Postcards!

Reverse of our postcards, full of information!

The back of our postcard has basic information about the programme and some example images. The example images come from REALISE's Autumn 2011 cohort, so a big congratulations to everyone featured!

Our usual representing image on the front!

Facebook... We Have Landed!

We have landed on Facebook and when we do something we do it properly!!!


So, we have given you two options here!


1. To like our Facebook page, click here: http://www.facebook.com/REALISECreativeArts


2. To become a member of our Facebook group, click here: http://www.facebook.com/groups/253920251329755/

I Need A Hero

This week we are focusing on our ArtsAward, looking specifically at the 'Discover' section.


In this part we have to first discover who our Arts Hero is before researching into them finding out things like; why they are they a hero to you; what do you admire about them; how can you learn from them; what skills do they use and so on.


Today we discovered that Jess's hero is Beyonce because of her fashion style as well as her beautiful voice.


Lauren's hero is Steven Hillinburgh, the creator of Spongebob Square Pants, as he entertains her with his fab drawings and witty story lines.


Pictures of the resulting work to follow later this week :)

Reflection time

After we had finished our bags, we worked through a series of five questions that got us to look at how and why we had created the bags.

First this was completed independently and then this was built upon as a group. When the reflection time was completed, we then decided to create a reflective piece of work to contain all of this really valuable information. These kids of pieces of work are great for future portfolios and also for Arts Award!

Here are Jess's and Lauren's reflection sheets.

Jess reflects on her bag.

Lauren reflects on her bag.

The finished bags!

Bag Me One of Those!

Bag Me: Week Two

After the massive success last week with the bag project we continued with this project, working a little deeper into the core skills of the work.

Everyone added things into their bags that represented different parts of who they are and added their name to the bottom of the bag to complete their "take away me."

Lauren adding bits of herself into the bag!

Bags: Week One (Jess and Lauren)

Lauren's Self Portrait

Jess's Eulogy

Bag Me One of Those!

This week we made start on a project where you have to recreate yourself...as a bag!


There has been some great self portraiture work along with some really lovely peer comments that are boosting esteem and motivation throughout the group.


My camera has decided to have a wobble and has randomly deleted the pictures of the work that I had taken. As such, I will follow this post with some pictures when I can take some more on Wednesday.


More to follow then!

Drawing and Communication

Last week was a monumental week for the REALISE group. We have reassessed our goals and made a group 'pact' to work together more successfully to try and reach these goals through our project.

To kick start new group spirit we had a go at a drawing and communication exercise. The idea behind the exercise is to demonstrate how important clear and concise communication is to completing, well anything really!

Participants sit back to back with one facing a table. The participant at the table (A) get's a sheet of paper and a pen/pencil, the other participant (B) get's a sheet of images. B's task is to pick an appropriate image and then describe the image to A so that A can draw the image as accurately as possible.  A's task is to draw from B's instructions, listening and following directions carefully.

After participants have completed the activity, review the results before switching places and having another go!

We found that second time around, the task was much more successful as the communication was better and also as we had been in the other participants place so we had an empathetic reaction, making us complete the task to a higher standard.

Great fun!

No it's like this!

How do I describe this?

Impossible Arts

A big thanks goes out to Chris and Charlotte who helped introduce our new project of shadow puppets with an audio-visual show and practical making session.

See how we got on in these images from the day:

Chris manipulating Lauren's puppet (incomplete)

Chris's simple monster puppet

Charlotte trying out different manipulation techniques.

We discovered that if you press the puppets up to the shower curtain you get a totally different effect.

Omar with the groups first complete puppet. Now let's make super scissor man HUGE!!!!

As you can see, we had a great time and learnt lots about making puppets and how to create good shows; music, sound effects; the comic rule of three; lighting and characters are all important as well as having cool puppets!

Here's to another five sessions of puppetry fun!

Leeds Art Gallery

Getting started

Visiting an Art Gallery for the first time can be intimidating as it is hard to know what you can and can not do. Also, it seems that there are all these unwritten rules as to how to behave and what you should do. So, what better a way to get int o the sing of things than with a trip with the rest of the REALISE group?

We were very lucky to be able to spend some time in the Artists Rooms: Damien Hirst section of the gallery, a touring show which finishes this week! This is the first time Damien Hirst has ever shown his work for free in a public gallery and the response has been phenomenal with over 11,000 visitors in the first week alone.

To find out more about the touring Artist Rooms: Click here!

In this exhibition we talked about really big questions such as what is art and who decides what is art?

Here are some images of Damien Hirst's work below. Do they look like Art to you? Why? What might have influenced you?

Most believed this is art due to it's colour and pattern. Do you agree?

A sculptural triptych made using anatomical models, all were pre-made. Is this Art?

'Away from the Flock' from the Natural History series which Hirst is arguably most famous for.

'The Anatomy of an Angel,' 2008. How was this made? Did Hirst make it?

Panel from 'Pharmacy' restaurant that Hirst set up in 1998 in London.

Damien Hirst split opinions with some believing that his work was skillful and interesting with themes about death and life. Others in the group did not feel his work was art as a lot of things were pre-made or not created by him. Some felt that it depended what piece you were looking at and how you were 'reading it' that decided whether the piece was art or not.

If you are interested in the Art Gallery, Damien Hirst or other contemporary artists, see one of the delivery team for more information!

Rebekah Caputo Visit in Pictures

Rebekah Caputo with hand puppet

Bunraku style puppet

Shadow puppet from up-coming show

Behind the puppet: moving parts

Rebekah Caputo Visit

Last week was our first review week and we were lucky enough to a visit from a professional puppeteer, Rebekah Caputo.


Rebekah lives and works locally making and performing for many different types of shows over the years including physical theatre and shadow puppetry. 


Rebekah bought along examples of Bunraku style puppets from previous solo shows as well as shadow puppets from an upcoming joint venture.


To find out more about Rebekah's work, click here!

Planning Our First Trip

Details:


This Friday as in TOMORROW meeting OUTSIDE Leeds City Art Gallery @ 12pm for an exciting day of controversy, art, discussion and food. Yay!


Remember to wear flat, sensible shoes and arrive on time to get the most out of the day! We will sort everything else out and trust me it is going to be an ACE day!


For a sneak preview of what is happening at the gallery...


Click here!


Until tomorrow...

Leading By Example

Me But Better is such a fun project but it can be quite hard to get into it in a more serious manner, thinking about the kind of skills you are using and also about the kind of photograph you are producing and why.

On Friday, I decided to do a hands on demonstration, dressing up, posing and giving directions to my volunteer photographer.

 Thanks to Beckii for the beautiful spotty dress I am wearing, Caroline for some of the amazing props and Jess for her skillful photography.

Here are the results of my demonstration session. I had fun and learnt a lot, I hope you guys did too!

Self-Portrait One

Self Portrait Two

Dishes?

Week Two: Day 1 in Images

Setting the scene...

Trying on the clothes...

Posing for the pictures...

Me But Better

Dressing up...


Acting out...


Becoming someone else...


Strike a pose...


Snapshot...


Memory lane...


Emotional journey...


And that's just the start!

Next Project

Here's a sneaky peak of what is in store this week in our new project: 'Me But Better.'

Genevieve Thauvette is a contemporary photographer. Find out more by clicking here; Genevieve's F'book page!

Perhaps consider unusual angles to create a totally different kind of self-portrait. Get creative and you will soon see that the sky is the limit!

Props, backdrops and costumes are all going to be an important part of the week. So if you have any wacky hats, weird wigs or funky clothes that you could contribute then please do bring them in!

See you tomorrow :)

Week One Review

The first week has flown by and we have completed our first project together; the visual map of me.

In this project, you work on top of photographs of yourself to create a highly unique and personal piece of artwork that speaks volumes about your current skills and your potential.

Here are two great examples from Connor and Bekkii.

Connor spent so long created his awesome rock hands and pop art inspired trainers he forgot about his head! So that was packed up and taken home in his backpack, hopefully to be returned on Wednesday!

Bekki's random collages clearly show her personality and the rainbow in the bottom segment goes some way to explaining her feelings regarding gay rights.

Great work guys, keep it up!

Friday's Highlights

Friday highlights: Our first external visitor, Jayne Wilson, came in and introduced us to Art Psychotherapy, which is a form of therapy where artwork is used as visual communication. She explained about her progression into this career and what you have to do during training. Jayne also delivered an activity based around Mandala's and below are our results. Can you guess which Mandala belongs to who?

Visual Map of Me

Today we started our Visual Map of Me project which will run till Friday.


Visual Map of Me is based on four photographs of body parts and four questions:


Head:   Who am I?
Hands:  What am I good at?
Body:   What do I like/dislike?
Feet:     Where am I going?


Mixed media is used to work in layers on top of the photographs to try and answer the questions using words and pictures.


Keep watching for the final results!

REALISE has Lift Off!

On Friday we started the REALISE Project with an induction afternoon.

First things first, let's get the food sorted! Every session is going to start with a shared lunch in the delivery room that will be arranged by the REALISE staff. We dined together on a buffet - feast courtesy of Muz; I think I almost became a pear I ate that many pieces of it!

Through the lunch time chit chat, I found out that favourite foods in the group are; chocolate cake, pizza and Chinese...Hmmmm not the healthiest of options there guys! Perhaps we can try and lighten these up and see if we can still eat our favourites but with a healthy spin on them?

I also discovered that we have a resident baker in our group who has photographic evidence of the most delicious cakes. I hope that we get to sample some soon!

As the afternoon got under way, we all got to know each other a bit better and found out more about each other's expectations and also what REALISE is going to entail. Everyone took home an induction pack, full of information about the project including practicalities, course set up and the realy important REALISE agreement.

Then we had a go at two activities, 'Hands of Time' and 'Getting to Know Me Man.' Each activity had an independent and a pair work section so we could find out more about each other in a fun and creative way. Then, we fed back to each other as a group to help us gel.

My favourite is the 'Getting To KNow Me Man' as it still surprises me every time how different each side is when the same questions are being asked. It truly makes for fascinating reading/viewing!

I am so pleased to have met everyone at last and I look forward to seeing our last minute recruits who are joining ranks with us next (now this in fact) week.

I have got some FANTASTIC projects lined up for us so with your enthusiasm and creativity, we should be ready to rock!

See you Wednesday!

This Week!

Oh wow, I can't quite believe that delivery week is here and that in just three days we will all be sat together at Archway sharing lunch and meeting each other for the first time!

Since my last post I have made exciting developments to the REALISE programme, planning for guest visits from all areas of the Arts industry and ordering materials to fill our store cupboard with a range of Arty goodness!

We still have a few places left (although we are limited!) so if you haven't signed up yet, then get in touch to find out how!

Looking forward to meeting you all on Friday.

Sarah

REALISE

It is now only a few weeks away until the start of our new and improved programme at Archway and I for one am getting pretty psyched about the things we have got in store. So much so, that I thought I better get on here and rant a bit about the whole thing!

We are going to be doing such a wide range of creative arts activities from independent work to huge, perhaps even monumental, group pieces. In addition, we will be showing how the Arts are a viable option for continuing education, employment or training by meeting professionals already in the biz and chatting with potential providers.

If you are not signed up yet, get your referral sorted now! Are you 16-19 and not in any education, employment or training? If so, this is just for you!

To sign up, just chose one of the following options and we can help get you a place :)

Face to face: at Archway or Connexions and ask for Muz or Lea.
Telephone: 0113 383 3900 and ask for Muz, Lea or Ruth
Email: REALISE@sarahjanemason.com

Places are limited and will be allocated on a  first come first served basis so, don't delay get in touch today! Can't wait to hear from you all!

Sarah

Realise Promotional Posters

First Post

So, as you are all going to blog I thought I might do a bit too. Perhaps just once a week to keep a sort of diary about what is happening and maybe put up some piccies too.

Still, I fear that this post is going to be rather dull as it is just a tester post and I have very little to say!

Looking forward to the course starting and excited about all of the new Creative Arts activities I am planning.

See you all soon