Year 5 & 6: Inspire 2020 - Clay and feathers
One of the many exciting things about our involvement with Inspire 2020, based on the painting Cupid and Psyche by Jacobo del Sellaio, is that the projects have been planned and created by the children from the outset. In a single lesson, there are pupils printing, painting, sewing and using clay. The Art Studio is buzzing!
Some children focussed on the significance of feathers and flight in the story in which Cupid is wounded by his own arrow and Psyche floats down from the top of a high mountain.
They experimented with drawing and painting feathers using a variety of media:
Some tried printing with actual feathers:
Others experimented with sewing, weaving and knotting.
In a section on the right of the painting, Cupid is woken by a drop of wax or oil and flies off in rage. Some pupils decided to use clay to reflect this dramatic event in the story.
We also looked at other representations of Cupid and Psyche in art history. A group of pupils from Ms Cloughton’s class took their inspiration from the sculpture Psyche revived by Cupid’s Kiss by Antonio Canova (1757 – 1822).
They decided to create their own clay figure of Cupid and cleverly decided to use Cupid’s arrows to strengthen and support the structure.
Painting the model was a tricky procedure and the pupils experimented with a number of different types of paint. They were delighted with the finished result.
I was amazed by the creativity and determination of the pupils in Year 5/6. Well done to everyone!