Young at Art

A plodding day at the PC and a dismal wet evening had not left me in the most positive of moods to venture out for the Cottenham Village College GCSE Art Exhibition to which I had been invited as parent and Governor. But once through the door, my mood lifted dramatically!

Meandering through the crowds of students laughing and chatting, proud parents and relaxed and pleased teachers, the eye was initially gripped at random by a portrait on the right or an abstract ahead in the large collection covering the walls of three rooms.

Technical competence varied dramatically but came second to the sendipity of the gems scattered independently of ability - where an idea had clicked and connected with the viewer. Fabrics were one thing I noticed on my second tour - studies of saris that I had mistaken for photographs, a sleeping figure swathed in gentle folds of a pastel blanket and unassuming at first, an oil painting of a simple apple on a dark green fabric which one overlooked until you came close to marvel at its execution. Portraits that captured a smile, longing or sadness, ranging from posterised ink studies to positively Shreklike. And in one corner, an abstraction of shells in a few simple lines and colours.

But the best thing was the ideas, the different ways of representing something. I wanted to bring a camera to capture some of them so I could go back and try them out myself, to develop further!

I left with lifted spirits - and a new desire to try experimenting with pastels again, having been seduced by the soft blends and textures.

photo - microscopic foraminiferan shell, CT