Transformation is the word that springs to mind when reflecting on 5W’s learning journey in the art studio. We have learnt together the importance of conversation and how listening to others, responding to what we hear and being genuinely interested in each other is good. It requires us to pause and be relational.

Daring to share a little or a lot of who we are has brought understanding, discovery and support. Together we have seen how cooperation is helpful, how being open to others and their suggestions can add something different to our usual and how stepping out of our comfort zones when encouraged and supported results in new experiences and accomplishments.  5W, I am so proud of you all. You are blooming!

Our illustrated initial captured a little of who and what made us who we are as individuals, with our ‘I am’ poems sharing this in greater detail.

An individual flower –pastel, pencil crayon and water colour-shared the ingredients that enabled us as an individual to bloom, whereas the collaborative flower, created with a partner provided the opportunity to work on a piece of art that required collaboration from all in 5W.

The ‘Plinth People’ –self-portrait style wire sculptures-captured the individual but were a collective in terms of representing the unique and wonderfully made young people that make up 5W. Hopefully, you see our personalities within these dynamic and personal creations.

Thank you to the parents and interested adults that could make it to our arts celebration. Hopefully, the following photographs of the time in the studio as well as the feedback shared will give you a glimpse of the tangible joy experienced as the successes and challenges of the fortnight were shared.

The first week of 4SH’s arts fortnight was inspired by contrasting the Roman god Venus (love/peace) with Mars (war). Gustav Holt’s orchestral suite ‘The Planets’ inspired our initial continuous line drawings as we interpreted these two movements with charcoal, pen and graphite. Colour to represent the emotions within the piece was then added. These contrasting emotions-both incredibly powerful-were then explored through dance and abstract painting.

Comparing the floating cloudlike forms of layered colour by Mark Rothko and the drippy, splashy, messy action painting of Jackson Pollock certainly made 4SH appreciate the differences in style. Throughout, an interpretation of an emotion was expected with brushstroke as well as colour choice.

After a session working in the style of Jackson Pollock to convey the contrasting emotions of love and war, each child was given an emotion that they needed to convey in his style. These were worn for their dance performance, choreographed brilliantly by Miss Allison.

Piecing together a picture of Saturnalia, introduced the contrast of slavery and freedom for week 2.  

With the feasting, came the ‘jugs’ and these inspired our own collaborative clay creations and mono-printing. I was so impressed with their coiled pots, ‘glued’ with slip on the cross-hatching. The facial features certainly brought the whimsical and smiles. Team work and real life Maths was definitely in operation during this session.

To encourage freedom in the drawing of these wonderful creations, mono-printing was introduced. The delight on faces as their drawing was revealed was very special.

Well done 4SH for a fantastic fortnight of immersive learning.   

What an inspiring fortnight with 4H and Miss Hall. As feedback from the questionnaire shared:

‘The children sang their hearts out, the dance was sensational.’

To hear the children singing ‘Loch Lomond’, to see their happy faces as they flung each other around in dancing ‘Strip the Willow’ as well as share their own Celtic shield with you (their parent, big sister, grandma or uncle)was very precious. You were an appreciative audience and definitely an interested adult as you shared in their learning journey on Friday afternoon.

During their time in the studio, 4K have ben up to a number of creative opportunities. Their first challenge encouraged exploration, imagination and collaboration in creating a Celtic pattern by using a variety of materials.                                                           

• They have also been wrestling in creating and painting Celtic knots and then combining their skill to contribute to their ‘tribes’ banner. Embellishments came in adding fabric, beads and sequins as well as sewing with ribbon and wool.

I am sure you will agree that the final banners look dramatic when hung together.

Together we listened to ‘The Secrets of the Witham Shield’ shared by the curator of British and European Iron Age Collections, prior to designing our own symbolic, bold and simple Celtic shield. We discovered that the Celts shields were oval, rectangular or circular, often over a metre tall and a couple of centimetres thick. They would have a metal ‘boss’ on the front which was designed to protect the users hand. This would be hidden behind the boss, gripping the handle.

Cardboard was used to make the shield, with their design accentuated by creating a relief and assembling with a glue gun. Well done Year 4 for your wonderful creations, that did in deed reference your designs.

Thank you 4H for immersing yourselves in the arts fortnight and bringing the joy of colour to the art studio.

Tessellating tesserae versus swirls and knots introduced the different styles that would dominate over 4K’s time in the studio. To create their own ‘art’ from natural and man made objects allowed imagination and creativity from the start. It was also an opportunity to work collaboratively in groups. The concentration and joy was wonderful to witness.

Mosaic patterns influenced by the Greek key were used by the ‘Romans’ in their relief and press prints. Meanwhile, the Celtic knot and swirling lines inspired the ‘Celts’ for their prints. Inking up their plates, required effective use of the rollers-one for the ink and one to apply pressure. Working with a partner ensured that the inking up process was followed and that the area remained relatively clean! I am sure you will agree that the prints definitely differed between the regimented Romans and the patterns of the Celts.

Eagles, wreaths, lightning bolts and red dominated the Roman shield designs, whereas the swirls, patterns and mythical creatures were used in the circular Celtic shields. A variety of drawing materials-graphite, oil pastel, felt-tip, pencil crayon and wax crayon-brought their designs to life. Both had the ‘boss’.

Each group was then encouraged to use cardboard and a glue gun to make their shield. To raise elements of their design from the flat base of the shield made it sculptural and developed their understanding of making a relief. Bold and simple had been the brief.

Making a handle for their shield was their final challenge, before painting their creations. As you can see, the results were impressive and each shield unique. Well done 4K for showing resilience and perseverance in your creating, building and making.

It was wonderful to showcase all the creativity on Friday to 4K’s parents and or interested adults and siblings. Thank you so much for sharing in the learning. It was wonderful to see creativity in the youngest visitors too…

What a delight it has been to work alongside Miss Lucas and 3L in the art studio. During Week 1 of the fortnight, observational drawings of fresh sardines were made. Graphite, charcoal, biro, pastel and watercolour were used to create their numerous scales, ‘feathery’ tails, beady eyes and soft body.

The ‘warm up ‘ to get the eye and hand coordination engaged, comprised of backwards forwards sketching and a continuous line drawing using felt tip. Because of their focus and concentration, the drawings were great.

Drawings of beavers was next. The appearance captured their growing understanding of this large rodent.

Then in groups, a collaborative beaver build using cardboard, the recycled packaging brought from home and masking tape commenced. The features of the beaver -‘paddle’ like tail, webbed hind paws and ‘whiskered furry face’ -were captured wonderfully. A great team effort all round and they were all so different. They joined Mr and Mrs Beaver in their icy Narnia location.

Relief Paper Sculpting in week 2, encouraged the exploration of manipulating paper in a variety of ways. Folding, scrunching, rolling, twirling and more as well as the plaiting of wool were the skills taught. 3L got creative and went for it!

In groups of three, the head, body and tail of a creature was drawn, but because of the folding of the paper and no peeping, the reveal brought the smiles and laughter. Great fun was had in creating and naming our very own remarkable creature. It was wonderful to see imaginations unleashed.

The skills of the relief paper sculpting were used when ‘decorating’ their imaginary creatures that had been enlarged onto cardboard. The results were fabulous, and made the installation for the exhibition truly wonderful.

Thank you to the parents of 3L who joined in the celebration on Friday afternoon-it was fabulous to have you back in school and share in all our learning. To have an audience for the oral retelling of ‘How to catch a fish in Narnia where it is always winter and never Christmas’ as well as perform their stunning beaver dance that had been choreographed by Miss Allison was brilliant. We hope you enjoyed your whistle stop tour of the art studio, library, barrier game and book looks as well as the treasure hunt.

What a whirlwind of a fortnight it has been with Year 3LA and Mr Arnett. There has been weighing and baking, writing recipes for Trumpkin who needed to make a sandwich for a fussy Red Dwarf and the Witch Witch, as well as creating crowns and applying tint and tone knowledge to paintings.

Over the past fortnight, the art studio has welcomed 3LA’s imaginative responses in drawing, making, painting and constructing. Their mixing of red tints and tones created a palette of ‘reds’ and then by using a thick or thin brush lines, swirls, dashes and patterns emerged on the paper. Everyone successfully managed to follow the instructions.

Their knowledge of how to make a variety of reds- adding white for a tint and black for a tone- was then applied to their painting of a red dwarf. Charcoal, pastel, oil pastel, felt tip, pencil crayon and wax crayon then made the background for their dwarf. As a result, there was mining, treasure seeking, feasting and battles depicted.

3LA demonstrated their ingenuity in constructing their own crowns. There was such a variety. Who knew that card, corrugated cardboard and masking tape could be the humble resources to create crowns. Adding the jewels, gems, precious stones and even fires, definitely brought the wow factor to them.

A big thank you to those parents who could make Friday’s celebration. Hopefully, you enjoyed sharing in their learning and got a taste of all that 3LA had been up to. It was wonderful to welcome you back into school on such a glorious Friday afternoon.

What a privilege it has been to work with Year 3A and Miss Allison. The ‘Arts Fortnight’ has returned once again to Allerton CE Primary, and it has been good!

The art studio has witnessed collaborative mask making-impressive cutting skills and strength was required in cutting through the cardboard- with antlers and features created. In addition, there has been independent mark making to create the texture of soft fur as well as the imaginative responses of mythical creatures and places found beyond the wardrobe…

Our mythical creature drawings became the head, body or legs for our ‘House Sculpture‘. Voting nominated which body part would be used from existing drawings. The results are fabulous.

I loved seeing 3A’s mythical creatures come to life as texture and setting was added to their individual paintings. The paint colours required Year 3 to draw upon their knowledge and understanding of which primary colours made secondary colours and how tints and tones of a colour could be made.

Finally, we created our own meaningful wish art. Some very thoughtful wishes were made. Can you put words to their drawings?

Thank you to all the parents who gave up their afternoon to share in their child’s learning and be the welcome audience for the impressive Stag dance. It was wonderful to see you face to face (behind the mask.)

Over the past month, the art studio has seen Year 6 sketch and make shoes. A collection of my footwear was made available for reference-baseball boots, trainers, pair of Dr Martens, wedges and high heels- and with just corrugated cardboard, newspaper, card, masking tape and a glue gun the cobbling commenced.

The first week, encouraged Year 6 to look at the shoe in front of them from a variety of viewpoints and yes, it was hard to capture what was in front of our eyes. Where to place the shoe, whether to have the paper landscape or vertical and daring to commit felt tip to paper were just some of the decisions made. The focus was line and there were definite ‘in the pit’ moments. However, by the end of the session impressive, large ‘gestural’ sketches had captured the shoes.

The following couple of weeks presented Year 6 with the challenge of making a shoe with the materials outlined above. Careful observation, using the shoe as a template, problem solving how to create and join the different parts of the shoe and understanding the importance of measuring were done in collaboration with their partner. The teamwork throughout was impressive. In some respects, I felt redundant!

Attention to detail, the determination to create a likeness and the concentration throughout was great to see. The glue gun provided pupils with a quick and effective way to construct and I was proud to see the independence and respect in using it.

Deciding whether to paint, collage or leave the shoe in its cardboard state was again left to the cobblers. Hopefully, you are in agreement that their decisions were spot on.

An unexpected joy, was when a reception child inspired by the artwork she saw in her Read Write Inc sessions in the art studio proceeded to create her own shoe in receptions’ workshop. As a result, she was invited to join in the cobbling with Year 6 and with the support of their expertise created her own wedge shoe.

Well done Year 6. Your lino prints, inspired by the deciduous and evergreen trees on Otley Chevin didn’t disappoint.

The process started with observation; recording what was seen through ‘gestural’ drawings and the exploration of sandwiching different drawing media together. Sketching large and allowing the pen to capture what the eyes saw proved hard for some of us, yet in letting go the autumnal scenes were created. Pastel, pencil crayon, charcoal, felt tip and watercolour were used sensitively to add colour.

By focusing on the outline of one of the tree’s leaves, we made a template. This was then used to make a string of leaves that were stitched into our sketchbook and immediately added depth. Oak, Rowan, Hawthorn, Holly, Sweet Chestnut and Beech were all evidenced across the cohort.

The background was a watercolour wash of an autumnal sky-grey slate and cool blues.

A viewfinder helped us discover a great design within our drawing, which would become the lino print. Transferring the design from the tracing paper onto the lino was somewhat tedious, especially when intricate, but we all persevered. The lines were finally there for cutting into and or around.

We watched the artist Mark Herald at work on his linocuts and saw how nature was his inspiration too.

Thankfully, fingers and thumbs remained behind the blade-on the whole! Focus and concentration, patience and control were integral when cutting away lino to leave the design. Our understanding of negative and positive space certainly improved.

By inking up a number of autumnal sky ‘backgrounds’ on the A5 lino, we reminded ourselves of the inking up process. We had also created a useful register for our lino printing. I was delighted to see Year 6 build up the layers of colour within their prints by cutting away some of their lino each time.  

If you look carefully, you will identify the trees/leaves within each design. Each print is unique and demonstrates incredible skill and patience.