Higham Ferrers schoolchildren get art lesson from former resident and Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year 2021
Budding young artists have enjoyed a master class from an acclaimed national award winner.
And the 10 pupils from Higham Ferrers Junior School and 10 from Henry Chichele Primary School were each allowed to invite a family member along to share in the experience of the landscape art workshop, held in Chichele College and organised by The Friends of St Mary’s.
Ten-year-old junior school twins Ela and Ava Tate were able to take along both their parents, Phil and Gemma, with Ela working with one parent and Ava with the other.
The twins’ dad said: “It was nice to take a day off work and spend some time doing art with the children."
The young artists were invited to the workshop as they all have an interest in art and their adult guests told how the children had ‘jumped at the chance’ of learning from a professional.
The VIP guest who was passing on expert hints and tips was former Higham Ferrers resident, Ophelia Redpath, the Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year 2021.
Brenda Lofthouse, chairman of The Friends of St Mary’s, a registered charity dedicated to the preservation of the Grade 1 buildings in the town, said Ophelia is regarded as Higham’s in-house artist.
The workshop was part of the charity’s annual arts weekend.
Brenda said: “This is the third year we have worked with schools.
“The first year, the pupils were writing stories and in the second, they learned all about Tudor dance with a Henry VIII re-enactor.”
The first part of the landscape workshop involved pupils and their invited adults painting the background.
The second session was devoted to sketching in the Chichele College grounds or the nearby Duchy Barn Gardens, choosing whatever attracted them, such as architecture or stonework.
Having done the background and having a sketch, they returned to the college to paint their sketch onto their background, adding the finer details such as the flowers or the brickwork.
Ophelia, who explained that the pupils and adults had used all their own ideas and had gone in their own direction, said: “It is one of the ways that I work.”
At the end of the workshop, The Friends of St Mary’s members framed each painting, ready to go on display in the college the next day.
They will go on display again at Higham Ferrers Tourism’s annual Chichele Garden Fair on May 30 and then the pupils and their families can take their work home.