Exhibition trip

S4/5 artists took a trip to St Mungo's museum of Religious Life in Glasgow today to see an exhibition of Peter Howson's work on famine. We are studying the artist as part of the art and design studies unit and the trip was an excellent way to engage with the artist's work. The museum staff were very informative, actively discussing the paintings with the group as well as giving us background information on his style, inspiration and techniques.

We even got to try out some of his unusual techniques... when he was the official war artist during the Bosnian war all of his art materials were stolen. He had to be creative and ended up 'painting' with candles and boot polish! We had a go and found it was definitely harder than you might think!

After a little practice...

Here is what they had to say about it:

"It was very interesting and educational and I learnt that he isn't so depressing after all! When I first looked at his work I thought it was just miserable but when I watched the video I realised he had a very good point to communicate." Jessica

"I have gained a lot of knowledge about the art field and about Peter Howson's work" Gabriella

"His work is very depressing and sad but he is very good at drawing" Hannah

"Peter Howson's work is very distorted but it tells an important story" Rebecca

"The boot polish and candle wax technique was 'interesting' to try!" Megan

Or in Massimo's words: "The boot polish was stinking!!"