Art of glass inspiration for Year 8 - Sydenham High School

Art of glass inspiration for Year 8

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The Art department recently took Year 8 to the V&A in preparation for the ceramics project which they will be starting later this term.  This enabled them to explore examples of historical and contemporary work from around the world.  They also visited the glass galleries for further inspiration when investigating designs for vessels.  Year 8 student Ellie Osmond reports on the experience:

“My first thoughts on walking into the museum were that it was very big. As we continued to walk through the museum, I marvelled at the intricate sculptures and architecture. We reached the first gallery and were asked to complete certain drawing tasks. We went into the contemporary ceramics room. I chose to sketch ‘The Severed Head’ piece as I thought it looked like a character from Pac-man and I thought I’d enjoy drawing it. I also drew ‘Snow Lady Gourd’ as it had an interesting design which was challenging but rewarding to sketch. We also found some hidden artwork – on the ceiling!

“The next gallery we visited was another ceramics gallery.  This room contained plates, pots and tiles decorated with beautiful patterns. We found patterns containing flowers which I decided to sketch; birds, leaves, fruit, trees and animals. Despite this, my favourite art works were the plates and pots containing Chinese images of dragons. I thought they were very detailed and interesting. I also really liked an image of a golden pineapple as I thought it would be fun to draw.

“Finally, we went to the glass gallery. This was by far my favourite gallery. I immediately thought it was beautiful. I particularly adored the crystal-like glass stairs as they were very unusual. There was also a particularly pretty glass cherry blossom tree branch hanging from the ceiling. I never quite realised how much glass could be manipulated into so many colours and shapes. There was such a range in styles throughout the gallery. There was even a piece of glass that was over three and a half thousand years old! It was a tiny vase inside a glass case and was very intriguing.

“I know that for our next project, we will be making ceramic vessels. I think that our trip will be very useful when designing our vessels as we have been given inspiration. There were so many interesting shapes, colours and designs in the museum to help give us ideas for our own.

“I would recommend the V & A museum to visitors, especially those who appreciate art and the history or art. It was a very engaging trip full of great pieces – beautiful, interesting, meaningful and quirky – and I think that those who are passionate about art will really enjoy it.”

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