summer term - year 5 at drew primary

My final half term at Drew Primary School was spent with the y5 pupils, so I ended my year as I began, in their classrooms. The city of London inspired our art exploration and Drew's young Londoners studied the iconic Tube map, considered our connections to the rest of the world from London City Airport (situated next to the school) and used memories and experiences to add depth to their work. We drew, painted, mark made, cut, collaged, looked, listened, learned tricks, short cuts and creative techniques, rising to the challenge of each activity.

My two years at Drew Primary have been full of learning, I've enjoyed working with the whole school and it's been a privilege to open the doorway into art/thinking/expressing/connecting with these precious children, the future creators of our city, our world. Thanks for having me!

 The London Eye in vibrant ink

 Firework!

 Tuning into our surroundings

 Mass drawing of London City Airport DLR station

 London landmarks

 Bold painting

summer term - years 2 & 4 at drew primary

Another half term has flown and four classes at Drew have created AMAZING art. Y2 inspiration was provided by One Night, Far From Here, a beautifully poetic book about creatures and their habitats, the children were fascinated as we traveled the world from the Russian Tiaga to the Amazon rainforest. We drew, painted, learned basic colour theory, printed onto paper and acetate, laminated sparkly collages and created animal masks. 

One Night, Far From Here contains cleverly printed transparent pages which layer to reveal and create depth - so (of course!) the idea of the art sandwich was born! The children's final piece layered a painted fabric background, a printed acetate sheet and a laminated drawing decorated with sparkles, paper clipped together to form a book-like artwork that the children loved. 

Sometimes, at the beginning of our lessons children would quietly tell me they remembered words like acrylic, acetate, laminate, words as poetic as the book itself.

I took a deep breath before challenging the y4 classes to sew! I was a Rat! or The Scarlet Slippers is a book with an old-fashioned feel, of unkind treatment of children, dubious Victorian Sideshows and fairytales... Children's faces were transformed using school photographs and collage cut from images of rats, we created posters to advertise these fearsome rat children - studying vintage fonts, experimenting with line and ink and finally mastering running stitch, button stitch and blanket stitch to produce rat embroideries.

What I asked of the y4 children wasn't easy, especially sewing, but they tried and persevered, the more able stitchers assisting their classmates. The lessons were chaotic but embroideries emerged and some children surprised themselves with new found skills, a couple of children who had previously struggled shone and achieved. The teachers also got to brush up on their sewing skills!!!

Lynx mask and careful hands

Ocelot in the Amazon

Laminated layer for our art sandwiches!

 Year 2 zoo - roar!

Beware - Rat Girl!

 Capturing a nostalgic feel using ink and tooth picks

 Beautifully executed blanket stitch - well done!

 Even running stitch & perfectly attached button from a boy who had never sewn before

spring term - years 1 & 3 at drew primary

Lots to fit into a short term... the y1 and y3 classes drew, painted, printed, formed, folded and constructed at Drew Primary School. Project inspiration was gathered from the pages of Grace and Family and The Pebble in my Pocket: A History of our Earth. When asked to share their thoughts the y1 classes surprised me with the range of favourite activities - they loved drawing their families, creating designs for crocodile stamps, looking at Dutch wax fabrics and creating patterns, printing and cutting out their colourful card crocodiles - their responses were sweet and thoughtful. Some y3's were a little disappointed by the chemical eruptions created inside their volcano models, I think they were expecting real lava!!! I'll be working with the y2 & y4 classes after Easter... watch this space!

 2D to 3D - fast sculpture

 Volcanos taking shape - busy hands!

 Team work

Water + washing-up liquid + baking soda + food colouring + vinegar = eruption!

Careful, thoughtful patterns

 Energy

 Beautiful repeat print by a y1 pupil

Printed crocodile

Googly eyes + 5 year old = pure happiness!

pebble in my pocket

Just finished wrapping my precious pebble collection in white tissue paper to make a magical experience for the year 3 classes at Drew Primary School next week. Inspired by The Pebble in my Pocket we are headed towards making ERUPTING VOLCANOS - I know!!!

spring term - years 2 & 4 at drew primary

Drawing, painting, cutting, construction and clay with y2 and y4 classes at Drew Primary School. A Necklace of Raindrops and Varjak Paw provided our jumping off points! These story books are treasure troves of creative potential and we stretched this potential to the fullest learning new art techniques and using unfamiliar materials. The children embraced my expectations and the challenges set for them, filling their art books to bursting with their imaginative work. After half term I'll return to years 1 and 3 for more literacy inspired art.

Happy yellow cat

 Shadow puppets

Painted papers, cut and carefully placed in repeat

 Painting technique - holding the brush still and turning the egg!

The Tigris River with fine brushes and ink

Teamwork

 Beautiful art book page

Collaboration inspired by Bastet, Egyptian cat goddess

autumn term - years 1 & 3 at drew primary

Cardboard shenanigans with teeny tiny y1 pupils and weave and illustration using silhouette with not so tiny y3 pupils at Drew Primary School. The books that inspired us were On Sudden Hill and Tales of Wisdom and Wonder. In the spring term I'll work and learn alongside the y2 and y4 classes taking inspiration from another two fantastic books. I love mixing art and literacy and the children love it too.

 Design for an incredible monster creature box thing!

 Cardboard self portraits

 Warp and weft (and proud hands)

 Box monsters with rattling tummies (secret ingredient - buttons!)

 Cardboard crowns for kings and queens

Lion silhouette, background inspired by West African Kente cloth