SWAc Young Artists - At Home Challenge
The South West Academy of Fine and Applied Arts (SWAc) exhibits the work of some of the finest artists in the region and we would also like to encourage young artists from the age of 4 to 18 to enjoy creating art. We held a special exhibition of young artists at our Open Exhibition supported by our Patron Baroness Floella Benjamin in 2019.
Some of our experienced education members have written art challenges to try at home. The age groups are: 4-11, 12-16, and 17-18. Scroll down this page to find out more about the first suggestions for each age group.
No special art materials are needed just a willingness to experiment and explore ideas!
We would like to share the art work in a special on-line Exhibition Gallery on our website and we will exhibit as many images as possible.
Only first names, age, hometown and the the title of the art work will be posted on the website to conform to the SWAc Safeguarding Policy and Data Protection Statement:
SWAc Data Protection Statement
We look forward to receiving the images of work. So, enjoy being creative and look out for more challenges in the coming weeks.
Young Artists at Home Challenge 3
for all age groups 4-18
My Happy Place
(Click on Mindmap image to enlarge)
We all have A Happy Place. Most of the time we don’t think about it but perhaps now more than ever we need to visit, or even find this place.
With this in mind we invite you to produce a piece of artwork using My Happy Place as the starting point. You could use a plain piece of paper or your sketchbook to push the idea around. You could explore a specific place, or an activity, a venue, a journey or objects connected to your chosen place.
Some of you may have a very definite idea straight away. However, we would suggest that you spend a little time exploring the possibilities. Maybe produce a ‘ Mindmap ‘ by writing down every thought that pops into your head about the topic, however odd or disconnected it may seem.
Once you start exploring ideas in this way it’s surprising what you can come up with.
If you choose a specific place e.g. your bedroom, then ‘Mindmap’ that too.
What is it that makes this your special, happy place: actual objects, memories of items or other places ?
You may like to create a realistic representation of your idea or, rely more on memories and feelings. There are lots of possibilities for this theme so let your imagination run free. You can use any painting or drawing materials, collage, mixed media, even scrap/ found materials either in 2D or 3D.
Thinking about the starting point of Garden from the Mindmap here are two pieces of work from Lucy and James.
Garden by Lucy age 5
Our Pond by James aged 14
Happy Hat by Andrew age 16
Andrew selected Journey and travel from the ‘My Happy Place’ Mindmap and chose his hat as the source on to which develop his work. The images and items relate to his memories of Visiting China.
Extra Challenge!
It is always useful to do some research into your chosen area. Maybe look at other artists who may have worked on similar ideas. Use books and the internet to explore such artists. For example,
1. Thinking about your bedroom try looking at Tracy Emin’s , ‘Unmade Bed’ and Van Gogh’s ‘Bedroom’.
2. Looking at the work of Monet , David Hockney and Andy Goldsworthy might prove interesting if you are considering Garden/ Outdoors/ Countryside as your Happy Place.
3. The work of Salvador Dali and Joseph Cornell would suggest a more surreal and dreamlike way into presenting your idea.
Good luck! We look forward to seeing the artwork that you produce.
Make sure that you watch the video presentation to get more ideas.
How to enter – it couldn’t be easier!
Once you have completed your art work, take a good quality photo and send it by email to us at youngartistsswac@gmail.com.
Please include the following information in your email: your full name, age, address and the title of your piece if you have one.
Please also include the following statement “I confirm that The South West Academy has parental permission to post an image of my art work".
Only first names, age, title and hometown will be posted on the website and only name, title and age on social media to conform to the South West Academy’s policies on Data Protection and Safeguarding.
Enjoy the process! We look forward to seeing the results soon and look out for your work on the website!