On the after-school Storytelling and Art course at Llanover Hall, the children decided to create a theatre out of cardboard. As our theme for that week was Sci-fi, everyone made alien characters to star in the show. On the first week, the parents got a preview of act one, with one boy being narrator, others … Continue reading Animating the Aliens
Children’s art
Into the Magical Forest: Creative Schools
Dod yn ôl at fynghoed: this is the title of the latest Creative Schools project I am working on in Tonypandy. In Welsh, it translates as "to return to my trees", or "to return to a balanced state of mind". The aim is to bring the children back into contact with nature through outings, stories, … Continue reading Into the Magical Forest: Creative Schools
Elves and Trolls
Exploring the amazingly magical Iceland this week on the Children's Storytelling and Art Course, where an elf expert is consulted before routing a new road through rock piles that may be elf habitats, and trolls are everywhere in the landscape if you know where to look. Ghost Mazes by George and Caius, and poltergist … Continue reading Elves and Trolls
Chimeric Collages
Travelling back in time to Ancient Greece this week, the children of the Storytelling and Art course heard about the many chimeric creatures that inhabit the myths: Minotaur, Satyr, Harpy, Sphinx, and Chimera. Inspired, they created their own hybrid monsters, cutting up old magazines to produce these fantastic collages.
Windows on the World
In their passports, participants of the Storytelling and Art from Around the World course inserted a picture of themselves as a character of their choosing complete with name, magical attributes, and planet of origin. Using coloured acetates, windows were made to look in upon various characters created in response to folk stories. This week: … Continue reading Windows on the World
Voices on the Wind
For the past five months, I've been a creative practitioner in a primary school, working with a storyteller to produce a record of the stories about the local area surrounding the school. We have covered a vast time period, from the Bronze age, right up to the mid-19th century. I have been using printmaking with … Continue reading Voices on the Wind
Natural Abstracts
Some stunning paintings made in response to two stories from Africa today on the Children's Art and Storytelling course that I am running at Llanover Hall Arts Centre. 'Why the Sun and Moon Live in the Sky' - a Nigerian folktale, and 'The Lion's Whisker' - an Ethiopian Folktale. Elements by Jim age 9 … Continue reading Natural Abstracts
