Worshop and Report by Rebecca Hardy Griffith

Ysgol Y Hendre, Caernarfon

Chosen Artist: Andrew Smith

Pupils: Key Stage 2/Year 4

Quantity: 54

Accompanied: At various times one to three teaching assistants

 

I chose the artist Andrew Smith as he is based in Harlech in Gwynedd. I am familiar with his art practice, it is his use of vibrancy and pattern that would in my opinion create an engaging and interesting workshop for the pupils to respond and react to. It was not only his process of materials but also his subject matter within his work that would make a great open topic for the pupils to discuss. Therefore, it made the workshops an active but also verbal exercise for the pupils to stretch their creative minds physically and mentally.

 

The two day workshop was split into two sections, day one to focus on the chosen artist from the project, day two to focus on the project and the artist’s chosen artwork.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DAY ONE:

 

The structure of the sessions on day one was to introduce the project, the artist and the artists practice using drawing games, handouts, open class discussion, group activity, independent work and evaluation. After introducing the pupils to the project and announcing the artist name I decided to ease the pupils into the session with quick fun drawing games to remind them of the joy of free expression and not to be too precious about the finished drawing. It is also a great way to get their hand eye coordination into practice and to get them thinking quickly. From the excitement and buzz of the first game I introduce another activity of mark making, a simplified activity of word and action. We also discussed mark making and how it can be used in their artwork. It was great to see how quickly the pupils absorbed the information.

 

Next large sheets of A2 paper were placed on the tables, where pupils in pairs had to share the space on the paper being considerate and aware of each other’s drawings. The activities that were asked of the pupils were to draw something from the first game (act of memory), draw it again using your other hand (challenge), draw it again with your eyes closed (extra challenge) and finally the pupils were paired up. One pupil becomes the pencil holder while the other moved their partners hand around the paper to draw and then they exchanged roles. To close the drawing games I asked closed and open questions to the pupils about the activities, which game did they enjoy? And which activity challenged them? The class had to be prompted at the beginning to share their opinions, using the other hand or eyes closed seemed their most seemed a popular choice and pairing up seemed their most challenging activity which was similar to Ysgol y Graig.

 

I followed our discussion once the drawings and the materials were cleared with a recall question regarding the project. Asking them where did the North Wales artist travel to and which gallery did they visit? What was the name of the artist they were going to look at? Following this I introduced Andrew’s artwork through handouts and asked the pupils to look at the artwork for a few minutes. We then discussed per group/table what materials Andrew used to paint and paint on, we also discussed his mural work and the interesting and odd shapes of his canvases. On reflection it was a mixed response with the open and closed questions, prompting some students while others were more forward in responding. All though Andrew’s subject matter of colour theory and abstract form might have been harder for the pupils to understand as they are a year younger than the other groups they grasped his sense of bright colours and shapes.

 

To help them focus and give them a starting point we discussed the patterns and forms we could see within Andrew’s paintings for example a few saw hands, stars etc. I gave the pupils handouts with a variety of geometric forms and shapes to assist them with the next activity using graph paper to create their own forms and shapes. I then placed them in seven small groups and asked them to work together on one large piece of graph paper, to collaborate and listen to each other. Majority of the groups had some form of issue working together perhaps due to their age as they were a year younger than the previous schools however it was great seeing some team work occurring may it be only a little.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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DAY TWO:

 

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