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We made cut-outs inspired by Henri Matisse. We made shadow cut-outs. I had no prior experience working with cut-outs. I did enjoy how we could use our imagination for creating images from paper cut-outs. Thinking about ways to make more than one image with the same pieces was interesting. I enjoyed using the flashlight to change the size of the shadow that appeared on the wall. This opened my eyes to different perspectives. I found myself at a little block when we were asked to create a second and third image with the cut-outs used for our first one. Firstly, I created a mushroom scenery. I think because the pieces were specific and small that this was why I came to a block. I did find a second image to create, but not a third. My second image was a tomato, using the mushroom cup to form the vegetable and the grass as the leaves. I learnt that it is possible to use the same pieces for one picture to form another. I also learnt that art does not limit imagination. I would work in this way in an early childhood education setting. I think the children would enjoy taking part in this art lesson. Henri Matisse inspired the cut-outs. His artworks use ingenious and colourful ideas. He created pictures by cutting out paper shapes with scissors. Viewing other students work changed how I viewed my own. I focused on an idea of a picture and proceeded to make cut-outs specific for the mushrooms. Other students kept their cut-out pieces abstract and allowed their imagination to create images after they had cut out shapes. One student used their shapes to create an under the sea picture. When I saw other students shadow shapes, I was inspired. One student had cut out her shadow rather than just the outline like mine. They made a cheese slice with holes in it. It showed me more possibilities for this artwork than I realised at the beginning. My cut-out shapes were small to scale. I used red, pink, white, and green paper. I arranged them in a series of three mushrooms. I choose to have the biggest one in the middle. I varied the size of the white circles on the mushroom cups and varied how many were on each cup. I used the largest mushroom cup as the tomato for the second image. The cut-out grass was arranged on top of the tomato as leaves. For the shadow cut-outs, I used black paper and coloured lollipop sticks. The three shapes I choose were similar in size on the scale. It was using a flashlight I was able to change the size of the shadow on the wall.

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We experimented with adding movement to drawing. We created thaumatropes. We created a picture and when it was coloured in, we added it to a piece of string as another experiment with movement in drawings. I have not worked in this way before. I found enjoyment in seeing the other students’ creative minds at work. I liked the excitement of bringing the artwork to life through different methods. My thaumatrope did not work. I did not align the drawings on either side. This has an impact on the finished product. The movement on the string aspect worked. For this, I created an image of the old-school video game character Pac man. I had attached two cut-up pieces of straw to the back of the drawing to feed the string through. It worked as expected. I learnt that you could add excitement to artwork with movement. It can catch the viewer’s attention and interest quicker as it did mine from looking at other students’ work. I would work in this way with older children. I think it would be a good method to engage the children imagination and experimentation. The work done in this lesson was inspired by artist and filmmaker Eric Dyer. Dyer is known for his work in animation. For the thaumatrope, I chose an image of a diamond sparkling. My mistake was drawing the diamond to the bottom of the disc and the ‘sparkle’ lines at the middle of the disc. The images did not align because of this. With changing the position of the diamond, I expect the outcome would match my original expectation. The Pac-man was the same size as my thaumatrope disc. I coloured it in yellow with a crayon. If I was to change one element in doing this lesson again, I would experiment with a different shape to add to the strings. Other students had used the image of a rocket. This worked very well for them.

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We did activities with a Christmas theme. By cutting up various colours of paper, we created Christmas trees. We used cards to create a wintery scene of houses. Various wintery images were made using the scraps of paper from previous lessons. I have used scraps of material to create images before in primary school. It was during a lesson on mosaics. I enjoyed the aspect of reusing the material. I am eco-conscious, and I think this is a great way to be mindful of the environment through art. There was nothing that I did during this lesson that I did not enjoy. The card worked well in creating the roofs of the houses. The material was sturdy to hold the folds. By the time I had done my house scene the white paint and the white paper were used up. Therefore, my house scene is not wintery like other students. In creating the Christmas tree, I used the scraps from each line to pile together and form the star on top. This was another way I found that reusing material works. Reusing and recycling can add excitement to art lessons. It is a great way to teach and show people ways of being mindful of waste and create art from it. When I saw other students work, it did give me spiration for more wintery creations. My artwork from this lesson does not display winter scenes as well as other students. For instance, I used pink paper as the background for the houses. If I had used dark blue or black like other students it would enhance the picture as a dark, winters night. Adding different materials to convey snow was another idea that I got from other students’ works.

For the Christmas tree, I opted for paper in berry colours with a green stump and a yellow background. For the houses, I chose to create houses of different sizes. I chose a square house, a rectangular apartment block and by turning a rectangle on its side I created a bungalow. Using black, orange, and purple squares as windows. I chose to keep my birdhouse colourful, with red standing out for the stand and the roof of the house. I would work in this way again. I would look for more ways to include eco-conscious methods in art lessons.

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This was my first time being to the Hugh Lane Gallery. I would go again. I liked the awareness of space in the gallery. There was a flow between each room. I particularly liked the different colours in each part of the hall which matched well with the artwork that was in the hall. There was a room in the gallery that was dedicated to Francis Bacon. It was his studio that they dismantled in London and reconstructed it in the gallery. I was interested in the chaos that he worked in. Francis Bacon was an Irish artist although he lived his life in London. I was attracted to the beauty and colour of the stained glass collection. I liked Sean Scully’s work. When I saw Sean Scully’s artwork I was taken back at the simplicity. He is a master of abstract art. There is no surprise to me why a room was dedicated to him in the gallery. My attraction to his work is drawn from the sheer fact it is lines and colour. There is no complexity to art. I find awe in the simplicity of the abstraction. I was not familiar with the artist’s work. The picture I have included of Scully’s work is large and of neutral brown tones. The shades and sizes of the boxes vary. I do not know the messege that he attempted to get across in this artwork. Sir William Orpen is another Irish artist whose work caught my eye. I could not fathom how a piece of art could appear so realistic. His piece ‘Reflections: China and Japan’ was my favourite. I like how it made me question what I was seeing. Was I seeing a painting or a photograph? The objects he chose to paint is fascinating. I would not expect that these fascinating and decorative objects were accessible to many in the early 1900s. In particular, the peacock feather. Orpen’s capacity to portray the texture and reflected surfaces with precision is incredible. I am not familiar with Orpen’s work, and I do not know the messeges he conveys in his artwork. I admire his talent and the beauty of his artwork.