Although a minor character in Greek mythology, the story of Icarus is widely known and it has become a symbol of hubris- excessive pride.
Inspired by Matisse’s Icarus print, 5P created their own collage of Icarus, who with his passionate heart fell out of the starry sky.

Icarus’ wings of wax and feathers inspired 5P’s relief work in the art studio. Warm up exercises of ‘blind drawing’, ‘continuous line drawing’ and observational drawings of feathers supported their feather studies. Watercolours, pencil, oil pastel, pastel, biro and felt tip were ‘sandwiched’ to create these wonderful studies in their sketchbooks.

Watercolour techniques were explored further in sketch books. Exploring how salt, wax resist, alcohol, splattering and a wash could create different effects was then incorporated into their backgrounds for their own collage.

Feathers- their own drawings photocopied and collaged onto the piece, as well as phrases from the poem performed in their dance were then added.

5P’s final piece, was a relief. Each child enlarged a feather- shape, line and pattern the focus. Then on cardboard, newspaper and glue were manipulated to create the ‘walls’. The process was definitely tricky and sticky, but 5P persevered. Tissue paper was added to the feathers before using acrylic paint for the background. The reliefs were very impressive.

In order to prepare for the arts celebration, pupils were asked to reflect upon and share their successes and challenges within the art process. The following photographs of their thoughts capture the pride, perseverance and ‘pit’ moments.

It was a delight to welcome 5P’s interested adults and siblings to Friday’s art celebration. As the following photographs and comments share the afternoon was enjoyed!

‘Had a lovely time looking through the art and then lots of fun trying out the techniques. Very hands on, and interactive. Always good to see the full class. Thanks.’

‘Amazing dance! Great teamwork and very brave of Cristian! Lovely artwork in the studio.’

‘Lovely session- highly interactive and informative.’

‘Always enjoy arts fortnight, so lovely to have time with the children and drawing together.’

‘As always, it is wonderful to see the children so focussed on displaying their work. Well organised and great to see the school learning environment.’

‘Surabaya has done some amazing work. I can see just how much time and effort she has put in and just how much she has enjoyed it.’

‘It has been lovely to see the wonderful artwork the children have been creating- thank you to all the teachers for the opportunity.’

‘Really nice to join in and draw with my son and compare our drawings.’

‘What an excellent activity to do with my daughter. Very therapeutic! Thanks.’

‘Really great art fortnight again. Fantastic to see all the children grow every year and all the great work they do. Thank you!’

‘Excellent day. Thank you so much. Lovely activities.’

‘I have really enjoyed the art event today with the different activities and also we can engage with kids in their own space around the school.’

‘Lovely afternoon understanding more about what Erin has been learning over the past 2 weeks.’

‘Love the performance and it’s lovely to see my child’s work and her performance. Nice to be involved and see other parents and their children’

‘Another amazing arts fortnight celebration. The dance was fantastic. The trust in the class is great to see.’

The Greek Myth ‘Daedalus and Icarus’ provided the hook for 5C’s art in the studio, with the father and son’s flight from the tower engineered by constructing two pairs of wings from bird feathers. ‘Feathers’ inspired our observational drawings and reliefs as well as featuring in their collage pieces.

Cardboard, newspaper, and PVA glue created the feather reliefs. The outline of a feather was drawn onto the cardboard and then by rolling up newspaper strips glued to create the relief.It required dexterity in fine motor skills, perseverance and patience.

Tissue paper was then added to ‘colour’ in the feather by gluing. Finally, the backgrounds were added. 5C successfully ‘sandwiched’ pastel, felt tip, pencil crayon and watercolours to create these.

Dabbing watercolour with tissue, adding alcohol and salt, as well as seeing how oil pastel and wax provides a resist were just some of the explorations 5C did in their sketch books before committing these to their collage pieces.

5C’s Arts celebration on Friday afternoon with parents, grandparents, older siblings and interested adults, incorporated some of our drawing warm ups. These included blind drawing, continuous line drawing and finally an observational drawing of feathers. ‘Therapeutic’ or ‘traumatic’ were some of the adult responses, but it was great to see 5C confidently lead the way!

An appreciation of the skills and knowledge used was then shared as together 5C shared their successes and challenges in the art studio.

The following feedback gives a glimpse of how well received 5C’s Arts Fortnight was:

‘Amazing staff. They gave us such a warm welcome. The Art Fortnight exhibits the beauty and the great effort put into teaching the children. THANK YOU.’

‘Sam has really enjoyed his arts fortnight and is looking forward to expanding his skills with watercolours at home.’

‘Loved the drawing; getting to experience what the children do! Happy and enthusiastic teachers.’

’Lovely session- nice to experience some of what the children did. They love it so much- a lovely afternoon.’

‘What a lovely afternoon we have had! Excellent dance and great to see all the wonderful artwork.’

‘Amy loves the chance to be creative while learning. She is always so excited when it’s the Arts fortnight- one of the highlights of her year. The performance and carousel of activities is wonderful- getting to see their work and be in school.’

‘Amazing performance. Love the interaction in the arts studio. Loved all the art work- amazing.’

‘We love to see what Aubrie has been up to at school. Fab performance. Well done everyone!’

‘Always enjoy coming to Arts Fortnight- the staff and kids have worked so hard.’

‘Really enjoyed the dance and doing the drawing of feathers with Ruby.’

‘Really good artwork and great that the parents could join in.’