The Monday art club at Singlegate Primary School in Colliers Wood have been hard at work painting out their designs for the four-panel mural. It’s on a railway theme, but with some extras like a blue rainbow and a flock of coloured birds.
I’ve been back at Ronald Ross Primary School to make a suitably marine environment for the giant whale I made with the children last week – I painted a multi-coloured swirl of fishes going round the whole room, then used self-adhesive translucent film to create the same effect on the windows. From outside the school it almost looks as if the whale is about to eat them (plankton, though more scientifically accurate, wouldn’t have had the same visual impact….)
Today was the first of the National Trust London Voices workshops at Morden Hall Park working with families from Liberty School in Mitcham – and it was also the first voyage of the little test ship on the river Wandle. It was lovely to see so many families who had taken part in last year’s project returning and everyone got stuck right in to making some beautiful boat bases. Regular volunteer at the park Fred, who remembers the famous film star parties of the late 40s and early 50s and was rescued by Margaret Lockwood herself when he fell off a wall, was instrumental in the testing, salvaging the boat with a net before it went too far. However by popular demand there were three tests, and on the third the boat tipped down a weir and disappeared under a bridge – emerging some minutes later to huge cheers. Can’t wait for the boat race at the final session!
For the last couple of days I have been at Ronald Ross Primary School in Southfields creating a giant blue whale with Years 4, 5 and 6. It’s been great fun and we have tried to make it as lifelike as possible, with baleen and even barnacles. The framework is made from willow.
I’m working with a small group of gifted and talented pupils at Singlegate Primary School in Colliers Wood this term – we are making four mural panels on a railway theme to go outside the main entrance of the school. Last week the children did some drawings, and I have made their work into these designs. We couldn’t start painting today because the school was closed by the heavy snowfall, but we’ll get going next week. The panels are 2.4m long each.
The National Trust London Voices workshops start again next week with families from Liberty school in Mitcham, with a theme of ‘journeys’. Each family is going to make a boat like this sample I’ve been testing, and they will decorate it with their own family stories ready for a boat race on the Wandle at Morden Hall Park in March. Today I had a meeting at the park with sculptor Simon Kent – he will be creating a huge carved wooden ‘story boat’, and I will be working with him to incorporate some of the families’ work into the design. This project is going to be very exciting!
I’ve just finished a residency at Reigate Sixth Form College, working with a group of BTEC students on an animal-inspired theme. I was really pleased with the work they produced – one student even got a commission from the local natural history museum we visited for observational drawing at the start of the project.
Here are some of the end results, ranging from a set of cards to an installation of giant owl eyes.
This week I’ve been working on a four panel mural with three classes of Year 4 children at Burlington Junior School in New Malden. Each child painted a bird or leaf then I wrote welcome in seven different languages. The panels will be put up outside the main entrance to the school.
Nearly 100 lanterns floated down the Wandle at dusk in Morden Hall Park as a celebration of the term’s work with the School Arts Partntership between Wimbledon Chase Primary, Cricket Green School in Mitcham and the National Trust. The weather was perfect, cold and clear, and in the end the filming of the new Stephen Poliakoff drama at the Snuff Mill didn’t interfere too much, though it was funny to see actors in 1940s clothing wandering about. Delicious pumpkin soup made by the students at Cricket Green warmed everyone up afterwards. Thanks to Erica, John and Zigi for their invaluable help getting the lanterns out of the water again at the end, and to Nick for these photos, and especially to all the children who took part for making such beautiful lanterns.
This week I have been with Y8 and 9 children from Cricket Green School in Mitcham and Y4 classes from Wimbledon Chase Primary. This is the first stage of the lanterns project – the children made wax rubbings from features of the Snuff Mill and the park – from fencing, manhole covers, leaves, the grind stones – even the back of a TV set and each other’s shoes. Then they tore and cut up the paper to make images inspired by the park – the bridges, waterwheel, minibeasts and all the other things they have seen on their visits. The results look very impressive and will inform the children’s designs for their lanterns next week. I love the 3-D collage, with a walk-though entrance to the park and stand-up buildings and signage, and the beautiful detailed brickwork in the second one.
