Good things come to those who wait…
The Art Room has been animated with boundless energy, big, big smiles and enthusiastic creativity this half term with the past six weeks packed full of exciting and diverse projects to challenge and celebrate the skills of our young artists in our afterschool classes. It’s been great to see so many old faces return as well as welcome lots of new children into our happy place this autumn!
Our blog, on the other hand, has reluctantly taken a back seat; behind the scenes, we have had to practise what we preach each week by thinking imaginatively and spontaneously to overcome logistical hic ups to keep the show on the road! But despite juggling sessions and things not going quite to plan - cancelled flights, family commitments and illness, to name but a few - the wonderful artworks made by the children has continued to shine through.
We have seen them dive into their imaginations to design their perfect party plate at The Art Room’s 2nd birthday celebration bash; get dotty with simple but vibrant watercolour circles, perfecting brushwork and a layering technique for International Dot Day; explore the viscous properties of ready-mix paints by swirling and blending colours to form beautiful rose-themed flower paintings; work with bold, graphic line drawings to make the distinctive shapes and colours of autumn pop in striking tree and pumpkin compositions; think creatively to take on the Yellow Spot Drawing Challenge and say ‘Hello Yellow’ for World Mental Health Day; and use their observation skills to literally shape their harvest-themed clay sculptures, taking great care to model the lumps and bumps and embrace the quirky mix of colours and markings they found in real-life natural forms.
Eclectic by design, our programme of sessions this half term has nonetheless been linked by one continuous thread. By embracing each individual project and following steps in a process that we help to break down for them each week, the children have needed to slow down. Working unhurriedly and methodically each week, the children have seen that there is enjoyment to be experienced in their practice as well as their finished pieces: allowing more time to hold a brush differently, mix the perfect colour, look again at the detail and refine their creations has resulted in the very best artwork that they could make. The sense of achievement in realising the value of the sum of the parts is definitely worth waiting for!
