Thursday 4 December 2014

the horrors of war art scheme of work


art scheme of work published for amazon kindle
war through a childs eye
suitable for ks2 studying ww1 or ww2



the horrors of war for amazon kindle


amazon kindle schemes of work

a map of me. art scheme of work available for kindle click here


what is a book?

What is a book?
A year 4 response as a thought stream

Everyone loves a book a book is for life

A book can keep a secret for you

A book makes you sleep

A book gives you answers



People write books

Books are funny and fun

A book can be a person

Flash book

A book is for when you get back and are sleepy

It can give you an idea

A book is like a personality books are important because knowledge is power

A book is entertainment



It is something you can read and maybe it can help you with your life

A book makes you sad

It can help you in life

A book has mind movies

A book is not only something to read

It is a special thing




Tuesday 18 November 2014

Monday 28 April 2014

reflections on journals stroke art





Having just finished the 8 session creative journal project with Stroke Association NW finally found the time to write down and post thoughts and reflections.

My initial feeling is how much reciprocal learning went on between all the participants and myself, an ongoing conversation that built borrowed and ballooned as the weeks went by.
Having a two week space between each of the 8 sessions gave time for ideas to settle, sometimes morph and become richer so when the group met there was an eagerness to get stuff done.

The participants in Castleton Community Centre came from a wide age range with a wealth of different experiences and degrees of confidence brought together by a desire to share time, space and stories during their recovery time from Stroke.

I was invited as a member of Nelly Globe charity organisation along with Rod Kippen and  to deliver a creative project that had the use of journals at its heart.

Participants engaged in the process with vigour! exploring new materials, challenging previously set ways of thinking, developing new skills with a variety of media and generally become risk takers.




Rebuilding books, repairing pages, destroying images, breaking sentences, finding alternative ways to communicate, often without words.



It was empowering, making decisions with simple materials, often getting lost and confused, somewhat out of control, but celebrating the uncertainty, and trusting that in the end the pages would tell that story.

people gave over their trust

Both Alice and Anne shared similar revelations;

"It was those words in the balloons that did it for me. I realised then 4, weeks down the line, what it was all about!
I could see my work differently. that part of my page is where I was unwell, that bit means family, this colour recovery... all the things i had been through."
Anne


"It was 3 weeks before i realised what I was doing and then there it was all laid out in front of me ... it all makes sense " 
Alice 

I observed so much interaction and co-operation as friendships were forged whilst people held work steady for each other, boosting self esteem and confidence with passing comment

"oh, that bit looks lovely, how did you do it?"



The process opened up conversation, discussion and skill sharing between old and young regardless of abilities and experience as we..

chose
explored
played
manipulated 
altered
reflected
changed
defined
named
combined

                                     created




Friday 28 March 2014

a week in webster visual diary

another week in Webster primary across key stage 1 and early years had some interesting outcomes from some incredible journeys...



drawing sound


hearing colours



making noise



painting music


sketchbook struggle book ideas book




mark making in the rain


raindrops on mudpaper


natural material medallions


portrait of place with manchester camerata


ostara

drawing challenges

graphic notation

character building story telling

between the lines of Stanleys Stick

exploring the beautifully illustrated, all engaging story of Stanley's Stick with musicians and composers from the northern chamber orchestera


finding within it opportunities for creative thought


extreme mark making with feet and rubber fish on uncontrollable rods 


the extinct Bagosaurus as Sticks became dinosaurs


working towards a performance interacting with their artworks





all good music starts and ends with a silence

Monday 24 February 2014

positively confused

From a creative perspective is being confused a good place to be?

Learning to accept that you are in a position where things aren't clear or don't make sense is a liberating experience. Recently working with stroke survivors, enabling them to say "I am confused" and it be OK has been a revelation for me.

In other situations confusion has hurt, frustrated and damaged individuals, whereas' through the creative processes, they have been offered strategies and given permission to work through and around confusing problems with ambiguous output.

Confusion can be considered positively.

Instead of being dangerously at the edge, as being at the brink of discovery healing and resolution.

Wednesday 5 February 2014

RICHARD III ART AND DRAMA


RICHARD III

MURDER MOST FOUL


EXPLORING THEMES OF POWER AND ITS PURSUIT 
THROUGH MAKING IMAGES
DEVELOPING STORY LINES









Tuesday 4 February 2014

the rise of the machine

ww1 projects continue
evolution of the machine


flesh and metal





vorticism




blast