Watercolour Workshop - Perth Museum
A few weeks ago, I provided an overview of what you can see in Perth Museum’s Perthshire Illustrated exhibition. Today I want to share some of the amazing pieces of art different groups of children created after visiting the exhibition. I worked with groups of children from Perth, Abernethy and Alyth. I loved seeing both how they took inspiration from their landscape. You can see a several landscapes here. When we went round the exhibition, we looked at a painting which represented the romantic ideal of the Scottish countryside - but which in fact, hid the realities of the recent Highland Clearances, which resulted in crofters being evicted from their land. This boy drew and painted his local landscape, incorporating the nearby windfarm, which for some people are very positive and others controversial. Another boy drew inspiration from the depiction of the urban landscape of Perth at the end of the 19th century of Perth. He was compelled to paint the rooftops of Glasgow where his Grandad lives. It was great to see how these children saw relevant themes in the artwork - of course, from their own imaginations. Children are naturally incredibly creative, and interpret their world from such a different angle.we looked at, and applied it to their own lives.
Children are also often so bold in how they use the materials provided to them. On this occasion, we were using watercolours, along with oil pastels and waterproof pens. Two girls produced a couple of fantastic pieces. One really embraced the strong colours you can create with oil pastels, and created this scene which to me looks like the perfect Caribbean island. Another drew this house, using all of the different mediums available to her, and even experimented using her finger to paint. It looks like a gingerbread house painted by Van Gogh. The spontaneity of children is an inspiration.
Children are incredibly creative, and interpret their world from such a different angle. They can become immersed in a fantasy land - and I was fascinated by how the exhibition prompted some of the children to invent a whole new landscape. Below, you can see dinosaurs atop mountains which look like upside down mushrooms. The other is a strikingly coloured landscape which was to inhabit a devil. The balance of orange, black and white is very successful.
I want to finish on a couple of really beautiful pieces. Both are based directly on exhibits on diplay. The first is of a sketchbook made of leather, and bound with a bone - this really spoke to one child. The other is a painting of a boat sailing across a loch, which this boy has reinterpreted as two boats effectively outlined in black pastel, with the loch and scenery delicately rendered in watercolours. Both of these are testimont as to how art can inspire art. Our museums and ensuring access to all are central to nurturing our next generation of artists.
