Papier Mache Sculptures at Huish Academy

Guided by artist, Hilda Vaughan, beautiful bird sculptures began to emerge from garden wire and paper pulp.  

  

The Great Cranes were inspiration for the project but the sculptures evolved in many different forms as each student explored their own creative interpretation.  

Damon Bridge, Great Crane Project Manager, calls in 

The young people worked with great focus and achieved some fantastic results. Intergenerational volunteers came along to the workshops, working with the students and enriching the experience.

These sculptures, along with the other artwork created through this project (painted decoys, wire work etc) will be displayed at Slimbridge Wetlands Centre in Gloucestershire in the early Summer and in Somerset Art Weeks Sept/Oct 2011.
Keep an eye on this blog for details nearer the time - come and see the work!

 

Some stunning finished pieces

Huish Episcopi Academy - Great Crane Art Workshops

Hilda Vaughan initially got involved in the Great Crane Project as a volunteer - until we discovered her wealth of artistic talent!  Hilda has now been engaged by Somerset Art Works (SAW) to deliver a series of Great Crane inspired art workshops for Year 8 pupils at Huish Episcopi Academy.

The first session involved an introduction to the Great Crane Project and visit to Greylake Nature Reserve to learn about the importance of the Somerset Levels habitat.  Students took sketchbooks and collected images and ideas for future workshops.


Over the next few weeks the 14 students - aged 12 and 13 - will be designing and creating papier mache crane inspired sculptures.  These will be exhibited in Somerset Art Weeks 2011 together with all the other art work created through the Great Crane Art Project.


These are some images from the intro session at the school.

The session started with an introduction to the wider Great Crane Project

Hilda brought examples of crane sculptures to show the students

Second Community Workshop - Art in Nature - Sat 13 November 2010

Our second community workshop at the West Sedgemoor RSPB Reserve provided participants with an exciting opportunity to not only see the cranes feeding, but also flying, quite a sight!  After a morning session out on the reserve the afternoon was spent creating crane-inspired artwork under the guidance artist Kitty Hillier. 

Kitty gave instructions about mixing paint colours and creating a variety of tones.  No black paint was provided so dark colours had to be mixed using available colours.  This created some beautiful effects and it was amazing to see the colours of the landscape and  'mood' of the open moor and expanses of sky reflected in the art work.

These images are from the 13 November workshop (see previous posts for images from 25 October).  Look out for an exciting installation of the life-size painted crane cut-outs in Somerset Art Weeks Autumn 2011.

Damon Bridge introducing the Great Crane Project

Beautiful landscape inspired art work

Talking about the art work is an important aspect of the workshop

Cranes propped up against the wall to dry

Art in Nature - Community Workshops

Held at the West Sedgemoor RSPB Reserve, just outside Curry Rivel, these workshops were an opportunity for local people to join the Great Crane Project and discover the wonders of cranes. We started by exploring the wetland habitat via trailer ride and short walk in the morning and then spent the afternoon creating crane-inspired artwork under the guidance of a professional local artist Kitty Hillier.

On 25th October we were lucky enough to see the cranes from the hide - an unexpected and rare treat!

The following pictures are images from the 25th October workshop.  The life-size painted crane cut-outs will be used as part of an outdoor installation for Somerset Art Weeks Autumn 2011.

All aboard the trailer for an exploration of the wetland habitat

Walk led by Amy, one of the crane 'mums'

In the hide 

We couldn't believe how lucky we were to actually see the cranes feeding nearby

Back to the barn, we fixed bamboo legs to the crane cut-outs and began to paint

Artist Kitty Hillier guided the process, encouraging everyone to use their own

 creative ideas to mix paint colours and design their own crane

It was cold in the barn but everyone worked with great concentration

Amy and Roland have been busy rearing and nurturing the young cranes,
here they are getting involved in the art workshop

  

WIRE WORKSHOP 2 - HIGH HAM PRIMARY SCHOOL - MONDAY 11th OCTOBER

Posted by Fiona Campbell - Primary School Lead Artist
Following on from the first Workshop (see below), plans for the second were similar.  My wire workshop followed swiftly on from a session about the Great Crane Project run by Great Crane Project volunteers, all of whom remained with me to help the children with the workshop and train for later workshops which they would be delivering themselves.

The High Ham pupils were younger - years 3 & 4 - so despite the success of Friday's Workshop, I did have concerns about whether they would be able to manipulate the wire and tools sufficiently, with effective results.  Again, expectations were exceeded and I was very impressed by their sensible yet enthusiastic approach to the 2 hour session.  They knew their stuff on cranes - put to the test during the introduction - and produced some delightful line drawings for their templates, based on crane imagery (as in Workshop 1).

It was good to see a few bulrushes appear in this workshop - a little simpler to construct but very strong forms nevertheless!  Some very dextrous twisting, connecting and pattern-making emerged from young fingers - with a little help from adults.  Zigzag patterns and spirals suggesting feathers or wings were beautifully created, and most students managed to complete their pieces - with a mammoth final effort in the last 15 minutes!  

 

All students, in both Workshops, seemed to have been very proud of their work as we discussed it at the end, leaving with a great sense of achievement in their creations.  I hope most will manage to see their work on display next year at Somerset Art Works 2011.