Aberporth Primary | Ysgol Saron | Ysgol Llangadog | Ysgol Llangynfelyn
Morriston Primary | St. Joseph's Primary

My Square Mile 2006 - Places and Spaces
Ysgol Aberporth
Artist's Statement | Teacher's Statement

Day 1

 

Day 2

Day 3

 

Day 4

 

Townscapes

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Artist's Statement

Aberporth Primary School

Artist: Helen Booth

Aberporth itself is a small fishing village in West Wales. A place where the sea dominates the landscape and the weather can be seen approaching far out to sea, sending sunshine and rain to visit the inhabitants. It is a place with a strong identity, plenty of history and a beautiful coastline.

We spent the first day walking and talking, the children introducing me to their environment and me sharing my thoughts on what I saw. Their initial drawings were small, intimate and incredibly detailed.

When we returned to class I gave them large pieces of paper to re-visit their walk. We talked about space and the amount of time that it took to walk the route. The drawings were made with Chinese inks and water, they were meditative and consuming. We finished with speed drawings of the same subject. The children could see that you could also draw the same places in 10 seconds.

What was strange about Aberporth was the sea. I initially felt that it would be a real force, an important part of the project, but I found that it was in fact more like a barrier, like a piece of paper to a pen; only being able to mark the surface. The Beach was like a distinct line where the village definitely stopped. I think that this was why the drawings were so tight, that they had to fit on the page, they weren’t allowed to spread.

The children loved the detail, they loved the curves in the stained glass and the metal railings in town, but the rigidity of their original drawings became the wall that I wanted to push down. I introduced the children to different ways to make marks and different materials to work with. They experimented with ceramics, pen and ink, paper, watercolours, collage and very large scale drawings, working as individuals and as a team.

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Teacher's Statement

Ysgol Gynradd Gymunedol Aberporth

Class Teacher: E W Jones

During the Autumn term 2006 years 3 and 4 children from Aberporth School have been working with the artist Mrs Helen Booth on the ‘My Square Mile’ project. For most of the children this was their first opportunity to work with an artist over a period of time and this has been a valuable experience in itself. During the session the children have had the opportunity to work with different mediums e.g. pen and ink , charcoal , paint etc and also different techniques e.g sketching , tile painting ,speed drawing etc. They have worked individually, in small groups and as a class to produce work for this project.

By taking part in this project the pupils have developed their ideas and perception of their local area and expressed these creatively. The different activities gave all the children the chance to extend their creative vocabulary and to develop their artistic styles. One benefit of this project is that it offers continuity and this is reflected positively in the ideas and work produced by the children. The children have enjoyed taking part in this project and I feel they have also learnt a lot about their local area. Here are some of their comments:

“ I really enjoyed all the different things we did with Helen”,
Daniel

“ It was nice to work with my friends to make a giant map of the village”.
Ciera

“ I noticed new things about Aberporth from my art work on the local area,”
Robin

“ It was fun ,”
Becky and Daisy ( Children from the Special needs unit)

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