I have been practising light graffiti for tomorrow when I will be doing it with about 75 4/5 year-olds over the course of the day. It's not the first time I have done light graffiti, but the first time it's just been me and 3 classes of small children.
I was going to practice with Eoin, but he has gone to the theatre (work thing) so it's been me, in the living room and no remote shutter release. Fell over the couch a couple of times and it wouldn't surprise me if some concerned neighbours turned up, but I am happy and I think I am ready. Last week my palette of colours was a basket of food from ASDA, this week it is torches. I love my job/life.
These 3 aren't by any means perfect, but not bad!

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

"Bankfield Museum is an important building of architectural significance. This very grand, Italian villa is sited in Akroydon Park. The beautifully kept grounds of the park compliment this impressive building, which was once the home of Colonel Edward Akroyd, a local business man.

Bankfield mansion became a museum in 1887 when Edward Akroyd sold his home to the Halifax Corporation. Primarily Bankfield has a growing reputation as a centre for textiles and contemporary craft. At present the museum is the home of many collections such as the Duke of Wellington Regiment of the West Riding. Bankfield is of local importance enabling heritage to be preserved and displayed."

The building is in dire need of repair, paint is peeling, windows boarded up and then there's the less than imposing entrance, but it seems to be a place which is much loved and which has a quirky and engaging collection. I will be back!

See the full gallery on Posterous

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Immediately we could all see how the children could be inspired by the exhibition. It was full of extraordinary characters, story, colour and just a little bit mysterious. There is also a good chance that Matt will come to work in the school for a day as part of our project. How exciting that will be, to visit the exhibition, start to create your own response to it and then get a visit from the artist to talk about his work and help you develop your own. Way cool!

Grace from the gallery was incredibly helpful in supporting us to find a way to achieve our plans and as we left I think we all felt inspired and excited (and that's before the children are involved!) It's amazing what can happen in half an hour.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

' Explores colour, texture, shape, form and space in two or three dimensions'

It is a very artistic school, pupils sing, dance, create and play music regularly (particularly drumming) and yet because pupils struggle to achieve point 5 on the goals pupils at the end of reception rarely achieve point 8, which reflects a culmination of early years goals

'Pupils express and communicate their ideas, thoughts and feelings by using a widening range of materials, suitable tools, imaginative and role play, movement, designing and making, and a variety of songs and musical instruments.'

We spent a very fruitful morning exploring the challenges, how and when pupils engage most fully and where I might make some impact. Teachers reflected that their expectations of where pupils are at in relation to their creative skill development is often out of sync with the children's actual levels and that teacher focus on finished product as a tool to inspire children's creativity can result in frustration for both pupils and teachers. Children's starting level in spoken English is also generally lower than the national standard and developing a vocabulary which enables them to communicate their ideas and engage creatively is also an area of focus during this year.

Teachers told me that their pupils have generally been brought up in homes where creative play, mucking about, building stuff and knocking it down, making a mess and creative experimentation is not part of the culture, so the confidence that comes from that experience is missing when children come to school.

We decided that my role in class would be to provide immersive and playful opportunities for children to experiment and build the skills, and particularly the confidence, to be able to make choices and allow themselves to take risks. Alongside this we will provide space and time for teachers to develop their own skills and confidence so they can confidently model this behaviour for their pupils.

As we were meeting I thought about our young nieces and nephew and how different this aspect of their lives is to those children I will be working with. The confidence to play, experiment and be imaginative is generally inspired by the behaviour of the adults around us when we are young. I remember when our niece Thea was very young that my sister commented that 'she must think she is growing up in a musical'. Singing, songs and stories were such a significant part of her life that anyone around her could burst into song at any moment.

The picture above is a still from a stop motion animation we made with Thea starring the crocodile she had built with her mum and myself one weekend and we frequently get involved (not always willingly) in her incredibly imaginative play which is explored through a rich and diverse vocabularly.

I sometimes forget how lucky I am to have been brought up in this kind of a family and the impact this has had on my education and creativity as an adult. I don't come from an educated or prosperous family - I was the first person in my extended family to go to university - but I do come from a family which knew either instinctively or through their own experiece, of the value of playfulness, story and experience and I will always be grateful for that.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

See the full gallery on Posterous

Today I was flumoxed. Couldn't get the door shut on the machine, spent ages staring at new instructions on the wall (you pay centrally these days) and generally looked like the woman whose washing machine has broken and is negotiating a forgotten world.

I use to love this launderette. I loved the professionally hand written funny signs and classic styling. Nearly all that has gone now - the technology may have been updated, but the new signs are mass produced or badly hand written, the classic prints of rural scenes faded to blue and the furniture in dire need of updating.

It looks like this place could be our friend for a while though - it's the tax bill or a new washing machine for now and whilst I understand neither particularly well, I am less afraid of the launderette.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Yesterday I attacked a painting with a heavy black line and I feel so much better for it. I had been working on a painting inspired by a sketch and realised that, in the process of painting, I had lost almost anything that excited and inspired me about my original drawing.

Put a paintbrush in my hand and I try to be delicate, controlled, painterly - and those are things I don't do well. So, in a kill or cure moment yesterday I got out a too-thick paintbrush and the black paint and had some fun.

It still needs some work, but I am so glad I followed my urge, even with the fear that it might be the ruination (is that a word, and if it is, is it the right word?) of the painting.

I love (and am lucky to own one of) the work of the Lorenzo family in Mexico and this is where I aspire to be in my painting style.

I am getting there.....slowly! (realising it and admitting it is the first step!)

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

I have had such a lovely afternoon listening to Ella Fitzgerald and drawing Bird Girl (it's a sketch for a painting).

I must do this more often (I think I might have said that before).

Remind me.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

I have crossed a line. I am glad I have crossed it, because until I did I didn't know it was there. It's the line between bird girl and fairy girl. I don't like fairy girl. She's naff and stupid and girly and trite. I am not going to finish this picture, she doesn't deserve it.

Any similarity between my description of fairy girl and elements of my own personality which I hate are entirely coincidental and could never be proven in a court of law.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

The wooden frames came from SAMS (Scrap Art Material Store) here in Blackburn, a fabulous place for all sorts of scrap finds including seconds of mass produced canvas pictures that they sell for a couple of quid, beautiful fabrics and random plastic stuff. Definitely worth a visit if you make, sew or build stuff and a treasure trove of inspiration for schools.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

I am bird girl, and bird girls can fly.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

The staff held a secret farewell circus on the last day of term, hence the top secret nature and the circus theme (in case you were wondering).

See the full gallery on Posterous

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

I loved it.

I didn't understand all of it, and I loved it.

There were times when I shocked, enthralled, bemused and moved, and I loved it.

I spent rather too long transfixed by a white-painted, naked performer's backside, wondering who did his body paint, did he know they had missed a bit (there was a long pink line in a sea of white), would his mother be coming to the performance and if so would he prepare her for what was to come? Oh, and I loved it.

I went into sensory meltdown immediately after the performance. I wanted to stay, to sit and to absorb, just for a little longer. So we went and stood on the bridge and looked at the moon (!), listened to the accents and languages of the passers by, absorbing the lights and sounds of Salford. I loved it.

I feel different. I feel inspired and reinvigorated, and I really love that.

I saw Marina Abramovic, Antony Hegarty and Willem Defoe on stage, together, being brilliant. I feel lucky.

I loved it.

Photo: Lucie Jansch 

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

See the full gallery on Posterous

It's not quite finished yet, another hour should do it. Another hour of yr 2 pupils telling me that I am a brilliant artist and saying 'Wow, that is beeootiful Miss', 'That's like something you would buy in a market' and 'It's brilliant...... it's very symetrical'.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

See the full gallery on Posterous

See the full gallery on Posterous

See the full gallery on Posterous

See the full gallery on Posterous

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

See the full gallery on Posterous

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Get_Well_Chrissie!_2.wmv Watch on Posterous

Visuals - Cath

Created with love x

Permalink | Leave a comment  »