St. Georges.
Both my school projects are either called St. Georges or St. George plays a large roll in school life! bizare!
I was suposed to have an interview today near Worcester, but it has now been rescheduled till the new year. This means I will go to Canturbury instead to buy some materials for my medium sized school project.
My medium sized school project is actually in a very very small school, I understand it was built in 1861 in the ‘Kentish Vernacular’ style and is the oldest purpose built school in the country? I played ‘iter’ (I called it ‘had’ but that was all wrong) with the children at play time. The playground was considerably smaller than my father’s back garden in a greater london 3 bedroom semi. This size issue reflects through all aspects of school life and must be a challenge for all who work there.
I went to Assembly where the year 6 pupils presented information to the whole school about their trip to the houses of Parliament.
What was unusuall about this assembly was that it was in St. Georges Church which is next door to the school. Vivaldi music was played while we waited for all the classes to arrive and I felt the whole church experience envelop me?
Afterwards I watched the children being collected in Porche Cayen’s, Range Rover Vouges and other 4×4’s, most cars were 3 years old or newer. I dont remember seeing any kids from ethnic backgrounds, only white UK, but I did see many aspirational parents. Anne Widicome is the local MP. These are what some may describe as privileged children. Compare these children to my large school project, where the children in ‘the transition group’ have left violent places in Brazil and Eastern Europe. English is not the first language, and other pupils with irregular home life and learning and behavioural problems.
‘The Grass is Always Greener on the Other Side’.
The final piece of feed back on my last post is rather idealistic, the reality is a little more complex than that. I do have the best job ever, but like most jobs it has parts less glamourus that get passed over unseen.
That particular job had me forking out well over £300 for materials from my own money just before xmas. Invoice and reimbursement totals are posted, but payment next year probably. Now I am fortunate in that I have saved enough capital to cover these things, but that is not the point, the client does not know that and should they expect the artist to cover such costs? If I were a builder carrying out a small job, or a plummer I would undoubtedly be treated in the same way.
Anyway, I do have a fantastic job, but moaning is something we all do from time to time. Its lonley in the workshop day after day and often things occupy the mind in an unhealthy way. I envy people who have their workshops and studios in a complex with other artists in the same building, this must have an atmoshere like the one I remember at collage. My situation is lonely, but I dont have a lease or rental payments as I work from home. So; the grass is always greener on the other side.
My Small School Project.
This is finished now. A school with special arts status asked me to work with them to contruct a mosaic.
To cut a long storey short, it was very intense, ofstead praised it, the students enjoyed it, the loutish 6th formers said it was amazing, the deputy head was very impressed.
Writen comments from the pupils;
‘It was a brilliant two day workshop’
‘we learned about materials and tools’
‘Really fun couple of days, loved every second of it’.
‘I loved it yesterday and today it was so fun. The best part was having my friends around and working as a team’.
‘The best thing was seeing the end product’
‘We thought it was going really badly, but it turned out really well in the end’.
‘Rob has the best job ever’
The school Trip.
My big school project, finds me on a school trip to visit one of my previous school garden projects, and then onto another location to see how public space is layed out, how the landscape designers have incorperated planting, paving and other features like sculpture or street furniture into a public setting. Seating and provision for eating may be particularly relevent to us on our school project.
This is the ‘transition group’ which have particular educational needs. I dont know how much free reign they will take, or how much they are allowed?
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Aspbergers, ADHD, other behaviour and language issues abound, a little short of mayhem in parts, but actually a great day out. When a pupil comes up and says ‘I want to ask my mum to bring me here at the weekend’, and another says ‘I would like to come on holiday here’. You feel like you made a good choice of venue for a school trip. Our long term task, to design and build a garden for a brand new school building not yet constructed. In fact our garden will be built and finished on the site before anything else. This is part of the building schools for the future programe. Our next school trip Kew Gardens. Our next task; Site survey.
Living in a world of my own.
I would like to show you how my mosaic for St, Helens Hospital is moving along, its going very nicely indeed. There is something amazing about making little micro worlds. I like doing the doors and windows as they almost take you inside the picture into a land like the one in ‘Night at the museum’ where everything becomes alive.
It’s an imaginary landscape which does become populated, a kind of make believe community (in my mind anyway) it helps pass the hours cracking rocks. I am actually looking forward to making the minning community which has the ‘Dream’ at the centre. Its not often I can remember looking forward to doing mosaics. Its those masive mothers they sap you, break you down mentally.
This one is a smallish medium sized one. It will also be broken up by other projects. I have three schools projects: a little one, a middle sized one and a big one.
