Musselburgh Grammar Art & Design Blog

Our Rotary Young Photographer of 2008 was presented with her trophy at a ceremony on Monday night at the Quay. Well done again, Morag!

All you budding photographers - look out for next years competition!

The National Library of Scotland recently held a great exhibition called ‘Local Heroes - The Art of the Graphic Novel’. This exhibition celebrated the history of the graphic novel and allowed viewers to visually see how the style of graphic novels has changed since their conception. The fascinating exhibits ranged from ‘The Beano’ to ‘2000AD’, to the recently re-released ‘Kidnapped’.

Members of staff from the English Department, Art & Design and Mr Bray had attended different illustrated talks relating to Graphic Novels. Gary Erskine, a freelance Scottish comic artist who is currently working on the new Dan Dare novels, led one of these talks. His enthusiasm for graphic novels and how they could be used in schools was inspiring - watch this space!

The exhibition is now finished, but the Art & Design Department are fortunate enough to have acquired a large number of exciting resources from it. These include large visual display boards that we hope to display in the Department, and around the school, as well as lots of graphic novels. Many thanks to the National Library for letting us have these resources.

Rotary Young Photographer Competition

Congratulations to Morag Barton, one of our S6 Advanced Higher Art & Design pupils, who was named as the winner of the ‘My Home Town’ section of the Rotary Young Photographer Competition.

Morag won the District 1020 competition which covers the whole of the South of Scotland, and over 50 Rotary clubs. A formal presentation ceremony is to be held in the Quay in June. Well done Morag!

The countdown is on!

During June, the new S3 are creating designs for the Fashion Show to be held on the second last day of term. The theme is recycling and the aim is to develop new skills, build up team-working skills and confidence, and most of all HAVE FUN!

To do this, we desperately need your junk!! We can use almost anything as long as it’s clean. So start searching for plastic bottle and containers, plastic lids, zips, buttons, sheets, clothes, bags, hats, ties, newspapers, magazines, nuts, bolts, screws. The list is endless.

Please bring up your junk to the Art & Design Department - we will recycle and reinvent!

The Art & Design Department have recently had Malcolm Cruickshank, an Artist in Residence, working with a number of pupils. All artwork was based on the Museum at Prestongrange, with pupils taking inspitaion from photographs that Malcolm had taken.

Initial drawings by S1, S2 & S3 pupils formed the basis for abstract sculptural works, mostly created using recycled materials. The S3 sculpture is soon to be placed in the school garden.

An exhibition of work is currently on in the Brunton Hall and should remainon display until August. Go to the Box Office and ask to see it!

The Examination in Expressive Activity will take place in the Art & Design Department between Monday the 21st of April 2008 and Friday 2nd May 2008. A date has still to be confirmed. Your work should be based on one of the following themes:

Al Fresco

Time to Reflect

Beachcoming

Blaze of Colour

At the Bazaar

Downtown

More information for this exam can be downloaded from the ‘Exam Information’ section on the S4 page…

GOOD LUCK, S4!

The Prelim Examination in Expressive Activity will take place in the Art & Design Department on Wednesday 28th November 2007. Your work should be based on one of the following themes:

• Fun and Games

• Scrapheap

• The Tide is High

• Dinner is Served

• In Disguise

• Garden Delights

More information for this exam can be downloaded from the ‘Exam Information’ section on the S4 page…

GOOD LUCK, S4!

A group of 13 S3 Standard Grade Art & Design pupils have recently been on an Outdoor Education Art & Design Trip.

Various areas in East Lothian were visited to give pupils experience of observing and recording what was around them and to explore the beauty of nature in it’s truest form. Activities included an ‘upside down walk’ where pupils looked in a mirror to ’see’ where they were going, drawing and building sculptures from found materials.

Check out the ‘Trips’ section in the ‘General’ page for more photos!

The SQA have put together an Art & Design Exhibition at the IT Gallery in the National Gallery of Scotland, The Mound, Edinburgh.

The Exhibition features over 100 pieces of artwork created by the best of Scotland’s young artists for the 2007 National Course examinations in Art and Design. Works at Standard Grade, Intermediate and Higher will be on display.

This exhibition is on from the 24th October 2007 to the 4th January 2008.

A must see for any inspiring young artist and those interested in Art & Design!