Reverse Collages

Regular readers of this blog will know how much I enjoy collage as a medium. Something about collecting and assembling a wide array of subject matter and visual textures really fascinates me. When teaching I use collage activities in a number of ways; sometimes they can provide a springboard to other creative ideas, other times they can function as complete pieces of work in their own right.

If you're planning a teaching unit on collage, I've got another lesson plan that can easily be combined with this one.

Reverse collage requires a transparent surface that is strong enough to hold glue. For this lesson, students used clear sheets of acetate. These sheets were laid out flat on the table and a 50-50 dilution of water and PVA glue was spread over them. This acetate sheet formed the front surface of the completed work, so it was important to use clear drying PVA. 

Students then hunted through a collection of sporting and fashion magazines to find the central figure for their image. These were cut from the magazines and placed face down onto the glue on top of the acetate. Additional layers of farbric, coloured card and glitter were added on top of the central figure. Finally, a background layer of text was added. These background pages were actually recycled from unwanted materials used in this project.

As each collage began with the sourcing and placement of a central figure, it would be quite possible to use this lesson as part of a larger unit on identity, portraiture or self-esteem.

Illustration Course Week One

This week I started teaching an evening class in illustration, facilitated by a great community education organisation called The Public House. I've not done a huge amount of teaching adults before, so I was a bit nervous at the prospect, I'm happy to report the first session went really well. My students are a great bunch and happily joined in with all the activities I set for them. They all worked really hard and each of them produced about four sketchbook pages.

I've decided that each week I'll provide a different range of media, as well as different creative prompts. This week was concerned primarily with shape, line and the basics of visual storytelling. The media we worked in was pencil, coloured pencil, felt tip and collage. The results were great, and it seemed like the group had a fun time.

I'll report back next week on how the session goes. The theme for next week is 'Word and Image' and I think I might provide some wet media like water colour paints and water-soluble pastels.

Inspiring Practice

We all know there are some fantastic art educators out there, many of whom I've had the opportunity to get to know through various online communities. I thought I'd dedicate a blog post to sharing videos of some outstanding classroom practice. Both the clips I'm about to share show how vital and dynamic a creative education can be, with lessons that extend far beyond the confines of the art room.

The first clip I'd like to share with you is of Barney Saltzberg, creator of the fabulous book Beautiful Oops! Though aimed at a younger audience, Barney's message of using mistakes as a springboard for creativity is a great message for anyone of any age.

Another artist-turned-educator that I find really inspiring is Lynda Barry, who teaches at the Wisconsin Institute of Discovery. I highly recommend her books Syllabus and What It Is, both of which share her insights into the creative process. Here's a video of Barry at work in Wisconsin.

These are videos I've turned to time and again when in need of inspiration. I think they both share a powerful and transformative message about the real value of creative education.

Secret Diary Sculptures

My Learner Centre was recently granted a budget for the library and so we were throwing out a lot of old books. I seized on a few of them and thought about how I could recycle them into some kind of art project. As the books I'd acquired were quite chunky, I wanted students to do something with them that would keep that sense of three dimensional physicality. For some reason, my mind wandered back to the 'secret diaries' I used to keep as a child, where I'd cut away a section from the inside of a book and hide stuff inside.

I discussed this idea with my students and found that a few of them had done similar things with old books. They really loved the idea of altering unwanted books and turning them into some sort of sculpture. After carefully cutting out a section of the book with craft knives, the young people grabbed hold of PVA, tempera paint, clay, oil pastels and fabric scraps to produce these amazing pieces of work!

Organic Forms Clay Sculpture

For one of the year's final projects, students turned their attention to the natural world and made these stunning clay sculptures. Young people took their inspiration by fungi, leaves, flowers, berries and other natural forms. In my experience, students always greatly enjoy the physicality of clay work. It can be very satisfying to manipulate the clay into the desired form.

The finished pieces were each displayed on a tree trunk base, next to our beautiful stained glass windows. This is always one of my favourite spots for exhibiting three dimensional work.

Slogan Stencilling

Students worked really hard to create these multi-part stencil designs. Each young person thought up their own positive slogan or affirmation and then used a craft knife to cut a stencil into cardboard. The students worked in tempera paint and used sponges to stencil their affirmations on to paper. Students used sponges to dab the paint on, which left  a visual texture similar to spray paint. This added to the slogans' graffiti-like feel.

Journal Article

I'm really honoured to say that an article of mine has been published in the Independent School Association's April 2016 journal! The piece, which reflects on the various challenges and rewards of teaching art at Red Balloon can be read in full here.