Mini-makers at MK gallery, painting techniques

 

This was the best mini-makers session I've done yet and I thoroughly enjoyed the full two hours, as did everyone else I think! I stripped it right back to basics, showing the group how to use primary colours to make secondary and tertiary colours and gave them useful tips about washing out brushes and keeping a clean pot of water. We then moved onto three basic painting techniques; washing, flicking and scumbling. The flicking was of course the most popular as It allowed them to get a bit messy! The parents were great at supporting their kids and helping them with any bits they found difficult. We finished with timed paintings, where I used a stopwatch to time the group while they used the new techniques to create mini masterpieces. These lasted between 30seconds and 3minutes. It was so great to see the energy that came from everyone and the excitement at creating a piece of artwork so quickly. I received great feedback from both kids and parents at the end of the session, which is always a joy and makes my job all the more enjoyable.

Beautiful blue birthday cards

 

I think making cards is one of my favourite things to do in life. They are like miniature pieces of art that take less than half an hour to create and bring joy to people when you send them. I made these by firstly doing a big blue and green painting on paper, then tore it up into squares, backed it onto some gold paper and sewed it onto the cards. I then thought about my four lovely friends and drew an image which reminded me of them. Balloons for Olivia, flowers for Asta and Saadia, and a heart for Beth. 

Studio, May 2014

It's been a while since I uploaded a picture of my lovely studio - today I had fun creating a background for a painting (not sure what it's going to be yet of course!) and thought it looked so nice sat on the easel against the backdrop of paints, brushes, canvases and general creative mess.

100 years old!

 

My incredible, inspiring and gorgeous Grandma, Florence, will be 100 years old on Saturday. I hand-made 60 invitations for the party, using a beautiful picture of her, some floral tissue paper and gold thread. Today I made her birthday card, keeping to the same colour theme as the invites, but creating the blue-green background with lots of fun paint splashing and splodging. Can't wait to give it to her at the big event!

Mini-residency at Lord Grey school - week 2

 

Combining the two elements of collage and photography from last week's session, this week the group each selected 10 photographs they had taken and then worked in their pairs to turn them into compositions, thinking especially about the layout and placement of their images. We looked at the artist Kurt Schwitters to get ideas about different compositions and even though most didn't like his work, they appreciated the thought that had gone into Schwitter's compositions. It took a little while for some of the group to get into this activity, particularly those paired with someone they didn't normally work with, but once they got going they produced some excellent results It was wonderful to see students working together, in discussion and making joint decisions.

Mini-residency at Lord Grey school - week 1

 



Working for MK gallery so far has been a fantastically diverse experience and last month I was asked if I would undertake a mini-residency at a secondary school in Bletchley, Milton Keynes, working with a group of year 9 students. The primary aims of the residency were to get mixed ability students supporting each other and boost confidence by giving them the opportunity to exhibit in the gallery at the end of the 5 week project. I was given the loose theme of 'similarities and differences' and asked to do some painting work with them.

I always think collage is a great starting point with any project and it is accessible to all. So we started off working in pairs, with a newspaper and magazine each, and creating collages of interesting colours, textures, shapes and patterns. We then moved from 2D to £D, looking for and photographing similarly interesting things in and around the school. Students worked together to identify and capture things like stones, bark, benches, pavements and grass - thinking about the different textures, shapes and patterns presented in natural and man-made surfaces.

Mini-Makers session at MK Gallery

 

This mini-makers session was inspired by the current Melanie Smith exhibition at MK gallery, incorporating her themes of travel and foreign landscapes, as well as her compositions of different objects in pieces such as 'Orange Lush'. I first of all talked to the group about things that they might see on holiday - things like beaches, sunshine, shells and fish came up, as well as more unusual ideas like volcanoes, butterflies and tennis courts - and from this discussion, everyone drew their holiday picture. I then presented the group with a whole range of textured materials like bubble wrap, corrugated card, rice and wool, which they then used to collage their drawings with.  The next stage, (or so I'd planned!) was to get everyone to paint their collages with thick paint and then turn them upside on paper to leave a textured print of their collage. However, some of the collages were so intricate and beautiful without the paint that I gave them the choice of painting or not. The ones that were printed came out fantastically, and the ones that were left as they were, were equally as beautiful. Sometimes you can do all the planning in the world and have a clear outcome in mind, but it is also so important to be flexible and allow those outcomes to change!