Ranfurly Art Room

Spring Glorious Spring

2011-12-13T12:16:00.000-08:00

To celebrate the arrival of Spring and the warmer weather we have been creating paintings of colorful leaves and cardboard sculptures of flowers.

Egyptian Creative Process

2011-11-15T18:55:00.000-08:00

It has been quite a process creating these Egyptian inspired works so we thought we would show you the different steps involved. The following work is still in process. The artist Christie is working hard to finish it. Here is the process as she has completed it so far.

Step 1: Drawing the hieroglyphics

Step 2: Create a print block

Step 3: Print 6 images

Step 4: Draw Egyptian face inspired by photographs of Egyptian art works

Step 5: Create the Egyptian face out of clay

Step 6: Paint and varnish clay face

Step 7: Glue background together and create a frame with cardboard, tinfoil and shellac

To be continued...

Egyptian Inspirations

2011-09-27T19:51:00.000-07:00

The Ancient Egyptians are an interesting culture to study and we have been looking closely at their art work to get inspiration. Each student has looked through lots of pictures and chosen one Egyptian face to draw and then model in clay. We have been having a go at copying some of the hieroglyphics to create print blocks. This writing is the background for the clay profiles. The final stage is to make a gold frame using tinfoil and shellac for the piece. We are loving the elaborate hair decorations and makeup.

Artist: Frances

Artist: Rachel F

Artist: Clare O

Artist: Carolyn

Artist: Emma

Artist: Alex

Artist: Kezia

Artist: David

Artist: Sam

Artist: Gail

Diorama Photography

2011-05-29T20:50:00.000-07:00

We are making little worlds inside shoe boxes called Diorama's. We are using fairy and folk tales as our inspiration. Each artist selects a story and using a mix of drawn, painted and collaged items, constructs a scene inside a shoe box that conveys an aspect of the story.

We need to consider scale and proportion when putting things together so they make sense when we peep through the viewing holes. We are using colored cellophane to create different lighting effects. Artists are using their diorama's to create interesting photographs.

Kezia's Diorama

Kezia is very techno savy and found it easy to use the digital camera to take photos. She enjoyed creating all the fish for her underwater scene - so many we couldn't fit them all in! Kezia used wool to create water and seaweed effects which she used for some shots. Kezia's diorama and photography depicts The Little Mermaid.

Brent's Diorama

Brent was inspired by the story of the Three Little Pigs. He enjoyed using collage to cover the inside of the box. He made three little houses - of out of toothpicks, one of straw and one to look like bricks. Brent is an experienced digital camera user and tackled the photography with gusto producing some great shots.

Nicole's Diorama

Nicole really enjoys creating spaces inside boxes as she has made a few this year as Pokemon houses. This time Nicole read through the story of Cinderella and chose the part of the story where the animals help Cinderella make a ball dress. Nicole's animals are very exciting jungle creatures.

Sam's Diorama

Sam was using the story of Peter Pan for his inspiration for his work. Check out his pirate and fabulous Pirate ship. We had to make Sam's shoe box extra tall to fit the pirate ship in. Sam had fun using the digital camera.

Helen's Diorama

The focus of Helen's work was Little Red Riding Hood. Helen created a forest out of paper and cardboard and found images from magazines for her characters. Helen had fun using the camera and the lamp to create some excellent shots.

Alex's Diorama

Alex wanted his diorama to show a scene from a Scooby Doo book. Alex made a forest and placed a haunted castle in the background. Scooby has his two friends and they are off on an adventure.

David's Diorama

These photos are taken looking through the end of a shoe box with a scene depicting Goldilocks and the three bears. David spent lots of time gluing fabric to create the texture of the woods. You can see the three bears in the foreground with Goldilocks in the background near the bears cottage as she is just about to go in and taste the porriage.

Carolyn's Diorama

Carolyn liked the story of Cinderella. She was particularly interested in the scene where the animals help Cinderella make a ball dress. Through different lighting effects we can see the animals working through the night to create the dress. Cinderella is visible as she watches on in the background.

Clare O's Diorama

Clare was looking at the fairy tale Cinderella. She particularly liked the scene where Cinderella talks to her friends the animals in her bedroom. She recreated the bedroom and found the characters for her scene in magazines. It was like making a tiny theater set. Clare is very experienced with a digital camera but it was a challenge working on such a small scale. Through Clare's photography we really get a sense of the huge support Cinderella had from the animals as they fill the frame and battle for space in the shots. Spot the celebrity in Clare's photos.

Felicia's Diorama

Felicia's Diorama is based on the story Babes in the wood. We think she did a great job of creating all the little woodland characters and finding the perfect photograph of some little children for the babes. Today we had fun using the light to create different effects and get some interesting photographs. It was hard to get all the characters in the shots.

Gail's Diorama

Gail was inspired by the rhyme Goosy Goosy Gander:

Goosey Goosey Gander where shall I wander,
Upstairs, downstairs and in my lady's chamber
There I met an old man who wouldn't say his prayers,
I took him by the left leg and threw him down the stairs.

We couldn't resist taking a few photos today as a test. Next session Gail will do her official photo shoot. We realised that we needed some bigger viewing holes in the box to get more into the shots.

Emma's Diorama

Emma was very excited to complete her diorama yesterday and use it to take photographs. First thing was to learn how to use a digital camera as it was Emma's first time.

Emma's diorama is based on the story of Jack and the Beanstalk. The main characters she chose were Jack, the Giant and the Goose. However, the goose developed into a flying bird during the making of the work.

Here are a selection of photographs Emma took.

Peacock Painting

2011-05-03T20:41:00.000-07:00

We have finally finished the first of our life sized peacock paintings. There are many more currently in progress so watch this space for more of these beautiful birds.

Artist: Clare O

Artist: Brett

Artist: Christie

Artist: Gerard

Artist: Felicia

Artist: Emma

Artist: Si

Artist: Gail

Artist: David

Artists: Helen

Peacock

2011-04-10T15:08:00.000-07:00

The male peacock is such a stunning bird to be inspired by. Artists have looked at photos of the birds and begun with a simple drawing study. There are so many interesting details to attend to such as the headpiece, the tail feathers and the strange markings around the eyes. We are developing our drawings into almost life sized painted peacocks but here are some of our drawings so far.

Peacock by Alex

Peacock by Felicia

Peacock by Clare O

Peacock by Gail

Peacock by Brent

Peacock by Emma

Peacock by Nicole

Peacock by David

Peacock by Christie

Peacock by Brett

Peacock by Vicki

Peacock by Chris

Peacock by Kezia

Orchestral Instruments - mixed media

2011-03-16T13:45:00.000-07:00

Currently, we are exploring the subject of orchestral instruments. They have such interesting forms and detailing. Each artist has selected an instrument from the orchestra to study. We are using a mix of cardboard, wool, rope, cardboard, paper mache, musical score, buttons, glue and shellac varnish. Click on the photos for a close up view.

Violin by Kezia

Trumpet by Gail

Saxophone by Emma

Guitar by Nicole

Violin by Brent

Close up of Brent's violin

Gerard's Cello

Violin by David

Close up of the strings on David's Violin

Violin by Janice

Oboe by Helen

Tuba by Carolyn

Tube up close by Carolyn

Trumpet by Vicki and designed by Stephen

Trumpet by Chris

Trumpet by Vincent

Trumpet by Brett