.

I thoroughly enjoyed the visual art workshop, the class reassured me that one does not have to be ‘naturally gifted’ to create art. These activities could be easily replicated with a primary class and I think the pupils would enjoy it very much.

Below shows the process of creating my paintbrush and paining and my mixing tray at the end of the class.

 

In the music workshop, we were looking at finger notes. After a brief introduction of what finger notes are we were given glockenspiels and music and practised in small groups. I found the exercise enjoyable and easier than I had imagined it would be. I have very little experience in music so cannot read music, however, this experience enabled me to play an instrument correctly without having to read sheet music. Drake Music Scotland (2017) emphasise that you do not have to be able to read sheet music to play an instrument as with finger notes “if you can match, you can play!”.

 

This weeks inputs allowed me to value imagination in the teaching of the arts. Allowing pupils to use their imagination means their work will vary and they will be less likely to copy the work of others.

 

Reference List

Drakemusicscotland.org. (2017). Fingernotes – Drake Music Scotland. [online] Available at: https://drakemusicscotland.org/figurenotes/ [Accessed 29 September 2017].

Eisner, E. W. (2002) The Arts and the Creation of Mind. London: Yale University Press.