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Seeing Dragons in the Clouds

Teacher’s Pack

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28 June – 9 August 2008

BILSTON CRAFT GALLERY – GENERAL INFORMATION Craftsense

Craftsense is Bilston Craft Gallery's permanent exhibition displaying the best of our craft and decorative art collections. Pupils can explore three hundred years of craft history together with works from some leading figures of the contemporary craft scene. Pupils will be stimulated to interact with the exhibition in a variety of ways including listening to audio sound-bites, handling materials relating to exhibits and exploring an IT kiosk. An introductory talk to Craftsense is available on request and a Craftsense teacher’s resource book for ideas to use in the exhibition as well as back in school can be obtained from the gallery shop. A video of three different makers, Raw to Refined, can be purchased to support work back in school. Craft Interpreter A Craft Interpreter is available on Wednesdays to help you get the most from your visit – please ring and book if you would like the craft interpreter to lead a session in the gallery for you. On other days introductory talks by gallery staff are available with prior notice. Craft Workshop Room

Schools can use this room for teacher-led activities. The room is equipped with pencils, erasers, rulers, crayons, scissors, paper and other craft equipment, and we can also provide clipboards for drawing in the galleries. Garden

There is a large garden to the rear of the gallery, which is a suitable space for children to eat their lunch in good weather. Facilities

We have male, female and disabled toilets, and there is a lift for disabled access to the first floor and craft workshop room. Gallery Shop

The gallery sells craftwork by practising makers at a range of prices. There are also pocket money items for sale in our gift shop. We sell tea, coffee, hot chocolate and biscuits. Coach Parking

We do not have on site parking for coaches but there is space in the road directly opposite the gallery, and there are various free car parks in Bilston. Opening Hours Sunday and Monday: Closed Tuesday and Thursday: 10:00am- 4pm Wednesday: 10:00am –7pm Friday: 10:00am-1pm Saturday: 11:00am – 4pm

Seeing Dragons in the Clouds The Art of the Imagination �28 June – 9 August 2008

CONTEXT

The link between the makers in this exhibition is their ability to use their imaginations

for transforming one thing into another. The makers have used found objects,

materials and images to start their work and have then given them a new identity and

meaning. Their thought processes and way of working are revealed alongside their

pieces, giving a fascinating insight into the processes the artists have gone through to

produce the final work. Photographs and quotes from the artists, as well as the real

objects that were the starting points for their work, are displayed, ready to be

explored.

All the artists are working with things that interest or intrigue them or they feel

passionate about. Pupils can be inspired by their own passions and use their own

collections and interests as a starting point for explorations and creative endeavours.

ARTISTS

Chila Kumari Burman Chila has used collage and found objects to make a series of revealing self-portraits. They will be shown alongside a self-portrait made ten years ago. Other pieces will provide an insight into Chila’s backgrounds and cultures. Her work is always full of brilliant colour and spontaneity, bringing a flavour of India to Britain. “I don’t plan anything. It just tumbles out,” says this Punjabi-Scouser. www.chila-kumari-burman.co.uk has images of Chila’s work and an artist’s statement. Robert Callender For the past 30 years Robert’s work has been devoted to what can be found washed up in the area between high and low tides on a particular coastline in Scotland. He collects objects he finds and uses them as a starting point for his work as a photographer and sculptor. For the exhibition, he has made a fascinating installation titled Plastic Beach. In it he has recreated thirty individual pieces based on found objects that he has ‘beachcombed’ using cardboard, papier-mâché and paint. Engaging in itself, the piece also raises questions about our ‘throwaway’ society and our attitude to the natural environment.��http://www.robertcallender.co.uk/plastic_beach.htm shows his work in detail and includes a statement from the artist. He explains about the amazing discovery of the nature and the possibilities of the materials he used when recreating the pieces.

Heidi Dash Heidi has made three intricate sculptural ‘pop-ups’ made out of card and paper. Her ideas began by deconstructing plastic toy animals and making them into hybrid beasts. She then photographed them and digitally morphed and distorted them until a new form emerged. The final pieces were the result of folding, cutting and manipulating paper and card into new sculptural forms and meanings. Helen Denerley Helen is a sculptor who always makes animals using found scrap metal. For this exhibition she has made a sculpture of her pet dog, Molly. She began her work, as always, by meticulous observation captured in photographs and vivid life size drawings. http://www.helendenerley.co.uk/ http://www.helendenerley.co.uk/cow01.htm shows a series of photos including ones of Helen’s drawings next to the finished work. Pupils can see how the artist has changed shapes and the position of the cow as she worked – without resorting to an eraser! Lizzie Farey Lizzie has created pieces which began from her childhood memories of seeing the clouds as birds and, more immediately, the swallows and swifts which fly in and out of her workshop. She has explored the shapes and forms evoked by the birds and flight, creating metaphors for these in her chosen natural material, willow. http://www.lizziefarey.co.uk/ is full of inspirational photos of her work, the variety of materials she uses and her collecting shoots in the willow fields. The site has a guestbook which includes messages from students studying for GCSE and A level art who write to say how inspired they were by Lizzie’s work and have studied her as part of their research projects. Nora Fok Nora has made four groups of exhibits, all inspired by her fascination with plants and insects. Her extraordinary, meticulously made pieces are built from plant parts: actual seeds, leaves, petals, acorns, conkers, twigs… anything she could find. The pieces include 125 imaginary insects, a ‘million dollar collar’ made from artichoke seed heads, a wall hanging using skeletonised Cape Gooseberries, and ‘pseudo-flowers’. http://www.norafok.com/ includes an online version of the computer interactive available in the exhibition. Follow the link to ‘Recent Exhibitions’ and click on the ‘Nora’s Seeing Dragons minisite’. There you can explore the materials that Nora uses by playing ‘squish the bugs’, experiment with designing earrings and also see fabulous close up images of the work on display in the exhibition. Linda and Peter Green Peter and Linda have made a series of six prints, printing from a surprising variety of everyday objects including hot water bottles, shoe soles, plastic bags and foil dishes. The results are quirky and gently humorous with titles such as Roller Coaster, Tread Mill and Beach Beacon. The exhibition shows six relief and stencil prints, a framed print showing the sequence of printing the successive stages, called Satellite Flower.

In addition, there are framed examples of relief prints from found objects and a process panel showing how a print is made. Frank Hills Frank lives on the south coast and has taken inspiration for his two paintings from the clouds and sea, hinting at the mysteries that might be concealed there. He begins work by thoroughly researching background material and exploring techniques which are exemplified in accompanying studies, sketch and note books. Leo Hills Leo’s piece is called Secret Garden. He has written the software and used computer graphics to create an interactive virtual world of hidden surprises where nothing is quite as it seems. Visitors use the joystick and buttons to navigate around the world he has created and you can spot things like a snake in the grass, a toad on a stool and dragons in the clouds. Romilly Hills Romilly has written his own software to create a light-hearted website to enable visitors to find out more about Nora Fok and her work.

TOPICS TO EXPLORE

Teachers and group leaders can build the visit into a creative project based around:

• Art and design: collage, mark making, computer images, self portraits, pattern

and texture, paper constructions, printing, imagination

• Maths: using repeat patterns, symmetry, reflection

• ICT: developing images using repeated patterns

• Researching topics and making careful observational drawings

• Pollution and waste disposal: recycling and reusing objects; discussing the

number and variety of discarded objects found by Bob Callender on the beach.

• Science: materials explore the difference between real objects found on the

beach and recreations of this type of debris. What are things in the exhibition

made from? Are they real or recreated by the artist? Why have objects survived

for so long that they can end up on the beach?

• Literacy: using dragons and other imaginary creatures as a starting point for

creative writing, poetry or play scripts. Devise conversations between imaginary

creatures. Pupils need to have researched their creature first and have made a

list of its likes and dislikes, habitat, temperament, and its peculiarities. Ask

them to choose a creature from Heidi Daish’s collection to write about.

KS1 and 2 Links to Art and Design & QCA units of work

• Unit 1A Self portrait – make assemblage pictures around a photo of the pupil. Show the

work by Chila Kumari Burman to inspire the pupils.

• Unit 1C What is sculpture? – research how artists work. See the work of Heidi Daish and

show pupils the toys that have been reassembled into fantasy animals. Look at how

Helen Denerley has sketched her dog to help her work out what will be the correct size

and shape to make her sculpture.

• Unit 4A Viewpoints – Heidi Daish has made fantasy figures from small toys and then

used the silhouettes of these creatures to make fantasy landscapes from card. Leo Hills

has created imaginary animals and places to explore with a computer. Frank Hills has

created imaginary places in his paintings. Pupils can see how these artists have worked

and compare this to their own ideas. What was the same? What was different in the

way they worked? If the pupils were to make a fantasy landscape after seeing this

exhibition, what would they do?

• Unit 4C Journeys – See how Peter and Linda Green have collected textures and used

familiar objects to make prints. Pupils could make a collage picture in a similar style.

Collect rubbings and objects from a journey. The rubbings can be made on coloured

paper and using pencil crayons, wax crayons or graphite. The objects can be used to

print with by inking up and using them as printing blocks. Plan out an image with

coloured paper and then cut out shapes to use from the rubbings and carefully cut out

the printed images. Collage these together to make a reminder of something you saw

on route to the Gallery, like a flower or building.

KS3, GCSE, Creative & Media Diploma and beyond

• Personal studies of artists: Visit the exhibition and then use the artist’s websites to help students make a study of their work.

• Seeing how artists work: examine studies completed by the artists in preparation for their finished works (Frank Hills- mixed media paintings, Helen Denerley – sculptures and preparatory sketches, Heidi Daish – fantasy animals assembled from toys leading to card sculptures and a process folder).

QCA unit 7A Self image - look at the symbolism and way that Chila Kumari Burman has explored identity in her work. Use the visit to encourage pupils to make sketchbook studies to explore and store the ideas sparked off by Chila’s work. QCA unit 7C Recreating landscapes – See how Bob Callender has recreated objects in papier-mâché that he found on the beach. The exhibition has photographs of the beach, some of the actual found objects that Bob collects, photos showing Bob making his papier-mâché sculptures and quotes from the artist about his work. Use this as a

starting point for the pupils recreating their chosen landscape in papier-mâché as a bas relief on board. QCA Unit 8B Animating art – visit the exhibition to see how Leo Hills has created a virtual world in a computer animation, looking at how ideas have been communicated. IDEAS FOR TEACHER-LED ACTIVITIES AT THE GALLERY (all ages)

Encourage responses from the pupils that recognise that everyone has their own personal response to work, and each of these is valid. We all respond in different ways. This will encourage them to communicate their ideas to others. �

• Memory Game- give the pupils a short time to look at one of the works. Ask them to consider: colour, the subject (what is it?), technique (how was it made?), are there repeated images or a single image, size, how does it make you feel. Afterwards ask them to sit facing away from the work and going round the group ask them to remember one thing about it. Then look at the work again and, as a group, discuss what they hadn’t noticed before.

• Look at one work in the exhibition and, in small groups or individually, discuss

what the piece is about. Ask each pupil to say a story about what could be happening, what they think the objects could be doing or why they were collected. The more fantastic the better!

�• Examining different materials around the Gallery – ask the pupils to explore the

‘Plastic Beach’ by Robert Callender. Here the artist has collected objects and also recreated they type of objects that he finds when ‘beachcombing’ on the seashore. Discuss why the found objects can survive on the beach for a long time. Within the exhibition, ask the pupils to find other artworks that use pieces that have been discarded or can be found. Record each on a piece of card and then group according to for example: man-made/natural, waterproof/not, metal/not, same/different material.

• Mark making – fold a piece of A4 paper into half, do this three times. You will now have eight squares marked on the paper. Brainstorm together eight words to write, one in each square (like dots, stripes, criss-cross). Pupils now use the works on display to inform their ideas and help them record their patterns in the squares.

• The Shape Game or One Thing into Another– in pairs, one person draws a shape. They give their shape to another person who then adds to the shape and turns it into something. This idea is used by Anthony Browne in his book The Shape Game where he visits an art gallery. You can see Anthony talking about his book when back in school on a 30 sec video clip using this link: http://www.meettheauthor.com/bookbites/509.html

• How many different types of materials has Chila used in her work ‘Virgin’?

Collecting lots of objects, shapes or images to use in a picture is called an assemblage. Pupils should list all the different collage items, including all the different colours, they can see used by Chila in her portrait. At school they could make an assemblage. Try out lots of ways of arranging the things before sticking them down.

• Use Heidi Daish’s work called Out of the Woods as a starting point for silhouette cut-outs. Find the dragon in the garden at the Craft Gallery. Ask the pupils to sketch the dragon and then cut out the silhouette. Choose part of the dragon to draw round onto card, making a template. Use this to draw round to cut out lots of versions of the same shape. Pupils need to choose what colour/s to use and how to display the cut-outs. They could stick the silhouettes down in sequence, moving successive shapes round to make a pattern. Link to maths language of translation, rotation and reflection. (Book to use the craft workshop so the pupils can explore these ideas whilst at the Gallery)

• Focus on a work. Find the positive and negative spaces and record in sketch

books.

PROJECTS TO DO BACK AT SCHOOL

• On a similar theme to the Shape Game activity above, collect ideas that the pupils can turn into an artwork: thumbprints, a selection of photos of everyday objects (try Sunday colour supplements or house improvement magazines), objects from nature like pebbles, pine cones, feathers, small branches, nuts or vegetables can be changed into insects or animals in collage pictures.

• Extend this idea to make sculptures from found objects or natural forms.

• Use research from reference books or from real life to make detailed drawings

of insects. Note the number of segments to the body and from where eyes and legs come out. Relate the shapes observed in the insects’ bodies to geometric forms such as a square, triangle, oval or trapezium. Design an insect using these common geometrical shapes to help planning it out. To make the paper used for each insect more interesting, first make rubbings of different textures and then cut out the parts of the insect from the paper and use to make a collage picture.

• After examining the sketches of Helen Denerley, pupils can work on life size

sketches of people or animals. Rather than trying to recreate these in metal, older pupils could try corrugated cardboard or just trace the completed sketch onto voile or similar translucent fabric and hang in groups to display.

• Working in the way that Lizzie Farey does, ask pupils to observe insects or birds moving. They should record the patterns and shapes of the movements as marks, working quickly and perhaps without looking at the paper but just letting their hands move across large sheets of paper. They could look at busy ants in the playground, bees visiting flowering plants or birds visiting the school, at home or coming to and from a bird table. Use the sketches to note the shapes of the movement. Recreate the lines in coloured wire, bent and formed around objects to make the required shapes. Glue gun the wire pieces together to display.�

�• Printing using found objects, or stencils. Try pressing found objects into

plasticine and then carefully print, using the plasticine as a printing block.��

• Nature print paper image making – using the photography style paper that is exposed in natural sunlight. Found objects are placed on the paper and left to expose leaving a white image of the object on the paper. This is also available as fabric.�

�• Papier-mâché models of household and kitchen objects. Pupils have to devise

and test various ways for making a mould for the papier-mâché shape from the original objects.

• Collage self-portraits using favourite colours and images. Pupils have to devise a plan for their portrait and plan their approach after collating image boards that show their own likes and interests, thereby giving an insight into the life of the artist.

• Research dragons in myths and folklore, use this to create creatures and a

mythical forest for them to live in or a wasteland made of discarded objects.

• Research other makers who have used ‘imagination’ as a starting point for their work and have been inspired to work in a similar way.

• Experiment with materials other than those used by the makers – paper clay or

salt dough instead of papier-mâché, for instance.

• Examine the issues of environmental responsibility using what the maker Robert Callender found near him as a starting point. What can be found in the school grounds?

• Explore the theme of transformations and imagination using Heidi Daish’s idea

of merging two images or objects. What other forms could be chosen – plants, household items, cars? Explore comparisons with other art forms like music (think of the way Fat Boy Slim and other DJs mix tunes).

• Look at negative space in a composition in the classroom. Use this to create

ideas for card constructions.

• Take the internal or external structures found in nature. Use one to inspire pupils to recreate structures in recycled or found materials.

• Look at the movements recorded in film or photography of animals, birds, fish,

cars etc. examine the underlying concepts of time and motion, the idea of journey and symbols that can represent these ideas. Pupils’ individual work can lead from experimentation from these ideas.

Please contact the Gallery to book a visit:

Bilston Craft Gallery

Mount Pleasant

Bilston

Wolverhampton

WV14 7LU

Tel: 01902 552507

Fax: 01902 552504

E: bilstoncraftgallery@wolverhampton.gov.uk

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