Five fantastic days of working with the children of Warren Hills Primary School in Coalville produced 64 colourtastic, beautifully finished bunny rabbits! 8 children from each year group, from nursery to year 6, were selected by their teachers to be part of the project as a special treat ! The aim of the project was to produce some striking, contemporary artwork to go on display in the newly decorated school reception area! Warren Hills School needed a project that was unique to their school and that reflected their logo (a rabbit!) and their school moto – ‘Learning Together in Friendship’. The children provided me with really great line drawings of bunny rabbits, I selected the best four drawings and exposed the images to silk screen, I printed 64 bunny rabbits on to calico fabric and devised a project that meant that each year group added colour and detail to their bunny rabbits in a different way!
Here are the stunning results and some shots of the children on a mission to do their school proud with their very own piece of modern bunny rabbit art!
Year 1, 2 and 3 children
Created the most detailed and colourful of patterned bodies for their bunny rabbits, they used fabric pens to add stripes, swirls, spots and dots! They used squares and stars and all sorts of patterns to fill the bunny’s bodies. Some of the rabbit’s bodies became so detailed that they looked just like tapestries !
The children chose beautiful contrasting colours in which to paint the edges of their canvases and they learned how to dry brush and give texture to their paint work!
Year 4, 5 and 6 children
Learnt how to make polystyrene printing blocks. They carefully engraved A4 sheets using their pens and pencils. The blocks were so effective and the children thought of so many patterns to fill them with. Once complete, the children learned how to ‘ink up’ their polystyrene tiles with one, two or even three colours of acrylic paint!
We placed bunny shaped card stencils on to the children’s canvases and then placed the inked tiles face down on to the fabric. The children used a roller to add a little pressure to the tile and made beautiful, textured prints on the bodies of their rabbits. Some children chose to add further prints around the edges of their bunny’s. They results are stunning!
WOW Piece!
All of the children worked so incredibly hard that it was really tricky to choose one child from each year group to come and join in with making a large scale ‘WOW’ piece as a conclusion to our bunny rabbit project! Here are the dedicated children making a large scale piece to compliment the series of bunny rabbit canvases! The photographs say it all really, illustrating the school motto beautifully – ‘Learning Together in Friendship!’ Nursery and Foundation Children created their bunny art work by painting their bodies with soft pastel shades of acrylic paint. They used card stencils to help then keep their edges neat and tidy!
They added textured swirls to the bunny rabbits using the top of a glue stick dipped in to puff binder. Whilst the binder was still wet, the children made swirls in it using the end of their paintbrush! The young artists made an excellent job of painting the edges of their canvases in beautiful shades of greens and yellows and some children even added blades of grass and meadows for their rabbits !
On the final afternoon of our project, one child from each year group was chosen to form a creative team to make a ‘Wow’ piece for our project!
The children used each of the techniques that they had learned during the project to create a stunning, large canvas ! The children worked so brilliantly together, they made cleaver choices for their colours and demonstrated the techniques to children in the other year groups! The end result was a multi textured, patterned piece including each of the bunny shapes and all of the techniques that the children had experienced and learned!
Click here for the story and more pictures on Zoe Potters own website