Art

Contact teachers: Mrs Benson, Mr Jessett and Mr Lightley.

The Art Department at KESH Academy is committed to providing students with a wide range of learning experiences.

At Key Stage 3 we aim to balance the development of key skills with opportunities to develop expertise using a wide range of materials and techniques. Students produce 3D work for at least one of three projects completed each year and also have the opportunity to work 'Creative Textiles'.

'Visual Diaries' are used to collect information and develop ideas. 'Art Club' is popular with students and our KS3 coordinator works with a rotating group of students to produce a range of project work such as set and costume design for the drama department.

At Key Stage 4 students have the option of following either GCSE or BTEC Level 2 Diploma in Art & Design courses. Students regularly benefit from visits to both local and national museums and galleries and through working in collaboration with Artists in Residence. Within the Sixth Form, students are able to specialise in areas of personal interest.Our Sixth Form studio has been designed and furnished to provide students with a professional working environment. Students enjoy their studio space and quickly develop good self-directed learning skills. The studio is easily accessible and tutors are always on hand should a student need guidance at any time.

Willow Sculpture Workshop

Question. What’s brown and sticky?

Answer. A stick!

And sticks were very much the order of the day recently as on the 12^th of July this term we had the opportunity to hire the services of the professional willow sculptor and furniture maker Spencer Jenkins.

Spencer spent the day with us two years ago when he worked with our Year 11 Btec Art and Design group, the day was such a success that we were very excited to be able to invite him back. This time not only did our current Year 10 Btec Art and Design students get to work from him but we also compiled a group of specially selected Artists from Years 7, 8 and 9 to have the privilege of learning very traditional skills in willow sculpture.

Our Btec students have begun to work on a project on the theme of ‘Natural Forms’ and so they were able to work from their own preparatory drawings and also from objects found in nature, such as seeds and seed pods, that had been brought in by Spencer. After some instruction on how to work with the willow and a short practise exercise, the students began to create interesting and bold structures based on flowers, seeds and seed pods. The natural materials leant themselves extremely well to the theme that the students were working on and so before too long they were well on their way to creating some beautiful and organic looking willow sculptures.

Meanwhile, after our Key Stage 3 students had tackled the same introductory exercise, they had the task of finding inspiration from a series of images of insect life. In no time at all the students had decided what they wanted to make and had also decided if they were working independently or as part of a small group. The students then spent the rest of the day constructing, bending and weaving the willow to create a menagerie of outsized creepy crawlies, such as, an ant, a body louse, a couple of butterflies, a dragonfly and a bertle (Which if you didn’t know, is a cross between a beetle and a turtle.)

All in all it was another successful day and we are very grateful to Spencer for the opportunity that he provided for us and look forward to inviting him in again soon.

If you are interested in seeing Spencer’s work then why not visit his website at www.spencerjenkins.com.