art workshops and A-levels
September 1996 - April 1997
 

Centre for Learning, Bangalore
Color Workshops
I arrived in India with a repertoire of art and design workshops to offer at the various Krishnamurti schools I would be visiting. As it turned out, almost all the students wished to work with color. This was the first color workshop, in Bangalore.
http://cfl.in

York, Sandy and Nandini

Centre for Learning, Bangalore
ULEAC A-level Art and Design Syllabus Workshop
Three students were candidates for the A-level Art and Design examination using the University of London Syllabus. I presented a full day workshop of the syllabus to clarify its content and familiarize the students with what the examiners expected of their entries. (And ended up staying to prepare them for the exam!)
http://cfl.in

coursework by Shefalee (detail)

The Valley School, Bangalore
'The Podmobile Installation'
This was a project with 9th and 10th level students who wished to learn about color mixing. We gathered pods from the ubiquitous 'rain' trees (Pithecolobium saman) in the area. The idea was to use them to create mobiles which would hang in the forest, painting the breeze as they spiraled in space. In the seed-beds of each pod the students would paint ladders of hues in an even gradation from one color to another. They scrubbed the pods clean, dried them flat, sorted them by size. Then they painted them white with acrylic house paint. When they were dry, they chose their two 'parent' colors and mixed up the steps to fill the indentations. Finally, tiny holes were drilled at the balance points and the pods were threaded together. The students hung them in the forest to twist and twirl, and on the day of the school Mela they were individually auctioned for fundraising.
Everyone - including the parents - was amazed at what could be done with "those dirty old brown pods", and the students who created them couldn't believe so many subtle colors could be mixed from just two tubes.
http://www.kfionline.org/schools/valley.asp
http://www.jkstudy.org/pages/AboutBEC.htm

podmobile

Rishi Valley School, Madanapalle
Banner Installation for the Assembly Hall
The 11th and 12th year students at Rishi Valley also chose color as the area of the syllabus they wanted to explore. It was noticeable that the students I met in India all shared a lack of confidence in working with color. They loved learning the basics of mixing hues, tones and tints. In this case we decided to make 12 banners for pillars in the Assembly Hall. It was a real team effort, with the woodwork dept making the frames and the textiles dept dyeing white cotton gauze for the streamers. The students, meanwhile, created designs which they worked in watercolor on the local handmade Khadi paper. The designs incorporated the steps of gradated hues and tones, and as these were older students tertiary mixes were also included. When the school assembled at 9am one Thursday morning they were greeted by these gorgeous banners with streamers floating in the breeze - an effect that was appreciated by all, especially the little group of creators!
http://www.rishivalley.org/school/overview.htm

in the studio

the team at the Assembly Hall

Gurukula Botanical Sanctuary, Kerala
Art Retreat Week
'The Post School Group' of graduates from Center for Learning and other guests and residents at the Sanctuary came together for a week's Art Retreat with the focus on 'Observation.' The first part of the week explored seeing/drawing activities - including being blindfolded - and tasks designed to challenge 'normal' perceptual modes. The second part met the (by now) recurrent request for color work. Our particular emphasis was on ways of perceiving and producing the infinity of subtle color hues and tones surrounding us in that tropical wonderland. The mature participants were a mixed bunch - some had 'done' art before, others hadn't since they were toddlers. It was an informal atmosphere with a pleasant holiday feeling, nevertheless everyone was enthusiastic and responsive, keen to explore new ways of seeing.
http://www.gbsanctuary.org
http://www.bgci.org/worldwide/article/0324/

working on the verandah

color and collage

Centre for Learning, Bangalore
A-Level Art and Design
Halfway through their coursework, the 3 A-level students were invited to put together an exhibition of their work for the other students, staff, parents and visitors at the school. Displaying their works and answering questions from viewers of all ages gave the students - who had only learned how to discuss their work critically very recently - a real confidence-boost. It was absolutely deserved: they were the most dedicated, serious students I've ever had the privilege of working with. And to their great credit - since 2 years' coursework had to be covered in just 6 months - they all succeeded in their exams.
http://cfl.in

Shefalee

Sandy (at rear)

York