A local artist has been inspiring pupils at Logie Primary School thanks to funding from the Finderne Development Trust.
Logie Primary School was awarded £1000 from the Micro Project Fund to engage with Andrea Turner who held a series of sessions at the school.
The workshops which involved all year groups focused on the River Findhorn and the pupils were given the opportunity to work in clay and were given sketch books to progress their work.
Andrea said: “I had done previous art projects at the school, so I already had a good relationship with many of the children. The project has been very enjoyable, the children were engaged and interested and very creative and it’s always a pleasure to work with them.
“This time I proposed we look at the River Findhorn. We talked about the river, its source and progression and thought about what we might find naturally occurring in and around the river. We then looked at four main elements: Trees, fish, birds and rocks. We used clay to sculpt these and then made drawings of the sculptures. I was keen to use clay because of its physical, tactile properties and flexibility, and also because it can be found naturally occurring on river banks.”
Andrea who has a BA (hons) in Fine Art from Goldsmiths College, London added: “Each child has a sketch book to keep their drawings in and to use as a reference for finished pieces. We went outside to draw trees and I brought a selection of stones in for the children to sculpt and draw. One of my main aims was to encourage close and detailed looking so that we notice the diversity and uniqueness of objects, this in turn can be liberating and instil confidence as we realise that with natural forms there is no right or wrong way to interpret as each form, while sharing some characteristics, is however distinctive and unique.”
Ian Chorlton, Development Manager for the Finderne Development Trust said: “I visited the art class and was delighted to see the joy, skill, and variety of interpretations the children were creating based on our local river. This is exactly the kind of initiative the Micro Fund was set up for.”
Helen Douglas, the headteacher of Logie Primary School added: “The sessions with Andrea have been a great opportunity for the school. Some children find it much easier to be expressive through art. Lots of the children, even the youngest ones, now use vocabulary specific to the subject and have amazed themselves with their own progress.”