I was amazed at our last session and all the great balancing poses that Professor Marie Murphy encouraged us to try. I had photographed the children and printed the images then cut them out to create simple shape silhouettes. As well as these poses I used some of the balancing tests we tried on my first visit to meet the class back in October. Then the children tried balancing with friends together…
Our task today was to OBSERVE the shapes of the poses and look for lines of balance… So we used Mrs Hughes green broomstick to hold up against the pose to see how straight and upright the person stood or to see what angles their bodies made…
Then we reminded ourselves of how far we could lean over before we would fall over…
We looked back at the balancing poses…
We then tried to OBSERVE and SIMPLIFY the shape of the pose and DRAW it using the SCRIBBLE TECHNIQUE:
Look at the fabulous drawings the children made using black paint and brushes…
This was an action REAL visit for me and I was joined in St Patrick’s school by Orla, creative Director of Kid’s Own and Tracy the Researcher for our project.
The preparation for this session began a day or two before when I prepared the GROUND… the SURFACE on which the children would paint…
First we discussed the purpose of this session which was to experience what it is like to paint on a large surface on the floor and to engage our whole bodies in the process. We were also trying to see how much CONTROL we could use to drip, pour and splatter the paint…
After the activity was complete, we asked the children to stand beside the canvas that they really liked and to offer a few words about what they liked about it and also how they created their artwork.
We explained to Orla that we had been practicing making very controlled loops which had got bigger and bigger in past sessions. Mrs Hughes made the observation that she had noticed the children’s handwriting had improved considerably… they were more confident with their joined up writing… She showed Orla their books!
The second part of this very active session was that in order to hear a little more about balance and control, we connected online with a REAL PROFESSOR in a UNIVERSITY!
We identified what parts of our bodies we were using to make these marks and then tried to move more and more of our arm and body. At first we tried a REHEARSAL by making shapes and movements in the air with first our WRIST, then our FOREARM, then our WHOLE ARM and SHOULDERS.
When we put this into practice look what happened!
Finally we REHEARSED what big movements we could make by making our whole arm stretch out and round, but because we were sat at desks, this was tricky…
We decided to try out in the yard! Using chalk the children made lots of loops all over the playground…
When the children came back in from the yard, I asked them to tell me all about the experience of drawing on the ground and with lots of space to move into.
They said they were:
On their honkers
Moving and drawing
Energy
body weight
Strength
They were tired!
The yard was bumpy
(Some didn’t like this… to be precise, 5 preferred a smooth page and 18 preferred the bumpy yard!)
Some found they were in their own drawing!
The drawing ended if they stopped the contact of chalk to yard surface…
I then introduced the work of American Artist CY TWOMBLY (1928 – 2011) to the children… We looked at these images and discussed what we felt about them…
They were fascinated that these paintings were art! One child like the pattern and direction of the lines. Some liked the swirly shapes; Some felt it was too scribbly to have hanging on their walls at home. But some had some amazing interpretations of the images:
It was like a tornado; it was like sunlight streaming out of the universe; it was the fish in the sea; it was like electric shock waves. It was like rain; like a ladder to the mountains; like the pattern on a chair, all crinkled after someone had sat there; it was noisy, like a flash of thunder; it was like a spider’s web! Amazing ideas!
It certainly would have taken a lot of energy to make the work. I read that the artist climbed onto the shoulders of a friend, who moved backward and forward by the canvas so he could make the scribbly marks across the whole surface.
Connecting to this, I had linked them clips of American artist JACKSON POLLOCK (1912 – 1956). But we ran out of time to watch during the session. Here they are:
Mrs Hughes and the children watched the clips on Monday and this is their response:
‘The children really enjoyed it and it provoked a lot of interesting discussions!!!
I’ve noted a few of the children’s comments:
That’s not a painting that’s a splatter….Jack
He just poured paint onto it. It’s kind of freaky….Lee
It’s interesting.The more you look at it, the more it tells you how much work he put into it….Sarah
It reminds me of the Northern Lights…..Niamh
I’d like it for my bedroom wall, it’s relaxing….Caoimhe
The thin lines are like string….Samantha
There was about a quarter of the class who did not find it appealing at all and who wouldn’t wish to hang it in their house. The remainder found it fascinating. We discussed the size of it, the techniques he used building layer on layer beginning with black. The colours which stood out for us and also the techniques he may have used including the time it would take to create the ‘splatter’ effect.
This little article became the focus of our first online session. Mrs Hughes and I have decided to begin with ideas around BALANCE.
I found the TIME-BOOK in the old building that is now going to become the studio for myself and for a number of other artists in the PS2 Studio Group in Belfast. The building is from the 1880s and the book is actually dated 1904!
Last Monday I made a visit to the school and left the book with Mrs Hughes to allow each child to see, feel and smell the book:
Here are their responses:
Its a BALANCE book of sorts – it was used to record the hours and wages due to staff who worked there when the building was occupied by an oil and colour merchant! Not the sort of Balance I thought we might begin with, but this book set my ideas off for an exploration about the beautiful handwriting…
What sort of balance and control was necessary to keep the script within the lines! We decided to explore…
We began reflecting on the handwriting. The children said it was:
FANCY
REALISTIC
CURVY
IMPORTANT
The children compared it to their own writing since they are just beginning to make joined up letters…we noticed that lots of letters were rounded like a loop. We tried to make the shape of a LOOP drawing the shape in the air with our finger.
Then we tried on large pieces of paper taped to the desks…
Some very amazing scribbles erupted everywhere!
Mrs Hughes was beginning to wonder where the loops were! We decided to try and control our efforts by using a smaller piece of paper and using different drawing / writing tools.
Using the whiteboard screen I showed the children some examples of CHINESE SCRIPT.
The children were very interested in these marks and lines. Some said they looked like figures of people doing martial arts! Or BALANCING! I invited the children to use paint and a brush to interpret their own versions of Chinese characters.
All I can say is that I was AMAZED at what happened next…
The children were delighted with their work and really enjoyed creating the Chinese letters.
I then showed them some ARABIC SCRIPT…
The children found these a lot more difficult to create and said they preferred the Chinese letters because they looked like pictures not letters. They enjoyed the challenge of trying something new:
THEY WROTE WITH PAINT
THEY USED RICE PAPER
THEY USED GOAT HAIR BRUSHES
THEY USED FOUNTAIN PEN
AND A CARTRIDGE PEN
A FEATHER
A WOODEN STICK
It was definitely not like using a pencil!
We discussed the way we had used larger movement for the big loops and circles at the start and small movements for the Chinese script – using just our fingers and wrist.
Next time we plan to explore more around script, movement and balance. While the children were engrossed in their writing, I tried some things myself…
Mrs Hughes organised the school bus, for all of us to go out for the day to Annaghmare and Corliss Fort, two beautiful local landmark situated close to school… from the minute we left the classroom the excitement grew for this trip. On the way the children pointed out places they knew. This was a great opportunity for me to see the amazing countryside surrounding Crossmaglen.
The children had time to explore and imagine what it was like long ago… were there really bones in the chambers?
But that was not all we did…
Thank you to EVERYONE who made the day so memorable – I’m sad the project has come to a close but take so many GREAT memories with me! Thanks so much Mrs Hughes and the children of P3 !
Some great explorations using a VIEWFINDER took place in our penultimate Virtually There session!
The children had used their viewfinders to seek out special views during break time and some of children told me they saw a bird in a tree, bees and flies on a plant!
Mrs Hughes had kindly brought a bicycle in to study! Since the article was hard to stand upright – we turned it upside down and the children drew what they saw through their viewfinder. Its actually a wonderful idea to draw an object upside down as it encourages us to see simple shapes…
We were trying a special technique of drawing where we look for the shape of the object first and notice the background or NEGATIVE SPACE surrounding it.
Amazing work and this continued as the children used their viewfinders to zoom in on a detail of the bicycle:
I talked with the children about the idea of SHAPE / SOLID SHAPE and SILHOUETTE and we then tried drawing our PROFILES:
All of this will be useful experience as we intend to making a trip outdoors to sketch the world around us!
In the gap between our last session before Easter and now look what P3 children and Mrs Hughes were doing… thank you for sharing these beautiful pictures!
When Mrs Hughes and the children in Crossmaglen connect up with me in Belfast we share a third space together online, which in itself is amazing but on Friday 11th March 2016 at about 11am the children and Mrs Hughes for some strange reason, built a DEN in the classroom and I was invited into the this new space…
Funny it all seemed to start after talking about NESTS….
Some crazy plans were hatched then it all changed…
FEEDBACK FROM THE HUDDLE CORNER AND THE ROCKET:
Sent to me by Mrs. Hughes!
Louis: Dylan was reading the Snow Maze (book) and the others enjoyed listening – it was really cosy.
Charlie: Every time he went to the huddle corner there was no room to move, felt like a squashed potato, it didn’t really like that many people.
Dylan: He liked the pillow in the corner.
Jessica: It was lovely and warm and she liked lying with her friends.
Kayla: Enjoyed being close with her friends and having quiet talks.
Zoe: Had a really happy huddling session with lots of laughing.
Sophie: Enjoyed the special sharing time with her friends.
Noah: When he got there, everyone was crawling over him but when they left he had a nice wee relaxation.
Dylan: The girls were having a huddle session and he busting in on them, he was told to go away (he found this very funny)
Ryan: He preferred the rocket where he could have a bit of quiet time.
Callum: Also preferred the rocket, the huddle corner was too noisy for him.
Jessica McC: Stayed in the huddle nearly the whole time. She was very happy under the blanket.
Keelan: He enjoyed the huddling corner so that he could lie down and relax.
Jack: He really liked the huddle corner because it was warm and he had his shoes off so his feet were warm. Anthony, Jack, and Dylan J. shared funny stories.
Coilin: Enjoyed the rocket and chatting to Sharon. Didn’t get to the huddle corner as it was too crowded.
John: Enjoyed getting under the blankets and hiding. Very squashed though.
Keegan: The huddling corner was the cosiest and warmest part the den and he really enjoyed everyone all squashed together, it didn’t bother him.
Michael: He and John were playing hide and seek in the huddling corner.
Garreth: They were playing a fun footsie game in the huddling corner – back and forth soles together. He liked listening to the chat in the huddling corner.
Antoin: People crawling all over him felt a bit like a massage.
For an impromptu visit to P4 I learned that the class have been incubating eggs in their classroom and this provided a wonderful path for exploring NESTS.
We heard nesting stories and I met Miss McMahon assisting Mrs Hughes in the classroom and she had researched some very unusual nests made by birds all over the world.
We discussed how and why birds made nests. We passed around eggs to FEEL their shape in our hands and to get a sense of how we could PROTECT the egg.
We thought about SECURITY, WARMTH, COMFORT and what birds do with the materials they gather when they build their nests: LAYER and WEAVE.
We decided to try building a nest ourselves. However before we began Eileen the classroom assistant and Mrs Hughes went to fetch a REAL NEST to show the children…
I brought some materials along for constructing a nest and Miss McMahon had brought straw, twigs and paper and the children worked in small groups to create nests.
The children had to think about a FRAMEWORK for their nest, or a BASE and to find ways to SECURE their materials, create a COMFORTABLE space to CRADLE and PROTECT the egg. Look at the these wonderful creations..
We had a great discussion about all the nests as the children each came up to tell the class how their nest was built. We determined that today we had created 3D work and that this was a SCULPTURE!
We looked today at the idea of mood and opened our online session with a good discussion on COLOUR / MOOD / TEMPERATURE…
We remembered the work with the COLOUR WHEEL and the sorts of colours we made by mixing primary colours together. We thought about whether these were HOT / WARM or COLD colours. Some thought YELLOW as a ‘JUST RIGHT’ colour… so not too hot and not too cold.
Some great descriptions were offered and then we spoke about the sorts of moods we might experience. BAD, GOOD, CRABBY, HUFFY, FISHY (Hiding something..) and we thought of times when we might feel grumpy, frustrated, angry (when things don’t go right; when they can’t get winning at the computer games) and when we were happy and feeling peaceful (some said hugging their sister made them happy; doing art at school made them feel good; family days out).
Keigan talked about when you have work that goes better in your head than it does on the page and how frustrating that was.
I asked the children to match a colour or colours to moods and then using a traced drawing of their hands, they could make one hand a happy, positive mood and the other hand a bad, negative mood.. the results were stunning…
Wonderful how the finger tips have changed colour with the mood!
On the theme of COLOUR SCHEMES I wanted to show the children a picture made by a DUTCH artist called REMBRANDT van RIJN (1606 – 1669. He made many self portraits over his life and this was made at the end of his life. We had a discussion about the painting and the colours used.
This painting is on loan to the Ulster Museum, in Belfast at the moment, from the National Gallery in London.
The children had varying responses to the picture:
“He is enjoying painting himself”
“He is proud of himself”
‘He’s a good poser”
“He’s cross”, “He looks sad”.
We talked about the colours and mood of the picture and and then I asked the children to create a sort of MOOD SELF PORTRAIT by just working with shape and colour. This time they were to try tissue and glue and COLLAGE the pieces onto the page.
Well done P3 what wonderful uplifting works you have created!