After a mad few weeks at RIG, we are finally getting back on top of the blog. The next few posts may be a little late in coming, but here there are none-the-less!

In the last Kid’s Art Club before our Bye to the Bells event on Friday 1st April, we decided to make a collaborative art piece once again inspired by the bells.

At the previous session, we worked to create our very own patterned papers. We used a range of techniques such as printing with different materials, oil pastel rubbings on textured surfaces from the Art Flat, and glue and watercolour resist. These processes encouraged the children to think about texture, colour, pattern and material and to be free with their creativity.

We then used stencils to cut out bell shapes form our printed papers, arranging them with the children on a black sheet of paper, thinking critically about which patterns and colours would look good together. We we careful not to put similar looking bells too close together, and aimed for a loose pattern which also had variance, giving the work a sense of dynamism and rhythm.

We think this would look fab printed as wallpaper or fabric to make cushions and curtains out of… A great way to decorate the art flat!

Although this seems like a fairly simple activity, it allowed the children to experiment with different mark-making techniques, shape and contrast to create a large-scale graphic design piece. By being stretched over 2 sessions, and incorporating a range of distinct steps (pattern-making, producing the shapes, and arranging) the process also allowed the kids to get a sense of progression and of transformation, the end product looking very different to the simple patterns we had started with.

Once again, we have explored the possibility of creating visually striking artwork using simple materials and influence from our surroundings, while referencing iconic place-making landmarks in the area.