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.

The story ‘Pumpkin Soup’ by Helen Cooper transformed the home corner into the old white cabin and inspired creativity in all three Reception classes.

A variety of misshapen and colourful pumpkins provided the still life. Texture, line and colour were captured through a variety of drawing materials (including watercolours) and the children were encouraged to ‘sandwich’ these materials by layering, smudging and careful mark making.

Thank you Mrs Willis, Mr Woolley and Miss Thompson for encouraging our artists to notice the knobbly, lumpy pumpkins and drawing attention to the stripes, dots, lines and colours of the skins.

What a privilege it has been to work with Reception over the past few weeks. We have discovered so much about these wonderful individuals who have so much to share about themselves and the special people in their lives as well as their interests and likes. Their special box was the vehicle that opened up who they are to their class and teachers.

Inspired by the artist and educator Anna Linch’s Self-portraiture photography, the Reception team decided to set up a space, where each child could decide on their own poses in front of a white sheet and carefully consider the placement of their objects. Hopefully you agree that their self-portrait represented who they are as a person and how unique and fantastic each child is.  

In addition, each child has drawn their own self-portrait in black felt tip. As you can see, a mirror enabled them to look at their splendid selves. Their mark making/drawings shared how they saw themselves, their preferred hand to draw with as well as their schema development.

ACE has been talking to SPACE 2 and we have decided to encourage you all to get creative at home. Therefore, every fortnight, there will be an arty project shared on the art blog that we would love you to have a go at. Creating a postcard is your first mission. Subject wise anything goes. It can be: how you are feeling/your favourite motif/ a pattern/ something imaginary/ some text/a poem…Click on the pop-out on the postcard below for ideas.

We would love to capture your mini masterpieces so do send a photo to:

jelenaz@space2.org.uk and or office@allertonceprimary.com

Have fun!  

Mrs Johnston

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This year, aspiration, awareness and action has been part of our ACE Arts journey with Leeds Beckett University design students and SPACE2 as we collaborated on the DIVE DEEP project.

Because of COVID-19 we couldn’t actually make the exhibition launch at Leeds Central Library. A disappointment for everyone involved in this creative partnership-especially our pupils and the students. Thankfully, the students shared some photographs of the exhibition so we at least had a glimpse of how they interpreted the brief.

However, learning together has deepened our knowledge and understanding of how plastic pollution in the sea is impacting marine life.

A highlight for our young people is working with the students in their art studio at Leeds Beckett University. This year, the students planned and implemented a challenging workshop using Photoshop for our thirty Key Stage 2 pupils. In combining sea creatures with plastic pollution such as plastic bags and bottles, the children created digital images with text that clearly raised awareness of the problem. In addition, they made protest banners.

I too was inspired when at Leeds Beckett by the plastic sea-creatures the students had created and would use as platters at the ‘banqueting table’. Year 4HK reaped the benefits and created their own imaginary sea creatures back at school in our very own art studio. We had photographs of ‘what a good one looked like’ and used them as a reference for our own. Some of their animals even made it into the exhibition! Our day with the students in Leeds also took us to Leeds Central Library, where we had the opportunity to browse through books on pollution and oceans as well as see and share in the vision for the empty shell of a room that would house the exhibition.

Our trip to Redcar beach, on a bitterly cold and windy day, was an opportunity for our young people to see the North Sea and collect plastic litter from the beach with the students. Here, our pupils learnt that 88% of our oceans were full of micro plastics. This sobering statistic was committed to memory by using rocks, stones and pebbles on the beach to make the percentages. In addition, soundscapes were recorded, wind turbines counted and freedom on the beach experienced as we were literally blown across it.

Once again, I have learnt so much! This time thanks to 3LT-one of the kindest and responsive group of pupils I have ever had the privilege to work with. Their prior learning of ‘Lemminkainen’ supported by the storyteller Matthew Bellwood, provided the hook for our arts fortnight and introduced me to a new story with spells, darkness and thankfully a happy ending. It also provided a scaffold for our own quests. The dance incorporated elements of this traditional Nordic myth, with Iceland’s dramatic land of fire and ice inspiring the art.

Our ice and fire pictures that captured the patterns, shapes and colours found in this landscape, inspired the sewing onto the tie dye aurora borealis.

I was so impressed with the progress made in sewing by 3LT. By the end of the week, all could competently do a running stitch and some had progressed onto a back stitch. Sequins and beads were incorporated and by adding stuffing to our shapes we created a relief. We discovered that pins were useful to hold our chosen material in place and that the embroidery hoop kept our needlework firmly in place.

The dance performed on the Friday was certainly impressive. From exploding geysers to erupting volcanoes, tranquil forests to mesmerising aurora borealis, 3LT were able to convey through their bodies this wonderful landscape. Perhaps their modelling of these landscapes using plasticine had helped in some way!

I loved how the drama simply shared how one arrow slayed our hero, but a mother’s song could sew him back together again. The cannon for the sewing up of our hero- Lemminkainen- was inspired!  

Keep being creative over the next few months and do share your creations. Hopefully the video below captures some of the learning over the arts fortnight.