The Michaelmas term brought with it the excitement
of new projects and fresh inspiration. The 6.1 Fine
Artists and Photographers began their still life project
with a trip to Oxford to visit the Pitt Rivers Museum
and a chance to draw from the many curiosities collected from
around the world. Pupils always benefit enormously from the
opportunity to draw from real life, and visiting museums and
galleries always acts as a good springboard to get ideas going.
The Sixth Form Artists and Photographers also went to
London to conduct research into their exam themes. First port
of call was the Tate Modern, where they were treated to a rare
exhibition of Paul Klee's work. Spanning his life, the show
documented his very varied approaches, and his interest in
abstraction and colour. After exploring the other galleries in
the Tate, the pupils then ventured on to the Saatchi Gallery. A
guided tour of the current show was followed by a practical
workshop. Pupils were set a series of tasks and research
activities in the galleries, and then had to work frenetically,
as a team, to create visual responses to what they had seen.
Some exciting sketchbook pages reflected the busy and
productive day had by all.
Back at school, the art gallery was the venue for the exhibition
"Surfaces," as part of the 2013 Somerset Arts Week Open
Studios event. Painters Diane Burnell and Georgina Conroy, and
sculptor Sam Martin showed a range of abstract mixed media
works. The pupils enjoyed talking to the artists, who ran a
monoprinting workshop with the Sixth Form, giving the pupils
a chance to experiment with new techniques and processes.
On Show
During the year a number of pupils were successful in having
their work selected for exhibitions outside the school.
In November, GCSE pupil Mollie Merchant had the
opportunity to exhibit her work alongside that of pupils
from independent schools all over the country when she was
selected to take part in an exhibition at Sidcot School near
Bristol. Open to staff as well as pupils, Mrs Schmidt and Mrs
Frost also exhibited in the exhibition, which was organised
by the Independent Schools Art and Design Association. The
ArtThe Year in
By Clare Schmidt
As well as creating impressive work for
their exams, the Art and Photography
students had the chance to exhibit their
work in the wider world
Drawings from the Pitt Rivers Museum
Alia Hamaoui experimenting in the monoprinting workshop
Mollie Merchant's self-portrait selected for the exhibition at Sidcot School
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