Lesson 2

In today's Art Class we were looking at different Artistic Techniques and also we took a look at what different types of materials could be used in the classroom. I have found that the types of materials used here in Gent are quite similar in a way to those used back at home in Ireland.

Firstly we learnt a little bit about Puppetry, something which I did not know a lot about before i entered the classroom but I have came out with a greater knowledge on this type of Art. We learnt about Pierke Pierlala and the Puppet Buskers in the Ghent Festival. I could relate these puppets to some that I watched as a child in Ireland they were called Zig and Zag and were famous in Ireland.

Here is Zig and Zag

In the class as the main theme was Artistic Techniques we then carried out some different activities using different materials. All the activities we have done so far in Art Class have opened a new way of teaching Art to children that before i would have found quite hard.

Firstly we carried out an activity called Clay Dictation. This was when we were each given a piece of clay and we listened to the teacher and started to work with the clay straight away. This left it that you didn't have much time to think about it and in a way I thought this was great. Everyone worked on their own piece and had their own ideas and found it very fun. It allowed everyone to show their creative sides.

We also got to produce a drawing which we used only charcoal, a twig from a tree and some pink paint. We used the inspiration from the twig for the shape and structure which we would then draw with the charcoal.

We then moved on to start a puppet making activity using paper mache. I have used this method before many times and i have also during my time in secondary school made a clay puppet before so i was delighted to have the opportunity to do this again. Along with the guidance I have been given I began to make my own puppet.

I am going to make a puppet with links to my home Country of Ireland. The puppet I am going to create is going to be an Irish dancer who will wear a green dress and have red hair. This would be a typical view of an Irish dancer I will show you in the picture below.