Textiles and Tracey

SWR09 (9)
Originally uploaded by bucksart

Spent time this evening at Sir William Ramsey (Arts College). As always a superb show. Its intriguing to see how work continues to evolve and develop in this department. A particular strength is in the textiles which are always exquisite and never fail to delight. Interesting to see the way that some students this year are using stitching to draw with. There are similar echoes of Tracey Emin in the work of some other schools such as the large stitched nudes from Aylesbury High. These can be seen in this years gallery on Flickr.

Hockney

Holmer Green 09 (10)
Originally uploaded by bucksart

Watched the BBC Imagine programme on Hockney tonight. Inspiring and intriguing as always and as wryly challenging as he was when we first encountered the Bigger Splash as a painting and a film. But a motif of these art exhibitions has been the role of photography in so much of the work. As a tool, a medium and often as an intrinsic part of the subject matter. I recall reflecting on this in a 2006 blog entry. Intriguing to watch Hockney in a post photography mode outside capturing landscape and childhood directly with a brush and oil paint. Reminded me of this landscape by a student at Holmer Green this year.

It also reminded me of a time when as a young head of department I ran a weekend residential course for my 6th form students in February. The focus was drawing and we intended to work from still life. But it snowed overnight and so we spent Saturday outside in the Kent countryside painting. It is true that work taken directly from first hand experience is different from work filtered through a lens. Not necessarily better but certainly different.

Creative Nesting Boxes

Chalfonts CC 09 (7)
Originally uploaded by bucksart

Brilliant idea from Chalfonts Community College. All 6th form fine art students were invited to make a work of art from a nesting box. Here are a couple of the results. They were supported in this project by Pippa North an artist working with the school.

...and another inherent sensibility

A couple of weeks ago I wrote of a couple of students who exhibited a natural aptitude and talent for a particular professional practice. The other day I saw another student with a natural talent, this time for illustration. I really liked these illustrations: they made me smile. This was at Aylesbury High School.

There were also some excellent robust, life drawings, some of which were developed into textile pieces (Tracy Emin). They were a refreshing counterpoint to the large numbers of closely observed and painted portraits developed from digital photographs.

At last some interesting work with 'Paint Magic'

For those who dont know Paint Magic is a primary level bit map paint programme. I cannot remember ever seeing much that was interesting being produced with this software - until today. At Haddenham Junior School there was a really dramatic large (2 meter high) panel. The image has been developed from small tiles based on a master picture. I really liked it - the colour normally a weakness in the software works in this exercise and every pupil has had to work with care to draw the image. It was just good to see the large bright complex panel rather than small scale, crude, mouse drawings.

KS3 Cancelled

I have just heard from Emma that the moderation meeting for KS3 has been cancelled because the other schools have not been able to attend. This is disappointing especially as teachers at the Grange had worked hard to negotiate and arange this.

I know that in most parts of the country subject networks are a thing of the past. I had hoped that arts colleges would take a lead in supporting the local networks of art teachers but this has not been the case. Then I had hoped that it would be possible to set up an art teachers' association so that the network could be owned and led by teachers themselves. This does not seem to be working particularly well either. Back to the drawing board.  

Jenny Saville has alot to answer for.

I saw the Dr Challoner's High A level exhibition tonight. Its a show I look forward to. The work always has a challenging self regarding intensity. It is engaging and at times moving, as these students at a girls; grammar school gaze unblinkingly and honestly at themselves and their world. This year is unusual. The course encourages individual responses and the department has a really good library of reference books in the department (probably the best that I know of in Bucks). These students also visit major London galleries and usually there will be a variety of different references and influences in the work.


This year it seemed all students were wholly engaged in portraits - large, painterly closely cropped and expressive - often anguished. References were Jenny Saville, Lucien Freud, Maggi Hambling and Egon Schiele. The work was excellent and it was clear that AS students had already fully exploited and mastered the techniques they were exploring. It will be really interesting to see what these students do for the A2 work next year they already have a mature and masterly painting technique. They are already at ease using portraiture and figures to make genuinely expressive pictures - what next?