It was July 27th – the start of the school holidays and the first of two days when Hebe and Aylan were coming to spend the day with us.
Hebe is no longer a child but a young adult and Aylan is also verging on his teen years. At 14 and 12 respectively I am never sure how to keep them from being bored so we decided to ‘organise’ an activity based around their mutual interest in photography and art.
Being a professional photographer and web designer Peter oversaw the first day of the project. We provided them with surplus digital cameras: Hebe having charge of the old Nikon D200 and Aylan using the one I prefer which is the Nikon D70. The first hour was spent in discussing composition and showing them how to use the cameras. The ‘imaginary’ project was based around an assignment to design a stained glass window for a local church. Day one would be spent at the church – Blendworth, near Horndean – and day two, which would be in August - would be to explore ideas and to draw/paint their designs in oils on canvas.
Yes, it’s brave of me to think of letting them loose with oil paint but I’ve warned their mother to send them dressed in old clothes and I shall make sure everything is covered up in the studio!
But first, back to Blendworth and Holy Trinity Church.
The photos at the top of the page were taken by Hebe (on the left) and Aylan (on the right)- pretty good, heh? But it got even better as you can see from the selection of photos spattered throughout the text.
We were blessed with an almost dry day and the church and churchyard open to visitors. It is a delightful Victorian church erected in 1850-51 with what I considered to be a strong pagan influence. Perhaps it was just the pair of exquisitely pruned holly trees stationed close to the porch with the most amazing trunks of intertwining branches which created that atmosphere but , as well as the holly trees, there were a number of interesting headstones in the form of ‘log’ crosses carved with trailing ivy.
We set the kids loose with their cameras, helping them to think about unusual angles, themes, colours, emotional responses etc. Peter guided the technical photography and I encouraged them to view with an artistic eye and to think about the ‘brief’.
Aylan's experimental cross.
Hundreds of images later, having exhausted all possibilities both inside and outside of the church we decided fish and chips were in order and departed for the nearest cafe. Lunch over, the afternoon was spent with Peter in his studio learning more about digital processing of their images. Both Peter and I were hugely impressed with the results of their efforts.
Hebe was very interested in the angel headstones and the colours of the flowers. She chose this theme for her painting.
August 9th dawned cloudy but dry and as the sun warmed so did my spirits. I had said that we would work in oils but as the moment of truth drew near I had begun to recall how messy the combination of Aylan and oil paints might be. Not to be put off, I decided to set up the easels in the garden.
We began the day reviewing the photos and discussing ideas. Then they set to work drawing freely on a large sheet of paper in charcoal. Aylan worked quickly, spurred on by the promise of a KFC for lunch and the preference for TV over canvas!
However, speed produced some very promising work as you can see from the photos.
Hebe, progressed at a more measured pace and in a totally different style. Her picture is to be finished at a later date as she wanted to combine ink inscriptions over the paint once it had dried.
All in all, the day was a success and I think we all enjoyed it- although Aylan’s face was the real picture of the day when I debated whether or not he would need a shower to scrub the paint from his flesh!
I had discussed the concept of abstraction with them and I have to admit that my own interest in this form of art was re-awakened and I’m itching to get to paint and canvas and the freedom of expression which Aylan and Hebe exhibited. So you see we all learnt something from the session.
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