Local artist Angelica Vanasse reports on recent ‘Alphabet Collages’ workshops for schools, inspired by Sir Peter Blake’s ‘An Alphabet’ display:
” Sir Peter Blake’s fantastic collection of prints, An Alphabet, provided the perfect inspiration for a series of school workshops at the Walker Art Gallery last month. The activity involved drawing, collage and layering, focusing on the letters of the alphabet as subject matter and taking inspiration from the ‘found-object / collage’ aesthetic of prints.
Both primary and secondary school groups took part, starting with a closer look at the artworks. There’s so much imagery in each one – lots to look at, discover, and discuss. We talked about how the prints were made and warmed up with some drawing, before getting creative with collage. We also looked at the differences between writing and drawing, and whether it is possible to do both at the same time in a work of art. Most agreed that it was. The students added collage images representing a letter of the alphabet to their drawings, and also worked with pencils, felt tips, tracing paper, stamps, and stencils. Each class took away a unique, handmade alphabet made of individually-designed collage letters – with no two alike!
We were especially lucky to have Sir Peter Blake drop in on one of our sessions. The students recognised him straight away from the photograph in the gallery and took turns to show him the alphabet-inspired drawings. He seemed quite impressed with all of the brilliant ideas the children had come up with, all inspired by his own artwork.”
You can see Sir Peter Blake’s ‘An Alphabet’ at the Walker Art Gallery.
To find out more about sessions for schools, view our new Education Live publication and online database.
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