The G9 art room was a hive of activity on Friday as our Year 10 GCSE Art students took part in a day-long workshop designed to boost their confidence in painting with acrylics. Experienced artist and workshop facilitator Stella Ashmeade led the day, which focused on a number of creative skills-building activities and exercises.

Stella is a freelance workshop facilitator who works with schools and businesses to deliver creative skills workshops, with a particular focus on building confidence through art. Having an entire day to focus solely on developing painting skills allowed pupils to work in greater depth, and the extended format gave them the time and space to experiment, reflect on and refine their work. Pupils gained a clearer understanding of colour matching, selecting effective reference images, developing quick exploratory sketches, and building layers in paint.

Feedback from the Year 10 group was extremely positive, with many reporting increased confidence and a stronger sense of how to approach their painting independently. Our thanks to Stella for a fantastic day.