It once again has been a busy start to the year and lots have new projects and plans are being explored. I apologise for not updating this sooner but I am aiming to keep you more aware of what has been happening in St Julian´s Art department. 


It is crucial that Art students have the opportunity to view, first hand, other artists work. Fortunately Year 10 art students, this week, have had the experience of engaging with the diverse work of Vieira da Silva in Lisbon. They had the opportunity to discuss her work and learnt of the her commitment and focus of being a female artists in the 1930´s. Pupils related a lot of their previous knowledge to her work and what inspired her. Individuals have taken many different concepts and information from their visit and have used their own observation skills to engage with the movement in her work. Well done to all the Year 10 Pupils for their curiosity and commitment to their own learning. 

Also this week, Year 12 and 13 Visual Art students were given an introductory workshop into Chinese Painting by visiting Chinese Artist, Jingweh Liang.  In this workshop the students learnt about the cultural significance, history and techniques used in Chinese painting.  The practical workshop provided students with hands on experience of working with the inks, pigments, paper and brushwork involved in traditional Chinese painting. Students and teachers reveled in this experience and were excited by the unfamiliar materials. Exciting work has been produced by all. 

IB Visual Arts 2015

Dear All, I have been away for awhile and will go away for awhile. But this blog will continue with my fabulous colleagues at St. Julian's. I has been an amazing time for the past 9 years in this incredible Art department. I leave you our new IB video. Just press the photo above to watch.

Our current exhibition at St. Julian's Palacio

I wish to share with you a few pages from our school magazine with examples of work from year 6 to year 9, which are now on display in our gallery in the Palacio. These pages were published on the Lighthouse magazine two weeks ago.

Drawing bottles and glasses

Today I found these images of last summer's year 9 internal art exams . We ask students to draw a bottle and a glass using a pencil. They have one hour and 20 minutes to do it and we ask them to try to apply all the techniques they have learned to the best of their ability. We then mark them on specific criteria such as quality of line, shading, mark making, composition etc. Looking at these I am impressed with how our students can draw at this age.

We are back with Life Drawing

Dear readers, once again I ask for your apology for the prolonged absence. We are back at work in the Art Department. Life Drawing has started again and I leave you a few early sketches of what will be a set of outstanding oil paintings.

Miguel Branco visits St. Julian's

Yesterday morning Miguel came to visit the Art department and brought with him a few of his works to show our lucky y12's. I have to say I am impressed with how all the students took this opportunity to learn about Miguel, to question him with pertinent questions and to reflect on their own practice. They have been experimenting with paints and I leave you a few transcriptions of Miguel Branco's works. Thank you Miguel!

Francisco Zhan

Francisco completed his IB at St. Julian's in 2012. He was a brilliant Art student and went to study a Foundation year in Art and Design at Falmouth. He is now studying at Goldsmiths in London.
Francisco wrote to the Art Department Blog updating us on his experience as an art student and sent us some examples of his work. Thank you Francisco, it is so great to hear from you!

"Hello my name's Francisco. I study BA Fine Art at Goldsmiths University in London. Personal statements don’t fit my work, so instead I give you this:

 ~

Fake tourism

Acquired taste

Very present very useless

home to the homeless, the single

motherland

Peas not peace

...s

 ~

In art school, I'm allocated an individual studio space which I can use anytime. I'm free to learn skills in any of the specialist workshops: wood, metal, casting, ceramics, photography, textiles, printmaking, sound and multimedia. I present my work several times a term to peers and tutors, who are practising artists. I have lectures on visual cultures and write essays in response.

Everybody in the course comes from different countries and arts teaching backgrounds; for instance I know a guy in first year who so far has been an actor, stage engineer and primary school teacher. For the first time he is now painting. Somebody else has been trained their entire life in classical painting and is now giving it a go at making an installation with sea salt and toy figurines to express an idea that wouldn’t otherwise be possible. As the course is open and entirely self-directed, it’s most enriching to literally learn from each other.

Often students collaborate to organise exhibitions and performance events outside of art school to show their work - the school is happy to lend some equipment to mount shows.

I graduate next year. In the future I hope to be a practising artist. Or a writer. Or a curator. Or an interior or fashion designer. Or a carpenter. Or an educator. Or a tour guide. Or a masseuse. Or a something else that doesn't yet have a name. Or all of the above.

At best, one would hope to graduate from an art course with the technical confidence to produce any object, image or performance they have in mind; a sensibility to be able to sustain a creative contemporary practice (whether or not an art practice); and a knowledge of marketing strategies. However, like in any course, you only get as much as you make of it. So neither art nor any other course is ever an easy way out. To study a degree is to take a subject seriously. And to love it."

Video: http://vimeo.com/zhanfrancisco/idontknowhowtoknit