Endangered Species Screensaver

This image is a compilation of various poster ideas created by year 7 students. Well done to everyone who took part, there were some fantastic posters and congratulations to Ezme Whitehouse and Laura Wilding for winning the inhouse competition.

The national poster competition was organised by the British Science Association as part of National Science & Engineering Week.  There were 3,376 entries in the KS2 category and although none of our entries won we all enjoyed taking part. 

Quilts UK Malvern

'Endless Forms', a wall hanging created by 8EP and 8JLT as part of the art residency will be on show at Quilts UK, Three Counties Showground, Malvern from 13th to 16th May.  I will be at the show Sunday and I'm looking forward to seeing the students' work in a professional setting.  Drop in if you have the chance, I'm sure it will be a lovely show.

Time Lapse Photography

Time Lapse photography is often used on Natural History programmes to show such things as the opening of a flower, the melting of snow etc and a group of Yr 9 students have been trying out the technique using a plant as a prop.  They agitated the leaves by spraying the plant with water and wafting air at it but we found that the movement was very subtle....you can see it better in the photo below where we have superimposed all the images

Endanger Rangers

As part of National Science & Engineering Week, I've been working with Yr 7 students to produce posters in response to the 'Endanger Rangers' competition launched by The British Science Association.  Students had to carry out research about an endangered animal & then present it in a visual form.  All the research had to be completed in the students' own time so I was very impressed that the majority of the class I worked with had done the background work which enabled them to then have fun with paints, stamps and glitter. 

A Riot of Colour

....that's how my workroom is looking at the moment as we start to put together the final hangings.  I've been busy the last week cutting up all the printed fabric panels created by the students and trying different ways of putting them together to form a coherent whole.  It's a long job and there's still alot of work to do to complete the hangings but I can see now that they will look vibrant, joyful and definitely be a riot of colour.

Feltmaking

Students have been learning a very traditional textile skill this term - feltmaking.  Felt is actually the oldest fabric known to man with felted artefacts dating back to 600BC!  During feltmaking, wool fibres are agitated with heat, water and soap causing them to mat together to form a dense fibre.  Anyone who has shrunk their best wool jumper in the washing machine has effectively made felt!  None of the students had seen real felt before, only the synthetic squares often used for craft which are a poor imitation of the real thing.  It's a very hands on process -  energetic and very clean since we use lots of soap.  The students have moved quickly from making simple flat felt:

to making more advanced 3-D pod shapes, using their drawings as inspiration:

Natural Dyes

In my own art practice I try to be as eco friendly as possible and often use natural materials foraged from around my home to dye cloth.  Last week I showed students how materials we had found around the school site could be used as non toxic dyes. We wrapped cloth around items which rust, sprayed them with water and vinegar, popped them in a plastic bag and left the bag in a warm place for 3 days.  The students haven't seen the results yet but I think they will be amazed by the markings left on the cloth.....