Students at West Alvington Church of England Academy took part in an exciting workshop with local artist Martin bush on Thursday morning, organised by class teacher Lizzie Hatch.

The students are currently learning about abstract art, different mediums of art and expressing their emotions through the art that they create, and Martin’s workshop was a fun way for them to explore this topic in a creative and active way.

Martin has been an artist for over twenty five years. He has travelled around the world using both charcoal and paint in his artwork, and has experience working with students of all ages.

Martin said of his abstract painting style: “its great when you can paint your inner emotions onto canvas and look back… its almost looking back at yourself sometimes.” His workshops explore a type of art that allows students to “link their emotions” to the page. He explained that his process is a “different way of looking at art”, and its not about being “controlled” or “contained.”

The children are currently doing a block of work on abstract art, focusing on the work of Mr Bush as part of this topic.

Annette Andrews, a staff member at West Alvington school, said it was important for the school that they focus on a “local artist”, so the children can learn painting techniques whilst also “learning about our local area.” They have been looking at Martin’s work as well as work at national and international levels, to put the form of painting “into context… Looking at the world level and then bringing it down to the local level”.

Annette explained the importance of exploring this new art form. She said the students “don’t get much opportunity to always think about how they’re feeling and display that and express it… this is a different way of expressing their emotion.”

She also emphasised the personal aspect of the children’s art, saying: “It prevents them from looking at a photo and thinking “well I haven’t drawn that very well, because it doesn’t look like what I want it to look like… There is no right and wrong. It is what they want it to be.”

The children got to experiment with both charcoal and paint during the workshop, and had lots of fun creating new colours and using different painting tools. Their pieces were inspired by an array of ideas, from football teams to the natural world, and some beautiful artwork was created.