06 April 2018
This term, the Junior School had the pleasure of welcoming our 2018 Artist in Residence, Sarah McDonald. The Aritist in Residence program aims to assist the boys in discovering the various aspects of art forms and assist them in self expression.
Sarah is a South Australian artist, who has worked as an artist and art teacher for the past 20 years. She has had 16 successful solo exhibitions in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and New York; and runs her own art school.
Sarah uses oil paint, thickly applied with palette knives to create her work. Using multiple layers she produces her colours, patters and various textures while balancing lines and shapes. Her work caputres various colour and light, something she is passionate about reflecting in each of her pieces.
The Year 6 boys experienced painting on canvas with palette knives, which was a new experience for the boys and a unique introduction to landscape painting – a current source of inspiration for Sarah’s work.
Sarah showed the boys how to blend colour with the a palette knife and how to mix with impasto gel to increase the paints’ thickness. Horizontal application of the paint created sky and hills where vertical applications created trees with different textures for bark, and short strokes and dabbing techniques for leaves and grass.
This was a unique opportunity for students to observe an artist at work. Sarah shared all of her techniques and skills with the boys, which broadened their knowledge of new materials.
Sarah’s passion and her ability to teach these techniques to the boys created a memorable experience for them all.
Sally Houston, Junior School Art Teacher