Creating art

Art is relaxing only after a lot of hard work.” These honest and simple words formed part of 18-year old Nawal Sadeq’s biography alongside his work showcased at the Al Bareh Art Gallery, Adliya.

It was part of the exhibition put up by 20 GCSE/A-level students of the British School of Bahrain.
Innocence and keen observation were the two thoughts that I registered as I toured the exhibition with Nick Atkins, the Head of Art of the school.
As a viewer I admired the play of colours, angles, expressions and one student’s use of insignificant articles such as Pepsi crowns in their artwork.
Despite watching the work progress throughout the year, an enthusiastic and visibly proud principal Bill Frost admitted he was “surprised” at just how exciting the exhibition appeared to viewers.
While figurative work and self-portraits showing a variety of emotions dominated different sections of the exhibition, students had been unafraid to examine complex subjects such as hierarchy and imprisonment.
A well presented ‘video art’ looked at satire through popular world leaders including George W Bush and Tony Blair and yet another student attempted to portray ‘mystery’ through a delicate piece of installation art.
One could not help but admire the eye for detail in several works in the exhibition.
What clearly came through was the extensive research and time dedicated by the students to their subjects.
It was also clear from the biographies displayed alongside the works that the students greatly admired and drew inspiration and patience from their teacher Nick Atkins.
He says it is a misnomer that fine art and painting is an easy subject. “Students who take Art thinking it is a throwaway subject are in for trouble.”
Atkins took over as the Head of Arts department three years ago. He said: “Art is a very important subject in school and our students are very happy about what they are doing.”
A statement reiterated by Keira Crowther, 16, who said: “I picked up Art as a GCSE subject because I wanted to develop my creativity,” and Nadia Ikram, 18, who said: “Art is expressive.”
Teaching Art is an art in itself, admitted Mr Atkins. “Education is not just about teaching a course or business subjects. Art is very positive. It is the creative and visual element of the community. As an Art teacher I am passionate about my subject and I want everyone to be involved in it. However, it is not an easy option. There is a lot of hard work involved.
“We often have parents complaining about the work students have to put in. My standards are very high and the work you see in the exhibition reflects it.”
Mr Atkins said there have been changes to the method of teaching Art at the school. “We have consciously moved away from the old school of art which was the way I was trained in school where you produce one piece of work in one term. Today’s methodology focuses on the process rather than the outcome which is where education comes in,” he said.
Training students on the ‘process’ of creating art gives them “a realisation that they can produce work from themselves, from within their own experience. As 14, 15, 16 year-olds, every individual has emerging opinions on life, which gets reflected eventually in their creativity.
“It is never about doing a piece of painting or sculpture in this project,” he said.
Initial weeks are spent getting students to understand how to gather their thoughts around a medium or subject. They then graduate to group brain-storming sessions. At times students are unsure about what they want to do. And that’s where the role of an Art teacher becomes more prominent. He facilitates the thinking process.”
Actual work begins when students are sent to the field to photograph the subject that can translate into their ideas, he said.
“It’s always a challenge. It takes several individual sessions and critical assessment of at times hundreds of photographs to find that ‘translatable photograph’.”
He added: “I have always found students very accepting. They may be nervous when I go through the work but at the end of the day we are trying to get them a grade – which is a big conflict as fine art is not about grades - it is about producing work for its own sake.”
As students progress in the study of art, their creativity and outcome gains depth and the introduction to different artists and styles plus individual attention brings about that final creation, Atkins pointed out.
– ANASUYA KESAVAN