Primary Teacher UK

Tony Hart dies at 83

Hartbeat presenter and artist Tony Hart died yesterday, aged 83. He had suffered from ill health, including two strokes in recent years, and died peacefully in the early hours of the morning, according to his agent.

Hart inspired generations of budding artists over his 50-year television career through programmes such as Vision On, Take Hart and Hartbeat, before retiring in 2001 due to ill health. His agent, Roc Renals, said his health had recently been in decline and he had been taken to hospital with a chest infection. He described Hart as a "kind man" who was single-minded in his dedication to his work.

"Tony inspired many thousands of young people to take up art. His ability to inspire was his greatest gift," he said. "He was always ready to communicate with the many people who wrote to him and gave his time very willingly. He loved his work and was totally dedicated to it, and was always able to come up with new ideas and techniques."

You can watch a tribute to Tony Hart on YouTube.

Mosaic Competition

The British Association for Modern Mosaic (BAMM) is running a mosaic competition which is open to primary school aged children.
   
The competition is called MEGA MOSAIC MAKERS 2008 and it is nationwide. They are aiming to raise the profile of mosaic art in schools, with the principle of getting children interested at a young age. It is  open to groups/organisations/workshops who work with children under the age of eleven. Both teachers and students are awarded prizes, which have been provided by the sponsor, Topps Tiles. There is a group and an individual category. 

This year's entry is open from now until 7th Nov 2008, and work can have been completed anytime in the last three years.

Link: http://www.bamm.org.uk/portal/content.asp?ContentId=1103

Find your talent

Ten areas around the country are to pilot the Government’s £25 million Find your Talent programme to give young people the chance to encounter a range of high-quality cultural experiences for five hours a week both in and outside of school. Children in the pilot areas will be able to discover and develop their talents in the cultural sphere.

In time, the Government wants all young people to have the right to experience five hours of arts and culture every week.

The ten lead organisations chosen as pilots are:

• Bolton Borough Council;
• The Creative Foundation (serving Shepway District and including Folkestone, Hythe and Romney Marsh);
• Customs House (North and South Tyneside);
• Hampshire County Council;
• Leeds Children’s Services;
• Leicestershire County Council;
• ‘Liverpool City Region’ Partnership (serving three Merseyside neighbourhoods);
• North Somerset;
• Telford and Wrekin Council; and
• Tower Hamlets.

ArtisanCam

Using ICT in ART lessons can be difficult - but by having a look at ArtisanCam on the Interactive Whiteboard or suite, you can really inspire the children and use ICT in the art lesson rather than for producing the art. This superb site is suitable from KS1 right up to KS4 and beyond. For me the best part is the Activity zone.

I can't list everything here that is worth visiting - but some of my favourites are the 'Figure it Out' for drawing bodies, charcoal drawings with Louise Bradley and the movies and interviews with Andy Goldsworthy my favourite artist.

Link: http://www.artisancam.org.uk

2012 Olympic Art

With all the controversy about the 2012 Olympic symbol what better time than to challenge the children to design their own.

Joe emailed a link to http://www.fubra.com/london2012/ which allows you to upload your own 2012 logos and then vote. Why not upload some from the children and see if they can fair any better than the one unveiled!

A great mini challenge for the children.

Art safety warning

The school science advisory service, Cleapss, has sent out a warning to all schools and local authorities about the dangers of mixing plaster of Paris with water by hand.  This was sent out after it was confirmed that a teenage girl had to have most of her fingers and thumbs amputated because of severe burns caused by mixing plaster of Paris by hand during a (secondary) art class.

Be warned! :)

Drawing made easy

If you're anything like me, whenever you attempt to draw something infront of a class, the children just laugh at you. I'm the first to admit that I can't draw - all of my drawings end up looking like some sort of animal with wonky legs and no neck.

I came across http://www.drawingcoach.com/ the other day. Drawing coach is a free website that contains step-by-step guides on drawing cartoon animals, portraits, cartoons and more. The site also provides you with drawing tips and techniques and links to free drawing software, among other things.

If you want to impress your class during the next art lesson, this site is a must.

Artroom

Artroom is another site that I picked up from my children today during the ICT lesson.  The site allows you to create your own picture using the drawing package and then display it online.  It's a simple concept that works well.  The children are keen to know that their art is displayed and have a chance to become the artist of the month.

Artroom is part of the Saatchi Gallery.  The Sattchi Gallery aims to provide an innovative forum for contemporary art, presenting work by largely unseen young artists or by established international artists whose work has been rarely or never exhibited in the UK.  Ideal for our budding young artists!

Link: http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artroom/

stARTing Art

Nicky has emailed me a wonderfully inspiring site for art in the primary school.  Nicky's email continues: "The site, stARTing Points, covers painting, collage, 3D art, textiles, drawing and printing.  It shows examples of finished work across Foundation Stage and both key stages together with detailed schemes of work that incorporate all the necessary skills that need to be taught.  I has used it in part for my year 2 class with some very pleasing results!  Looking at all the examples throughout the site gives you plenty of new and inspiring ideas that are easily adaptable according to the age group that you teach!!  It's a lovely site that is well worth a visit."

Link: http://www.jeron.je/stARTing_points/

Any more sites worth visiting?  Let us know using the contact us links on the left.

Doodle 4 Google

A while ago I mentioned this competition - so it's only fair that we contribute to the voting to choose a winner.  Doodle 4 Google encouraged budding artists to design the Google Logo for their area.  All the finalists are now up - so vote for your favourite!