textiles issue - The National Society for Education in Art and Design

18Textile artist – Naomi Renolf19Early Yearsbuild up images in their minds that theycan use later on. If you are going to workon trees, then sketching is necessary sothat the children have an understanding ofthe structure of a tree.At this stage, you can introduce thepictures of layered textile seascapes.Discuss how they are made by building upthe surface using layers of paint, fabricand stitching. Look at the materialsavailable in the classroom and discusshow these could be used to build uppictures in a similar way, starting from asimple painted background. Explain thatflat materials need to be applied first andthree-dimensional materials last.The children can then create the paintedbackgrounds that will be the first layer oftheir work. The surface to be worked onneeds to be completely covered withpaint. The colours chosen can be putstraight on to it and mixing will happen asthe paints are brushed to cover thesurface. If the paint is applied thickly, thestrips or pieces of fabric for the next layercan be placed straight on to the wet paint.This can create interesting textures wherethe paint comes through the materialsplaced on it. PVA glue may be needed ifthe paint starts to dry. The amount ofbackground paint left uncovered will varyfrom picture to picture. The work shouldnow be left to dry completely.At this stage, it is a good idea to reviewwhat the children have done and discusshow the work can be taken forward. Forexample, more fabric or paper can beadded to overlap what is already in placeand to create features of the seascape.Threads, beads and other threedimensionalmaterials can be added too.ResourcesAcrylic or ready-mixed paint, a variety ofpapers, textiles, threads, beads, sequins,any other suitable bits and pieces, PVAglue, scissors, paintbrushesOther ideasTextured papersPapers with a variety of textures can becreated using different techniques, forexample marbling, spraying, spongingand splattering. These can be prepared inadvance and then used cut or torn tocreate interesting effects in the layeredpictures.LandscapesLandscape pictures could be built up inexactly the same way as the seascapes.The Magic Fish– an Early Years project thatinspired work with KS2Sylwia Arneil, from St Aloysius RCPrimary School in Oxford, describes atextiles project that was initiallyundertaken with Year 1 pupils after readingthe story The Magic Fish. It led to work infelt, with the school KS2 art club using thesame inspiration.Literacy starting pointIt all started with the story of The MagicFish, which I read to the children the otherday. The story was met with greatexcitement and interest, perhaps becauseit was already known to the majority ofthem, or maybe because it had all thequalities of a classic tale. Many of thechildren started wondering what theymight wish for if they were lucky enough tocatch a magic fish, and perhaps what itmight look like. The discussion thatfollowed was full of ideas and descriptivelanguage – it looked as if the fish hadalready worked some of its magic in thechildren’s imaginations!The Golden Fishby Paul KleePaul Klee, who was a great admirer ofchildren’s art, created in this painting a verysimply composed but richly detailedunderwater world. I showed the childrenthe painting in large scale on an interactivewhiteboard, which was very helpful andmade the session, with 27 children, mucheasier to run. The children could easily readthe picture, but needed to be helped andguided a little bit to notice and appreciatedetails like the variety of seaweed, thewaves, the air bubbles and the patterns onthe fish. Once prompted, they becameextremely absorbed in analysing thepainting and learned to observe andenquire beyond the obvious.need to use gold or silver paint – thecontrast between colours can make thingsappear shiny. The children found thisdiscussion very interesting and inspiringand were ready to create their ownartwork.Oil pastel drawingsI asked the children to draw their ownmagic fish on a piece of A4 paper. I handedout the reproductions of Klee’s painting,explaining that they could be used as asupporting resource. I did not want thechildren to copy the painting, but to use itas an inspiration and also as a reminder ofwhat a finished picture should look like, asfive-year-olds tend to sketch rather thanstudy. Prior to this, we discussed thetechnical details of using oil pastel: thedifferent mark-making that can beachieved, depending on the position of thepastel, blending to mix colours, and so on.Some children found the drawing prettychallenging, as they got a bit tired of filling‘all this space’ with pastel. For this reason,we completed the drawings over twoseparate lessons. But the effort wasworthwhile and the results wereoutstanding. Every picture had its ownunique flavour: the different shapes of fish,colours and patterns, the watersurrounding the fish, and the atmosphere –all were individual.Painting on fabricWe now entered the final phase of ourproject: a big textile ‘ocean’ made out ofassembled individual pieces. I was luckyenough to have two fantastic studentsworking with me, which made things runsmoothly, and was able to fit it into a twohoursession. I would recommend that youenlist the help of at least one other adult atthis stage.I knew from the beginning that I wanted tocreate a painted fabric background(representing the water), and attachcollage-like fish to it, as I believed this wasthe best technique for this age group andwould work for a large class. I wasn’t sure,We then discussed the choice of coloursand the contrasts they create. Weobserved that to make something appearshiny and bright we do not necessarilySTART THE MAGAZINE FOR PRIMARY AND PRE-SCHOOL TEACHERS OF ART, CRAFT AND DESIGNSTART THE MAGAZINE FOR PRIMARY AND PRE-SCHOOL TEACHERS OF ART, CRAFT AND DESIGN