Visual Arts Exhibition 2013!

Photographing the Mayor

Coulsdon College AS Photography student Ben Hines was recently runner-up at The Croydon Rotory Club Annual Photography Exhibition.  His prize was to photograph the Mayor of Croydon with professional photographer Desmond Wright.  Ben spent over an hour in the company of the Mayor photographing him in his chambers under the close guidance of Mr Wright. Here are some from the photographs from the day.

We will upload the results of the final shoot soon.

Student Work: AS Textiles Paper Dress

As part of the introduction to their exam theme 'Covert and Obscured' our AS Textiles students began to explore the possibility of using recycled materials and transforming their meaning by recreating something new. The students looked at origami techniques and were inspired by 'junk fashion' and Gary Harvey when creating their dress and played around with heat transfer techniques too. We think the finished experiment is beautiful! 

Student work: Robert Bragg

Our BTEC National Art and Design and A Level Graphic student Robert Bragg spent 2012 creating a drawing a day! It's an amazing collection of work and to celebrate completing he's exhibiting his work at Mine Gallery in Carshalton. The exhibition is open from 19th January - 26th January, you can find out more information, HERE. If you can't make it to the gallery you could always check out his new drawings - he's creating for another year of drawings for 2013 and this time his documenting them on his blog! You can see the drawings day by day, HERE.

student work: Bite the ballot!

In June 2012 our BTEC National Art and Design students worked on a 'live' brief for the Bite The Ballot student competition to create artwork based on the theme 'inspired impressions'. The artwork the students created was uploaded to the Bite The Ballot website and members of the public were able to vote for their favourite pieces. In November four of our students (whose work is picked above!) were announced as winners and their artwork was on display in The Houses of Parliament for a special exhibition. We've just got back from the event and it was wonderful to see their work on display and watch them receive their award certificate! Well done!

student work: Jan Von Holleben

The work of Jan Von Holleben never fails to inspire our students! We've talked about his work before here on the blog, particularly his series 'Dreams of Flying' and our AS Photography students had a go at recreating their own pieces in the same style last year as part of their AS-A2 project. Now our BTEC National Art and Design students have had a go too. The students worked in groups and created their own props and concepts based on their current project theme 'Journeys'. You can see the full collection of images HERE on our Flickr page! 

Student work: Photo sculptures

Our BTEC L2 students have been busy making photo sculptures inspired by the work of Stephen J Shanabrook and Off Camera created by our BTEC First Art and Design students as part of their Photography Project - you can check out the full set of photographs over on flickr, HERE. 

Student work: Christmas Card Competition

Well done to Aaron from our BTEC National Art and Design Y13 group - his card has been selected as Coulsdon Sixth Form College's christmas card for 2012 so will be making its way out to the college's contacts over the festive season. You can see the full class's card designs on flickr, HERE. 

Craft Fair 2012!

Our students at the stall! You can see the full set of photos HERE. 

Last Saturday our year 13 BTEC National Art and Design students ran their own stall at the Croydon South Rotary Craft Fair. The students designed and hand printed a range of Christmas cards, gift tags and wrapping paper. The students created the range as part of a live brief for a professional practise unit and the Craft Fair provided them with the opportunity to sell their designs in a professional environment. The event was wonderful, the students got some fantastic feedback from the public and were successful in making a profit, the proceeds of which will contribute towards their end of year exhibition. 

BTEC National Art and Design: Craft Fair

Our BTEC National Art and Design students have got a stall at the Croydon South Rotary Craft Fair this Saturday! They'll be selling their own unique designs including hand printed Christmas Cards, gift tags and wrapping paper. If you can make it we'd love to see you there! 

A2 Textiles: Exhibition Leaflet Part I

The following post is for our A2 Textile students lesson

You have been asked to collect 30 images to get started on your exhibition leaflet. To save you printing out each of these images we're going to create a virtual collection in the format of a pinboard using pinterest. Follow the instructions below to get started....

Pinning from your own laptop/computer: In the video I showed how to install the 'pin it' button on safari. If you have trouble installing it check which browser you're running and watch the appropriate video:

chrome // firefox // internet explorer 

Once your set up you should follow us (Coulsdon Visual Arts Pinterest) on Pinterest! 

1. LOOK: On the board you will find 'pins'. Look for the ones with your name next to them - these are works by artists/designers that I thought may be relevant for you to research following our one to one in last Fridays lesson. 

2. RE-PIN: Find the images I have suggested for you and re-pin the ones you think you would like to investigate further 

3. 3W: Each time you 'pin' an image you should annotate it using the 3W's...

WHO is the work by and what is it called? 

WHAT materials/techniques have they used? 

WHY have you chosen to look at it? i.e. what do you like about it! 

4. FIND: Find and pin your own images - start by pinning work you've already looked at for your project! After that continue you could look at our boards here or here, browse pinterest using the search box or check out some of the websites below which are full to the brim with inspiring stuff! 

//Visual Arts Blog Fashion Designer & Textile Artist directory //Print & Pattern // Mrs Textiles // Telegraph: Fashion // V&A // I Heart Teaching Art // Trendland // The Jealous Curator // i-D //Amelia's Magazine // Dazed & Confused // Pattern People //

Next lesson we will begin to curate (edit) your collection of images into separate boards developing 'themes'/'rooms' for your exhibition leaflet.

If you enjoy using pinterest you could create additional boards to gather imagery for your practical work! 

Student Work: Jan Von Holleben inspired

Our AS Photography students are currently working on their AS-A2 project which introducing them to exciting contemporary designers and techniques. Above is one of the installations/photographs they created inspired by the incredible work of Jan Von Holleben, you can see the full set of images on FLICKR - including some 'in progress' shots which give an idea of the large scale they created the installations on!  

Student Work: Visual Arts Exhibition 2011/12

Well done to all of our 2011/12 Visual Arts Graduates! Last night was our private view and they presented an incredible exhibition of work! You can view pictures of the show on FLICKR. The exhibition is open to the public by appointment till the 22nd June so if you'd like to visit it get in touch!

Student Work: BTEC L2 Site Specific Clay Work

Our BTEC L2 students made some brilliant clay pieces as part of their site specific project. They've been photographed alongside the objects they were inspired from and you can see the full collection, here on FLICKR. 

Student work: AS Graphics packaging

see all the work on FLICKR

Well we're a little behind on this post but as it's coming up to the end of the year we're remembering all those odds and ends, like photographing our AS Graphics wonderful packaging outcomes! The designs were created as part of a retail graphics project, which involved designing a logo, packaging and swing tag for a retail outlet of their own choice. You can see all the designs on FLICKR

Student work/Exhibition: A2 Applied Mini Exhibition

Our A2 Applied students have designed and installed their own Mini Exhibition. The exhibition showcases some of the wonderful work they have created this year and has helped them prepare for the final end of year exhibition - the mini exhibition looks great so the final exhibit is bound to be amazing! You can see pictures of the mini exhibition on FLICKR. 

Student work: Creative Typography

Our BTEC National Art and Design students have been making some creative typography work inspired by handmadefont for their current 'viewpoints' project! It looks great! Check out the whole collection on FLICKR. 

Trip: V&A British Design 1948-2012 and The Science Museum

On Monday 23rd April 2012 we visited the British Design: 1948-2012 exhibition at the V&A and The Science Museum with our BTEC L2 Art and Design students. We had a great time and there was some wonderful stuff on display, particularly at the V&A.  There's a whole range of graphic design, film, fashion, textiles and more in the British Design Exhibition and we think other students would enjoy it too! You can find out more about the exhibition and get some insider knowledge from this video by the V&A. 

Student Work: Good Luck Cards - we need your VOTE!

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Our A2 Applied Art and Design students have been working on an experimental typography project, the end result being these fantastic card designs! You can see all of the experimental development work and the full alphabets the students have created on FLICKR but right now we need your VOTE! Have a look at the design and make a decision - which is your favourite card? Cast your vote below!...

Which is your favourite good luck card design?

Student Work: Animation

Our BTEC National students are coming up to the end of their animation project and their final animations are almost complete! They look great! You can see the animations so far on YouTube or Flickr and if you want to see some of the initial developments have a look at our previous posts here and here.