Welcome to the Mowden Art Gallery

Year 8 Work - 2010-11

Year 8 has been a delight to teach and it is with regret that I have already enjoyed my last art lesson with them. ‘Bon Voyage’ and I wish you good luck and happiness in your future schools.

The year began with a rather grown up and formal tonal Still Life drawing. The results, as you can see, are pretty impressive. A day at the galleries lightened this with the children going first to the Laing Art Gallery to look at the figurative work of Henry Moore. This was followed by a clay workshop creating quick sculptures of the human form. Then it was off to the Quayside for a ‘Sculptural Promenade’ taking in all the wonderful modern sculpture that can be seen. Across the Millennium Bridge to the Baltic to a curator tour of two fantastic exhibitions; one by Anselm Kiefer and the other by Tomas Saraceno. The children then participated in a collagraph print workshop led by artist, Theresa Easton. Back to school and on to soap sculptures – harder than it looks! Just as you are putting the final touch – snap! This was nothing compared to what was to come. Goggles, hammers, chisels, hacksaws - mayhem as breeze block sculpting hit Mowden. Great fun and what a release from pre exam revision!

Year 7 Work - 2010-11

The Human Form has been the focus of attention this year with the children completing observational sketches of each other. This coincided with a Classics trip to Edinburgh where the children were fortunate enough to see a fabulous Surrealist exhibition at the Scottish Gallery of Modern Art. This was accompanied by a workshop led by a professional artist who had been a student of and worked with, the well known artist Eduardo Paolozzi. On returning from Edinburgh, or in some cases Sauveterre, the children embarked on work influenced by the Surrealist movement. Work included drawing in the style of Alberto Giacometti or automatic collage as used frequently in the Movement. Moving forward from these, the children were faced with the problem of ‘drawing with wire’! Their approach to this was fabulous, exhibiting all the 5 R’s of learning – Readiness, Resourcefulness, Resilience, Responsibility and Reflectiveness – Result!! Some children decided to leave their sculpture as wire, whilst others pursued the delights and mess of Mod Roc. Year 7 should be proud of their very individual and accomplished pieces of work.

Year 6 Work - 2010-11

Theme for this year was ‘Mowden’!

The children began with observational line drawings of parts of Mowden Hall making use of the many buildings and views. They also coped very well drawing outside as autumn closed in. This was followed by more observational work this time using water colour paints and techniques to produce realistic paintings. Once completed the children had the opportunity to jazz things up into a more abstract design focussing on colour. Having created their design they adapted and transferred it into a textile panel learning both hand embroidery and machine techniques. The sewing machines being a great hit with both the boys and the girls!

Year 6 has also taken part in a Newcastle gallery day, enjoying the charms of the commercial Biscuit Factory Gallery before visiting the Hatton Gallery, where they took part in a portrait workshop.

Year 5 Work - 2010-11

The children have had a fabulously productive year and I am sure you will agree have produced some exceptional artwork. Based loosely around the theme of ‘Cultures’ they began looking at the Mexican festival of ‘Día de los Muertos’ producing ‘sgraffito’ skulls using oil pastel and Indian ink. They followed this looking at Japanese paper design and packaging, designing and printing their own stationary range. To top this they then embarked on clay work, using for inspiration that piece of British culture – the cup of tea!

Alice in Wonderland’s tea party was of more interest than the morning cuppa! With the majority never having worked with clay and certainly not firing and glazing their pieces, the results are remarkable. They have just begun a project called ‘The Chair’ and have been on a gallery day to Gateshead galleries, beginning at The Shipley, where they took part in a pattern and decoration workshop, and then off to The Baltic to have a presentation and tour of the current exhibitions.

Year 4 Work - 2010-11

The children began the year with an ambitious project based on the Romans and the principle of tessellation. They researched the designs and patterns on the internet in order to produce their own complex paintings.

They then swapped the era and the culture for their next project, North American Indians, and embarked on what was to turn into a marathon journey. From recycling their rubbish to Totem Pole heaven, they built, constructed, stuck, re-stuck, pâpier machéd, drew and painted to just finish (or not) in time!

The year group visited Newcastle Galleries on June 23^rd and saw works from around the world to round up this year’s work and in preparation for next year.

Year 3 Work - 2010-11

This year the children have built on their existing painting skills and learnt the art of pâpier maché. Both projects have developed their ability to sustain a piece of work over a number of weeks.

The painting project built on a visit to Cragside where one of the foci was to look at Victorian architecture. The children then developed paintings based around their own homes. The Canopic jars also linked to the children’s Pre-Prep topic work on Egyptians with the children designing and making their own jars using, would you believe, ‘Pringle’ tubes as a starting point!

Year 2 Work - 2010-11

Throughout the year the children have been engaged in a number of projects each designed to develop the children’s skills in different media. They have chalked, dyed, stuck, painted, formed and woven! Some of their results are here for you to admire below.