Our Year 13 A Level Art and Design pupils have now completed their Component 1: Personal Investigation pieces and are embarking on their Component 2: Externally Set Assignment. Pupils, this year, have chosen the endorsed titles for study of Fine Art and Photography but each year this varies according to what kind of artwork they make.
For their Component 1, pupils are asked to conduct a practical investigation into an idea, issue, concept or theme, which demonstrates their ability to construct and develop a sustained line of reasoning from an initial starting point to a final realisation. This means that the work can follow in any direction and often changes along the creative journey.
The gallery below showcases some of the pupils’ outstanding work. Director of Art at Framlingham College, Sue Tansley, commented on the pupils’ pieces saying: “This year has been such a creative journey for this cohort, the first to have Art and Design examinations since 2019. We wanted to help them to focus and as such, they completed their work, for Component 1, with a 15-hour mock exam. They coped exceptionally well, and it was interesting to see how many of them wanted to work on a large scale or with installation and go on to make public art.”
Frankie L’s enormous collage on identity took months to make and became part of a book she created during the mock and Molly R’s colourful melted shoe piece are two of the largest outcomes. Lyla E’s exquisite dress of plastics makes a comment on waste products while making something quite beautiful out of it, she intends to take this dress to the beach, to have it worn and coming out of the water, once it gets a little warmer.
Several pupils wanted to take their outcomes out into the external environment. Public art is a growing field of creativity and we were happy to help them to achieve this. As such we have record sleeves created by Wilf S being photographed in Martlesham record shop. A dustbin full of handmade rubbish (each with images of crowds and their corresponding rubbish) created by Sasha N as a comment on disposable society (which has also been photographed in our own Paul’s Court, at Bentwaters and finally on Aldeburgh beach). Lucy B created a fashion billboard which she then took out to roundabouts and bus stops. Will L turned a giant collage into a comment on homelessness having documented homeless people over many months, making his collage and newspaper blanket into an installation.
Our young artists also explored simpler things as seen in the delicate nature of Maria S’s self-portrait drawing, Sophie L’s study of shapes underwater and Freya J’s watercolour portraits. Amber D’s painstaking still life in acrylic demonstrates her ability to study and transpose in paint what she sees with such accuracy.
Burney L explored using light drawings created with portable lights and superimposing them onto night photography taken of Paul’s Court and of his home, Hong Kong. Ruby M’s beautiful fashion photography was turned into an accurate version of a well-known fashion magazine; this being her ambition beyond education. Maddie B spent hours finishing her collage of a face cut into tiny leaf sized pieces and reattached with pins onto pinboard. Harry F explored natural forms with images of Suffolk transformed while Harriet S also looked at natural forms with her paintings of oranges. Fruit also inspired Phoebe RL in her final outcome which also re-used printed paper. Sophie O has been exploring architecture for many months having made paintings, prints and even repeat pattern textiles.
We are proud with what they have accomplished and look forward to what they will create for the Externally Set Assignment, which they started last week. To help them with their initial inspiration we took them on a magical mystery tour with the kind help of the creative world of Suffolk. Starting off at Sudbourne Printmakers workshop, John and his fellow printmakers were so generous with their time showing us the facilities and some of the beautiful outcomes made there, a brief visit to Chris New at Bluebird Pottery Shed who was kind enough to show them his work and place of creativity and nipping round the corner for the brilliant Annie Turner who let us roam through her studio and inspired many. Back into the bus and we arrived at Bentwaters for another inspiring tour of artist studios this time at Old Jet, where Consuela took us around the amazing studio spaces there and many of the resident artists happily answered our student’s questions. Lunchtime saw us in Aldeburgh where Graham let them explore Thompsons gallery before we then headed to the Red House to see Benjamin Britten’s collection of sculptures. The last stop was Snape Maltings where the outside sculptures and gallery were enjoyed by all and in a very English fashion it all ended with cake!
