…to the idea that my fabulous old Pentax camera may be a tool of the past. It’d saddens me to even write that, but I have to face facts. I’ve hung on to the past for too long perhaps, but with the camera comes loads of memories – right back to the start when I bought it. Raking around the wee old camera shop in Morningside (which has now moved up the road and turned itself into a brighter and cleaner shop, much to my disappointment) to find exactly what I wanted – a fully manual, nothing fancy solid camera. In fact, my only issue at the time if I remember was would I buy it immediately with the only money I had – that month’s rent – or take a chance and hope it would still be there when I managed to stop going to the pub and get some money together? (Why as students could we afford the pub so often – ahhhh, those days are long gone…) I think I considered the options for about 30 seconds, before handing over my money and leaving with a smile on my face.

But I digress…

I’m running an Elective period for seniors this year and I’ve decided to run photography as the first block of work. It’s such a joy to get out and about with the students, doing work that will ultimately be non-assessable. No pressure or deadlines from the SQA, just pure enjoyment of learning for enjoyment’s sake. Cor, if only all education could be that way. It takes me back to the good old days of Scotvec Modules. I ran darkroom photography then and it always amazed me how some pupils who had no grasp of numeracy and little interest in many of their other subjects, could quote percentages of chemical mixtures and get their darkroom techniques down to a fine art so easily. The buzz of seeing a student’s face light up with excitement, never mind listening to the squeals of delight when they saw their image start to develop is something I’ve never forgotten – and something I’ve not often seen since.

So, I’ve taken the bulls by the horn and started to take photos again with the students, but this time using my other half’s camera. I still don’t like the fact there’s so many auto settings and the manual function confuses me somewhat, but the feeling of cheating is starting to fade. Manipulating on photoshop again feels like I’m cheating on a test, but I guess that’ll pass too.

So, we’ll see how things progress. Looks like my unused darkroom in the loft will stay that way. It was a great idea, but in practice didn’t work out. It’ll certainly be cheaper to pursue now, but will it be as much fun? Who knows, but I’ll give it a try.

If you live anywhere near Edinburgh, a fantastic place to visit is Bonnington House. This is home to Jupiter Artland, a contemporary sculpture garden which is set in its grounds.

Being an Art & Design teacher, it’s always great to visit galleries and exhibitions, but seeing sculpture set in an open environment lets you experience the artworks in a different way. I’m quite a tactile person, so always want to touch and feel. There’s been many a time I’ve felt the urge to touch something in a gallery, knowing full well if I did, a penalty would be paid. This park however is set up in such a way that you tramp around the open spaces, as well as small woods, exploring the environment and finding sculptures (that you can touch and climb on!). It’s great for kids and there seems nothing too precious about what you find. From the soothing land forms by Charles Jencks, to the fascinating ‘Firmament’ sculpture by Antony Gormley and the quite haunting ‘Weeping Girls’ by Laura Ford, there is something for everyone.

It’s well worth a visit, if only to get some fresh air then stop for a cup of tea and cake. Just one word of warning – there’s a rather friendly peacock who seems to have a passion for cake…

One of my S1 classes had been talking about graffiti art a few weeks ago and I had introduced them to the British artist Banksy. I was interested when one of the pupils excitedly came into class today asking me if I’d seen the news this morning.

Apparently Banksy has opened his first official exhibition in New York. I laughed when I looked at the BBC website and the video link. The exhibition takes place inside a fake pet shop and includes a number of robotic ‘animals’. I asked those that had seen the report did they think that Banksy was trying to make some kind of comment…immediately they responded that they did and he was commenting on how animals were treated and what people did to them. Of course, upon enquiry, they loved the chicken nuggets eating the dip the best!

Image from www.banksy.co.uk

It was great though, just listening to them getting animated about something they had seen, that they could also relate to as we had talked about it in class. It made me wonder about all the artists and designers we talked about as part of the curriculum. Here were 12 year olds actively discussing an artist who was making a comment about modern day life…and they understood it. I’ve often found some contemporary artists difficult to teach, particularly at S1 level. Perhaps it’s my own hestitations that makes it more difficult. Don’t get me wrong, it’s so important to give a background history to art and design and such a rich, diverse and wonderful history it is. But, does it really stir the imagination of todays youth in the same way that Bansky Howson would. These artists portray life as they know it, so all the more relevant.

Now there’s a debate that could become heated!

If ever there was a showcase for Scotland’s emerging young artistic talent, the annual SQA Art & Design exhibition is it.

This year, a selection of work produced for the 2008 National Courses in Art & Design will be shown at three major exhibitions. The range of work this year promises to include paintings, sculpture, design, ceramics, fashion and jewellery.

The standard is always fabulous, the creativity and imagination on view amazing. So if you’ve never been, it’s well worth a visit.

Around 180 Higher exhibits will be shown in The Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh from the 15th October – the 6th November.

Over 100 works, including those produced for Standard Grade, Intermediate 1, Intermediate 2 and Higher will be shown at The People’s Palace, Glasgow from the 1st December – 16th January.

Advanced HIgher work will be exhibited for the first time at The National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh from the 22nd January – the 19th March.

Flyer for SQA Art Exhibition