Sharman Jupp

Sharman Jupp, our Artist in Residence for 1994/95 introduced the Year 6 and Year 7 pupils to the worlds of the Aztec, Inca and Mayan civilisations, and initiated wide ranging creative work in painting, ceramics, metal work and weaving. She has found the Pre-Columbian world a fascinating area of study as far as her own work as a jeweller is concerned, and during her residency she gave the pupils a chance to begin to understand the way of life, achievements in art and science, and the religious thought and mythology that governed and explained the Mesoamerican world of that period.

Year 6 and 7 try some Pre Columbian art techniques

An exhibition of Aztec art including ceramic heads, patterned pottery bowls, a calendar stone and some brightly coloured textiles provided the cornerstone of the term's work. This was set up in a central position in the art studies, and became an invaluable resource for research and design. The display also gave Sharman an opportunity to reveal her own creative work in response to this theme, and allowed the children to see for themselves the potential involved for making jewellery. Jewellery incidentally, is a term that covers a manifest variety of creations in rigid materials like metal, stone, wood, plastics, ceramics etc. the only constraints being considerations of function. Metals, enamelling and ceramics can also be combined successfully with colourful weaving and fabrics, as the children, discovered for themselves!

Certainly, no one had worked with precious metals before, and the combinations of etched copper, silver wire, gold leaf and woven thread work materia1ising from some groups of children were quite breathtaking. Metal was also used as a means of decoration for the pottery heads and life sized figure paintings that the other groups produced from themes that focused on the mythology of Pre-Columbian animal gods. The technique of repousse (metal raised in, relief by pressure from behind) was freely used in association with Aztec patterns and pictorial symbols, and provided pendants, head-dresses and earrings for a number of models and paintings. It was definitely one of the most exciting, and productive terms that we have enjoyed with any of our artists, and all three areas of the Hornby Centre, Technology included, gained a great deal from the experience. The playing of Andean Panpipe music for inspiration during the lessons also helped!

We were thrilled to take up an invitation to show some of the most outstanding pieces at the 3D Gallery in Park row, and parents, children and staff were able to see and assess the pieces in the a commercial gallery setting.