A collection of sources and imagery to explore the work of Samantha Bryan.
This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
Samantha Bryan
“Working from her garden studio in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, Samantha Bryan has produced a new body of work for her exhibition at YSP celebrating 20 years of making. Known for creating distinctive figures, she has gained a worldwide cult following.
For two decades Bryan has been making humorous yet industrious fairy-like creatures; adorned with items from her eclectic hoard of buttons, spotted feathers, seed pods, dyed leathers, and contraptions influenced by Victorian flying machines. She combines these materials and found objects to inform their intriguing personalities.” – Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Introducing the BAAV Blimp
Brain’s Ariel Application Vehicle is a new cutting edge tool welcomed by the Fairy Dust Industry. This aircraft can do in minutes what it would take ground-based workers days to complete. Its increased capacity makes dust spreading incredibly efficient. It’s hopper can hold 120 pounds of dust and can sprinkle around 80 acres per hour. Revolutionary for fairy life.
51 x 41 x 21cm (w,h,d) 2022 Image: Red Photograpgy
Introducing… Brain’s Bottom Warming Garments for fairies. Vital for high altitude flying. 36 x 12cm x 10cm (h,w,d) 2022 Image: Joanne Crawford
Fairies often find themselves flying at high altitude. A dangerous pursuit with its many risks. The most obvious and most disastrous outcome would be ‘wing or limb freeze’. The consequence of which is high speed plummeting fairies. This is easily preventable if body temperature is maintained.
Brain’s Crash Helmet, designed specifically for accident prone fairies…
36 x 12cm x 10cm (h,w,d) 2015 Image: Jess Petrie
The clumsier variety of fairy would always be advised to wear a crash helmet rather than a standard issue helmet. The Crash Helmet offer greater head coverage and substantial inner padding for increased protection.
The fairy is wearing a tan leather flight suit, hand stitched with patch detail. It stands securely on a wooden base that can be easily mounted on the wall should you wish to do so. It features a typed label and is signed on the reverse
Brain’s Dust Distribution Vehicle (Glider)
35 x 31 x 35cm (w,h,d) 2014 Image: Edward Chadwick
Designed to enable a busy fairy to spread dust easily and efficiently
Questions to Ask Children
What objects can you see in Samantha’s fairies and inventions?
What do you like about the fairies and why?
Which fairy is your favourite and why?
How has Samantha created personalities for the fairies? Consider accessories, outfits and props.
Do you think the personality grows as she creates the fairies or she plans it in advance? Why?
If you were going to design a fairy based on you, what personality traits might it have? And how could you highlight those traits through accessories, outfits and props?
Our Creative Community: Curating an Exhibition Part One
Our Creative Community: Curating an Exhibition Part Two
Our Creative Community: Tips for Organising an Exhibition Setting
Our Creative Community: The Island: A Thinking Skills Workshop
Our Creative Community: Finding Artists In Your Community
Our Creative Community: Top Tips for Facilitating an Island Thinking Workshop
Our Creative Community: Yorkshire Sculpture Park Visit
Talking Points: Alexander Calder
A range of sources designed to help you explore the work of sculptor, Alexander Calder.
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.
Alexander Calder
Alexander Calder (July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976) was an American sculptor known both for his innovative mobiles (kinetic sculptures powered by motors or air currents) that embrace chance in their aesthetic, his static “stabiles”, and his monumental public sculptures. Calder preferred not to analyse his work, saying, “Theories may be all very well for the artist himself, but they shouldn’t be broadcast to other people.” – Wikipedia
Watch the video below to introduce children to the idea of “mobiles”. Stop the video frequently and use discussion to help children understand the ideas in the video. In particular draw the children’s’ attention to:
The idea of slowing down
The relationship of the elements to natural objects
The relationship of a moving sculpture to dance and music.
Throughout the process, have sketchbooks open on desks with plenty of drawing materials, and pause during the conversations so that pupils can make visual notes.
Watch the video below to introduce children to the idea of “mobiles”. Stop the video frequently and use discussion to help children understand the ideas in the video. In particular draw the children’s’ attention to the idea of “trial and error” (or as we call is Design through Making) as a way of constructing the mobiles.
Throughout the process, have sketchbooks open on desks with plenty of drawing materials, and pause during the conversations so that pupils can make visual notes.
Sketchbook Development Work
Turn the sound down on the video below, and choose certain frames to stop the video so that pupils can make drawings in their sketchbooks based upon the compositions they see.
At first, you as teacher can choose the freeze frame, but then let the pupils make their own choices.
Encourage them to think of the paper of their sketchbook as the “stage” and invite them to draw the shapes, lines and colours they see, thinking carefully about the white space of the page as well as the shapes they draw.
Invite them to use a variety of different materials to capture the shapes. In particular you might want to invite them to use soft B pencils or graphite sticks in one drawing for example, handwriting pen in another, charcoal or collage in another….
Encourage them to work with momentum – for example tell them the film will be frozen for 1 minute/5 minutes etc. Set a clock and invite them to draw, before moving on.
Spend time looking at the drawings they create and invite them to share their thoughts:
What did they think when they were drawing Calder’s mobiles? How did they make them feel?
What do they think when they see the shapes they have drawn? What do they remind them off?
Talking Points: Artists as Collectors and Explorers
Explore Contemporary Artists, Designers and Makers
Returning to Our Bodies – Poised Between The Slip and The Grub
Talking Points: Dancing to Art
A collection of imagery and sources designed to introduce children to using their whole bodies to respond to paintings.
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
*If you are having issues viewing videos it may be due to your schools firewall or your cookie selection. Please check with your IT department.*
This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.
Dancing to Art by Tate Gallery
“Corali, a leader in dance created by artists with a learning disability, have worked with Tate since 1998 and are experts in creatively taking up space in our galleries. We invited Paul, Sherri, Bethan and Dj from Corali to design performances in response to four artworks at Tate Britain. We wanted to show what happens when people have the freedom to enjoy the gallery however they want, and how this can open up new ways of responding to art.” – Tate Youtube
Watch the video with the pupils, and look at the images below. Find out how you can respond to art through dance.
Improvisation 35 (1914) painting by Wassily Kandinsky
Claude Monet’s Impression, Sunrise (1872) famous painting. Original from Wikimedia Commons.
Questions to Ask Children
What movement might you use to describe a windy day?
What movement would you use in response to the colour red? Blue? Green? Black?
Use your whole body to make a movement that represents an atmosphere or an emotion, such as gloomy, peaceful, excited…
How would you use your body to respond to a spikey / straight / curved line?
Artist Studio Series: Sara Reeve
Talking Points: Paddington Bear
A collection of sources and imagery to explore Paddington Bear.
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
Paddington Bear
Paddington Bear is a fictional character in children’s literature. He first appeared on 13 October 1958 in the children’s book A Bear Called Paddington and has been featured in more than twenty books written by British author Michael Bond, and illustrated by Peggy Fortnum and other artists.
Paddington is also animated in stop motion. Paddington himself is a puppet in a three-dimensional environment, whilst other characters are paper cut-outs. The final television special used a slightly different technique using 2D drawn fully animated characters. Wikipedia
Watch the episode below and ask children some questions about what they can see.
Questions to Prompt Conversation with EYFS
What do you like about Paddington?
What kind of bear do you think Paddington is?
What can you see in the background? How is the background different from the way Paddington is?
What is Paddington wearing? What things does he have around him?
Session Recording: Class Crit
Talking Points: What Is Form?
A collection of sources and imagery to explore the question ‘What Is Form?’
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
*If you are having issues viewing videos it may be due to your schools firewall or your cookie selection. Please check with your IT department.*
This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.
What is Form?
Form can be placed into two categories: implied form and actual form.
Implied Form can be found in a 2D artwork that gives the illusion of form through perspective, shape, tone, line and colour.
Real form is a 3D object that exists in space and time, such as architecture or a sculpture.
All forms are either geometric and organic, whether they are real (3D) or implied (2D). Geometric forms are mathematical objects including cubes, pyramids and spheres. Geometric forms appear man made and can suggest something solid, balanced and permanent. Whereas organic forms look natural. They are irregular and may seem flowing and unpredictable. – BBC
Discuss the artwork below to explore the different types of form.
Implied Form
Power Station by Phil Dean
Homage to Morandi by Jason Line
Persische Nachtigallen (Persian Nightingales) (1917) by Paul Klee. Original portrait painting from The Art Institute of Chicago.
Bomber Lair (1940) painting in high resolution by Paul Nash. Original from The Birmingham Museum.
Tumbling Blocks Original public domain image from Smithsonian
Untitled (Bars and Blocks) Original public domain image from Smithsonian
Questions to Ask Children
Which artworks are made of organic forms? How do you know?
Can you see artworks with geometric forms? How can you tell?
Do any of the images have a combination of geometric and organic forms? Which ones?
Which style of work do you prefer and why?
Does this artwork look heavy or light and why?
How have artists given the illusion of form in this artwork?
Real Form
Paper Polar Bear Set by Nathan Ward
Bronze horse, Greek, Corinthian, MET Museum
Under Water: paper and movement in G.F Smith’s White Space by Nathan Ward
Lets Dance by Faith Bebbington 4 Close Up Of Newspaper Clothing
Wembley Lion (Cardboard) by Faith Bebbington
Aglow Liz West Nemozena 2018-9
Questions to Ask Children
What can you see in the sculpture?
Does the sculpture look heavy or light and why?
How does the light and shadow impact the sculpture?
With your finger in the air, draw the shapes you can see in the sculpture…
Which sculptures have geometric forms and which are organic? Which do you prefer?
Talking Points: Saoirse Morgan
A collection of imagery and sources designed to stimulate conversation around the work of Saoirse Morgan.
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt Membership.
Saoirse Morgan
“My paintings explore my connection with familiar landscapes. The subject of my work is my home terrain of West Wales: the landscape, the coast, the ecology. I am inspired by local colour, plant life, atmosphere and weather. I spent my childhood on small islands, surrounded by swirling tide races and wild, wind-blown seas. My terrestrial environment is maritime heath and lowland heath. It’s a warm, familiar colour palette, dominated by bracken, heather and gorse.” – Saoirse
Questions to Ask Children
How does Saoirse’s painting process connect to the sea?
How do the colours, shapes and textures evoke the atmosphere of the sea?
Questions To Ask Children
How does the painting, and process capture the essence of the sea?
What do you like / dislike about the painting?
How does the painting make you feel?
Questions to Ask Children
Are there any animals / insects / plants in your local area that has been suffering the consequences of climate change? How has your local landscape been affected?
Which Artists Should We Look At in Primary School?
Talking Points: The Ancient Art of Drawing Kolam
A collection of sources and imagery to explore the ancient tradition of drawing Kolam.
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
*If you are having issues viewing videos it may be due to your schools firewall or your cookie selection. Please check with your IT department.*
This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.
‘Every morning at sunrise all across Southern India women practice the ancient art of drawing kolam on the thresholds of their properties. A physical form of prayer and symbol of protection, a daily exercise, and a moment of intense concentration and meditation, drawing kolam is an important household ritual that has a lot more to it than may first meet the eye.
Two very different women living in Chennai explain their shared passion for kolam, and their involvement in the local kolam competition.’ – BBC
Questions to Ask Children
What do you like/dislike about kolam drawings?
Do they remind you of anything?
What are some of the rituals do you take part in every morning?
