Creative Start to the Year for the Art Department

Last week was a very busy but creative week in the Art Department.

Artist in residence Ian Murphy spent the week working with Sixth Form artists, focusing on developing drawing skills.  Alongside his teaching, he also staged an exhibition in the Sir Terry Frost Gallery of his stunning painting and drawing inspired by his travels.  The exhibition was not only enjoyed by Senior School pupils; Ian also spent time discussing his work with Year Six pupils from King’s St Alban’s and Sixth Form art students from Christopher Whitehead Language College.

The residency culminated with a Saturday drawing workshop that gave pupils the opportunity to put into practice the skills they had developed during the week and produce an ambitious A1 drawing.  To develop their drawing skills further, the first of a series of evening life-drawing sessions also started for the Sixth Form this week; this challenging discipline will enable students to compile work for their coursework portfolios.

In addition to their artist in residence, the Art Department have opened their doors to many other visitors in recent days; on Saturday they invited artists of all ages to take part in this year’s Big Draw event. Inspired by the theme of Colour, pupils, friends and family were able to decorate a kite with colour and pattern to fill the gallery with an array of beautiful designs.

Parents’ printmaking evening classes have also started this week.  Open to parents of pupils from the Senior School and the two Junior Schools, the sessions will give participants an introduction to mono-printing, etching and collagraph printing, under the expert guidance of a visiting printmaker.

Finally, the art department has also been celebrating the news that Lucy Turner, who completed her A Levels last summer, has had one of her Upper Sixth sculptures selected by the Royal Society of British Artists to be exhibited as part of their Annual Exhibition at the prestigious Mall Galleries in London.  This is a wonderful achievement, particularly as only 20 pieces were selected from across the country; it is testament to the dedication and creativity Lucy showed throughout her A Level studies.  We are grateful to The Arts Society Worcester, who nominated her work, and we look forward to seeing the sculpture on display in March.