During the INSET afternoon on 7th May, I invited my colleagues in St. Margaret’s Academy to ‘Unlearn Art’. The invitation meant coming to the Art and Design department for the afternoon to spend what was to become real quality time, working together to produce artworks, with no preconceptions of what the outcomes were to be, not to worry about not being able to draw or paint and just simply enjoy being creative again, which for some meant not having lifted a paint brush since S2! What a wonderful afternoon. My creative colleagues were cross curricular, including staff from Science, Maths, English, French, TLC , and of course, Art and Continue reading Health and Well-being INSET 7th May, 2013 ‘Unlearn Art’
HWB INSET 6th May, 2014
Following on from the success of last year’s HWB INSET, staff requested if I would provide a similar CPD opportunity this session. I gladly agreed, eager to share in the same experience as last year. Staff were provided with a canvas, of various sizes, water-colours and acrylic paints then left to their own devises, to freely paint whatever was in their mind, heart, imagination or from a source as the case may be. Continue reading HWB INSET 6th May, 2014
Critical Reflection and Review
Critical Reflection and Review
In session 2013-14 I have been involved in a series of critical reflection, reviews and evaluation. These have included a whole school HMI, an Authority Thematic review with the focus on Literacy and Numeracy, two staff INSET Health and Well-being sessions, Learning Rounds and the annual PRD consultation with PTC Faculty. On a daily basis I work in an open-plan environment so adopt an ‘open-door’ policy, or is that a no door policy? Continue reading Critical Reflection and Review
Colours and Contours
Colours and Contours with Jenny Muncaster at Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh
On 26th March, 2014 I attended a fantastic Specilaist Crafts workshop called, ‘Colours and Contours’, run by Jenny Muncaster and learned for the first time about layering acrylic paint, splashing water onto the surface to change and lift the colour to reveal the colour beneath. I was advised to begin with warm, light colours as a base, dry, then cover with a darker colour, manipulate in some way then wash the paint off. A speckled, mottled effect was created. Continue reading Colours and Contours
Leaps in Learning
In S2/3 pupils are encouraged to experiment with and manipulate paper and card, using simple shapes and repetition as well as paper construction techniques such as cutting, slotting, folding and bending in order to learn skills which could lead to other areas of design such as jewellery, textiles and fashion, product design (lamps, clocks, wall hangings)or more expressive pieces such as ornamental garden furniture or sculpture. These simple yet complex paper constructions in effect provide a pathway for future development and creative expression and are in no way prescriptive. They encourage individuality and ‘thinking outside the box’. Continue reading Leaps in Learning
Visual Literacy/ Animation
‘Encouraging learners to take risks in their art practice, by implication, suggests that teachers themselves are also taking risks in that they have to be able to ‘let things happen’; they have to be able to facilitate learning pathways without a clear sense of outcome’ Atkinson(2011, p.6)
Just such an occasion arose during one of my Visual Literacy sessions where a planned activity to respond to the work of a particular pupil and create a story around the main character was planned. Continue reading Visual Literacy/ Animation
Inspirational artists: Aboriginal art
Symbolism within Aboriginal art is very important and tells stories of the people and their lifestyle and surroundings. A key feature of Aboriginal art is the circle, or circle within a circle, depicted by small dots close together, which represent a meeting place, campsite or watering hole. People sitting, recounting stories, folklore and hunting tales, the spoken word strengthened by the visual image. This simple motif is central to many rich, colourful artworks, capturing moments in time and in- deed moments in history. The following Australian Aboriginal Proverb describes life and death:
‘We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through.
Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love, and then we return home’.
Like many indigenous people, the Aboriginals were always searching for a place; a place to be, a place to live, a place to create, a place to die.
Work in progress
This work in progress is a fused glass piece which depicts a microscopic view of mahogany wood. Trees are an interest and focus at the moment, the broader theme being Landscape. As mentioned in my Statement of Intent for year 2, I plan to develop my artworks to a stage where they become quite abstract but retain a quality of their own. I also hope to experiment with new media, such as glass as I love the colour and reflective quality it can offer to a piece of artwork. Surface textures are also important and perhaps I may incorporate glass with paint and felting to create mixed media pieces. This glass piece could become part of another work, become a series or simply stand on its own.
VAP2 Voicethread Discussion:My Place/Space
My place/space is the dining room table which has become very much a communal area in the house not only for myself as an artist but for my two children and the family in general at meal times. I have several other fantastic photographs of this working space, Continue reading VAP2 Voicethread Discussion:My Place/Space
VAP2 Peer Review Voicethread
VAP peer review 1
Reminiscent of Hunterwasser in terms of simplified shape within shape, repeat linear pattern and harmonious colour, these elements combine, creating a dreamlike quality to this painting. Naive yet complex, on closer inspection one can distinguish the figure. This image is of a city, in any country, one which we may have inhabited or still might. Continue reading VAP2 Peer Review Voicethread
