This week in the kid’s art class, we once again took inspiration from the Drumfrochar Road flats, as well as the three Courts in Broomhill. Karen had mentioned once, that whenever she passes the flats at night time, and sees the glowing lights through the windows, she wonders about all the different people living inside, and the lives they lead. We also talked about how when the rooms are lit up with different colours, light shining off painted walls and through curtains, patterns are made creating a kind of light installation for passers-by.

We showed the kids some photographs to introduce them to the theme we would be working on.

source: http://punirs.tumblr.com/post/69997651885

source: http://petapixel.com/2011/11/07/living-pictures-photo-collages-of-windows-in-cities-around-the-world/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:%2520PetaPixel%2520(PetaPixel)&utm_content=Google%2520International

While we were interested in the lights shining from inside out, we also wanted yo experiment making work using light coming from the outside in, in the style of stained glass windows, and so we decided to make sun-catchers.

We began by making circular sun-catchers using paper plates, tissues paper and coloured plastic. The kids each cut a large circle out of the centre of their plate and then traced around it onto tissue paper, also cutting this circle out and sticking into the plate. This formed the basis for the sun-catcher, onto which the kids then cut shapes of different coloured plastics to make patters.

We had loads of fun holding the plastics up to our eyes to make the whole room blue or red, and layering the different colours to make new colours, such as yellow and blue to make green.

After we had finished with our circular sun-catchers, we began making ones in the style of the blocks of flats. We cut out squares in pieces of paper, and made patterns filling in the windows with different colours. These looks really great up on the inside of our windows, kind of like we were looking at two rows of flats – the sun-catchers, and the ones behind.

In this session, the kids had to practice their fine motor skills, develop a sense of pattern and experiment with colour. Next week, we are going to develop this session by encouraging the kids to write stories about the  community in Broomhill, imagining what the residents in the flats are doing. We’ll record these stories with a view to play them in an upcoming event celebrating the Drumfrochar Road flats (more details soon).

The kids art class runs every Wednesday from 3.30pm-5.30pm as 12 Broomhill Court and is FREE to attend.