Art in the Junior School

Artists have always been inspired by the natural world and the past year has made many of us more aware of, and grateful for, the wonders of nature during our daily walks.

Year 6 have studied the work of the ground-breaking Victorian artist William Morris. Plants and animals are a common motif in much of Morris’s work and the girls used the natural objects they found to carve designs on poly tiles. The beautiful, repeated patterns they produced would look amazing on wallpapers and fabrics in the 21st century!

Year 3 also explored the school grounds when they collected leaves in the Autumn Term and used them to produce pictures in both oil and chalk pastels.

During our Enrichment Days in the Spring Term lockdown, the teachers encouraged the girls to use their HPL ‘Maisie Monkey’ creative skills to respond to the themes in artistic ways. Both teachers and pupils have had to be flexible thinkers when setting and completing assignments this year and although our pupils did not have access to our well-equipped Art Room we were incredibly impressed with the creative ways in which they have responded to Art assignments.

The girls’ resourcefulness was very apparent in the artwork we received during our International Darwin Day in February. Pupils scoured their homes and gardens, often with the support of obliging parents, and used a wide range of materials to create paintings, collages, 3D models and installations. In Year 2 some pupils chose took great care to display their work as artistically as possible.

From the youngest pupils in Reception up to our oldest pupils in Year 6, this year has certainly challenged all the girls to develop new skills and ways of thinking about themselves and the world around them.

The Mexican artist Frida Kahlo is certainly a wonderful example of a ‘change-maker’ and even though she suffered life-changing injuries when she was just a teenager, she never gave up her determination to be an artist. The girls in Year 3 were inspired by both Frida’s story and artwork and they produced their own vibrant and detailed paintings of her self-portraits.
 

Miss Shale

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