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 and the work of Jenny Saville, Lucien freud et al.

At last some interesting work with 'Paint Magic'

For those who don't 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?

Change I do hope so

Writing this while attending a creativity conference organised by Creative Junction. I should be in a workshop but I am just too old to 'do drama'. It is sharing and celebratory meeting for schools in the current ‘Change School’ programme. This is a Creative Partnership three year funded programme which involves schools working with creative practitioners to develop creativity in the curriculum and in teaching and learning.

One salutary reminder from a keynote address was that that the current funding pattern is probably secure until 2011. It occurs to me that a real issue for all of us is to consider what will be left in 2012 for the next generation of children. How is this work ensuring that teaching, pedagogy and the curriculum is being changed and how are we evaluating and then embedding any significant new practice we are developing. I worry that we are spending our time (and finite funding) on projects for children which simply confirm what we already know - that children enjoy and become enthused by changes to routines and access to artists. But if the programme is predicated upon this level of funding for artists in schools I fear it is simply not sustainable. Far more important for me is the need to change, inform and inspire teachers so that they can lead creativity for this and all the subsequent generations they teach.

The role of artists, or creative practitioners is also an intriguing issue. I worry that too often they fall back into the simplistic default role of workshop leader. This is the least important role, not least because children’ work should be led by teachers who are always best placed to manage and lead learning. The artist as workshop leader is a problem for various reasons. They may not be good teachers - why should they be? They may respond to the expectations the school has of them by setting up formulaic workshops in which children are no more than apprentice labourers in the production predefined by the artist, with little ownership and little access to first hand creativity.

Earlier there was a significant presentation by Priory School about work they are doing to support the peer and self review of creativity for pupils. It unpacks and reinterprets the conceptual framework of creativity developed by Ken Robinson and transforms these into a set of cards/pictograms which enable children and teachers to reflect upon different aspects of creativity. It was used to confirm and analyse the nature of creativity being developed and through reflection, sustain and improve the experience.

But it was good to once again join a group of teachers excited, dedicated and discovering for themselves why it is important and exciting to be a teacher.

A priviledge and a pleasure

Just a short note to record the work of two young men. Both are 6th form students. One at The Royal Latin, the other at the Misbourne. Their art work was extraordinary in its self confident maturity.What was particularly moving was the obvious and compelling logic of their next steps one to architecture, the other to stage design. Everything they had made showed a natural mastery, fascination and precocious talent within their chosen fields. Their choice of career seemed absolutely inevitable in view of their inherent talent. It was inspiring to have a glimpse of such natural talent at the begining of their careers. At such times it is good to be an art teacher.

Chemical or Digital?

More schools are offering photography at A level this year. It's not just the easy access to digital camera's and Photoshop either as many offer both chemical as well as digital processing: although the sheer ubiquity of digital photography must have something to do with it. It is curious that, although it could be done digitally, teachers are prepared to fight for the dedicated darkroom space, cost of equipment, chemicals and cameras that are required for 'real' photography.

Superficially it seems perverse and talking to teachers, there is often only a rather vague assertion, that in some ways digital is good for you, to justify the extra effort. But, on reflection I cannot recall taking a good photograph with any digital camera - although I used to be quite good with my old SLR. Talking to teachers tonight (at the Amersham school 'A' level exhibition) I begin to see the point. It is not so much in illustrating the original meaning of cropping and dodging and, to be frank, the magic of chemical developing is only a transient pleasure. But what was apparent in the photographs of these students was a practice which used a camera and viewfinder to search, frame and capture a particular, unique and transitory event - I guess it may be the only legitimate use of the awful phrase 'moment in time'. These photographs were simply different to the point and click, scatter gun, approach of most digital photographs. Images had been thoughtfully pursued and captured, not opportunistically grabbed and processed after the event.

Whether it is worth the full paraphernalia of the darkroom is still a moot point but I recognise that I really do need to buy a digital SLR.