An enjoyable 4th Form day of Art Workshops and a trip to the New Art Centre

October 15th 2024

An enjoyable 4^th Form day of Art Workshops and a trip to the New Art Centre...

Flickr album: Workshop for 4th Form Artists - 15th October 2024 | Height: auto | Theme: Default | Skin: Default Skin

The 4^th Form artists spent the morning in a variety of different workshops at King's. This was a golden opportunity for pupils to begin to specialise in their chosen field and to experience practicing artists creative approaches to making.

The textiles workshop was run by Sophie Standing, a brilliant local textiles artist who's taken her inspiration from African wildlife while she was living in Kenya. Sophie showed pupils plenty of her own techniques so that they could learn them and practise on their own pieces. Throughout the morning the pupils created some fantastic responses using the motif of the iconic Dovecote as a source of inspiration.

The painting workshop run by Frances Watts who showed the pupils her portfolio and shared in her techniques. Pupils had a chance to work outside en plein air at the Abbey Pavilion. This enhanced pupils’ connection to their subject matter and the favourable conditions allowed pupils to explore colour theory and to paint directly from nature. Frances showed pupils the process of working in oil paints as she got them to sketch out first, then apply their undercoats, and finally a topcoat. The pupils thoroughly enjoyed the experience and I’m sure this will give the pupils confidence to continue to make further connections with their weather project theme.

Mr Harkness took the ceramics workshop on the theme of architecture. He showed the pupils techniques with slab building using templates, creating textures using a variety of tools and slip work. Pupils created some impressive responses and hopefully, we look forward to viewing the outcome after the firing and glazing process.

In the afternoon, we headed off to the New Arts Centre at Roche Court Sculpture Park. We began with an introduction talk by Amanda, Issy and Lady Bessborough. This was memorable as Lady Bessborough encouraged our pupils to value their thoughts and opinions in relation to the artworks exhibited and encouraged everyone to contribute. We were guided around the dynamic sculpture park by the education team with a focus on making connections to our ‘Weather’ themed project. It's always a very engaging experience and the perfect introduction to art appreciation first hand.

The sculpture trail did not disappoint as there was plenty to see, with some highlights including works by Michael Craig-Martin, Richard Long Anthony Caro, Bill Woodrow, Olivia Bax and Laura Ford. All pupils were confidently able to visually record their experience and with these firs-hand studies to be inserted into their coursework. The art educators at Roche Court were fantastic and we look forward to returning next year. This was a hugely successful creative day enjoyed by all. Moving forwards, we look forward to building upon this experience as pupils draw upon areas of interest to help inform their independently driven 3-week project.

George Cole - Art Teacher