Shattered Beach

I created this painting using the process outlined in my previous post "circles". It was developed from this original painting:




Here are some images of the 'shattering' stage of the process:







I then merged it with another image to create the final, softer, painting above.

Circles

Over the holidays I decided I wanted to try to further explore and develop some of my paintings by shattering them into different layers. I use a technique where I arrange the images into a slideshow with a specific transition effect applied and them capture screenshots of the images as they are 'shattering' and 'dissolving' during the transitions. I resize and rearrange the images to get different effects. This is a very exciting and 'wayfaring' process as you can never predict the exact effect that will be produced, the impact of the arrangement of images, or the moment of capture.

I then take the screenshots and further develop them using a wide range of digital painting and photographic tools until I feel a sense of completion.

I created the image above using the process I have outlined from this original painting:




This was the interim stage before I added colour:

Through the brightness

This image was developed from a simple photograph of an area of the pavement:




I felt that the composition of the initial image clearly suggested a simple landscape. Here are some images of the development of the piece:
















I liked the hazy feel of gazing into the bright sunlight that was created but I wanted to add a focal point. Thus I merged the image with another to create the final piece:

Dove

This image started out life as a photograph of a painting of folds in a silk dress. Although not a 'landscape' photo as most of my previous work, Iliked the smoothness of the tonal gradations and the way in which the fabric seemed to flow and wanted to develop it further:




As I worked on the photo, the dove began to appear very clearly and suddenly as I cropped and rotated the image. I let this idea of the dove lead what I was doing:

Flower

I created this flower painting from this simple photograph:




I liked the contrast between the man-made, regular shapes of the fence and the organic shapes of the leaves and I wanted to reflect this in the finished piece. I explored and developed the piece as follows:


























I then used a range of digital painting tools to blend and smudge the image in order to create a sense of contrast similar to that of the original image:

Sunset

I really liked the composition of this photograph taken outside of my house. I also liked the strong contrast between the smooth, man made grey of the pipe with the curving, organic, reds of the creeping plant:



I focused on the area of the pipe and leaves as ii thought this contrast was the most striking part of the image. Iexplored and developed it in a number of ways until it developed into a sunset image:

Barcelona Seminars: Task 4

QUESTION: Given the huge pressure schools are under to produce ‘exam results’ how can schools at the same time encourage and develop a culture of creativity and risk taking?

To a large extent the constraints of producing exam results in secondary school does stunt the growth of true creativity in the secondary classroom. However, in the current economic climate of the western world, it is vital that this changes and that creativity does become more prominent as Hulme et al, 2011, explain: “Interest in creativity in education has been renewed through the association of creative capacity with economic growth. Creativity is re-conceptualised as an ‘employability’ attribute” (p. 439).

Although the development of CfE is serving to move creativity “from the periphery to occupy a more central position within policies informing public education” (Hulme et al, 2011, p. 445) there are still many barriers. If a genuine culture of creativity and risk taking is to be fostered, changes will need to take place at both an individual and governmental level: “Changes in practice will be dependent on (1) the capacity and will of the profession to ‘unlearn’ established practices and habitual responses and (2) the capacity of the system to adopt a stronger learner orientation over a performance orientation” (Hulme et al, 2011, p. 445).

At a grassroots level teachers can encourage creativity and risk taking through a change in their everyday methodologies and attitudes. For example, in terms of assessment, a greater focus on formative assessment with “the belief that dispositions to learning are not fixed but can be altered with appropriate feedback from skilled teachers” (Hulme et al, 2011, p. 443) can be very significant in the development of all aspects of learning, including creativity. Using a constant process formative review and evaluation of work as a guide for it’s direction rather than a pre-set end product allows the work to be open ended and thus more creative. It is a process of “continual correction, in response to an ongoing perceptual monitoring of the unfolding task” (Ingold, 2011, p. 217).

A shift in many teacher’s attitudes would also help to foster creativity and risk taking. On a larger scale, teachers must take courage and embrace the flexibility and lack of prescription offered by CfE rather than demand increased levels of exemplification: “The pressure from sections of the profession for centrally provided exemplification may yet produce the re-establishment of new targets for authorised versions of creativity” (Hulme et al, 2011 p. 445). 

On a more individual level, within each classroom, the teacher must move away from a didactic, authoritarian view of themselves and adopt much more of an equal stance as co-learners with pupils. Friere, 2006, summarises this shift: ‘Through dialogue, the teacher-of-the-students and the students-of-the-teacher cease to exist and a new term emerges: teacher-student with student-teachers. The teacher is no longer merely the one who teaches, but one who is himself taught in dialogue with the students, who in turn teach while also being taught. They become jointly responsible for a process in which all grow” (p. 80). Thus creativity is fostered as ”the students - no longer docile listeners - are now critical co-investigators with the teacher” (Friere, 2006, p. 81). 

Within an arts context, a simple example of this would be to have both teacher and pupils producing their own artwork concurrently in the classroom / studio setting. This is very much part of the underpinning principles of Room 13 (Gibb, 2012) and KOS (Artwork Scotland, 2012) and it’s benefits are summed up as follows: “Each Room 13 studio facilitates the work of young artists alongside a professional adult artist in residence, providing an exchange of ideas, skills and experience across the ages. The result is an ongoing collaboration between adults and young people and a thriving culture of philosophical enquiry driven by a motivation to think and to learn” (Gibb, 2012, p. 237).

References

Artwork Scotland, 2012. Tim Rollins and KOS http://artworksscotland.wordpress.com/media-films-and-interviews/

Friere, P., 2006. Pedagogy of the Oppressed (30th Anniversary edition). New York: Continuum.

Gibb, C., 2012. Room 13: The Movement and International Network. In IJADE 31.3

Hulme, M., Menter. I. and Conroy, J., 2011. Creativity in Scottish School Curriculum and Pedagogy. In Sefton-Green, J. et al (eds) The Routledge International Handbook of Creative Creativity Learning. London: Routledge. Ch 44.

Ingold, T., 2011. The Textuality of Making. In: T. Ingold Being Alive: Essays on Movement, Knowledge and Description. London: Routledge. Ch 17.