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We think we’ve uncovered the next Picasso (or two) during our first Parent and Child Art Club.

Plenty of new skills and a whole lot of fun was had by the budding artists over the six week course, with a beautiful bunch of native flowers inspiring them to explore different mediums including charcoal and paint.

Senior Visual Arts Teacher and program facilitator, Linda Tebbs said the Parent and Child Art Club was a wonderful and unique opportunity, offering a relaxed and encouraging environment for everyone to explore their inner artist.

“Seeing families work together to create some extraordinary artworks over the six weeks was very rewarding.

“We’re hopeful that due to the success of this first year, the art club will now become a �������� tradition!” Ms Tebbs said.

We heard from three families – Adam and Ashleigh Eurell, John and Eliza Young and Aneesa and Brycen Bayley-Hobden – about their experience being part of the club.

Why did you want to become involved in the art club?

Adam: Ashleigh has done studio art lessons since early primary school and when the opportunity arose to be involved with her completing some artwork, the art club was the perfect chance. It was also a good chance to be doing something with my daughter that she enjoys.

Aneesa: Brycen and I share a common love of all things art and design! It was a lovely opportunity to spend time together.

John: Eliza loves art so it was a good opportunity for us to spend time together doing something she loves.

Was the experience what you expected?

Adam: I had no expectations going to the classes but couldn’t speak more highly of the art club. Having never painted before and Linda being the talent she is, set us up not to fail. She provided us with ideas, sequences of how to complete painting and deadlines to ensure we were complete.

Aneesa: We went along with an open mind to enjoy whatever we did - I guess we were expecting a more structured class so it was wonderful that it was such a relaxed environment and we were free to interpret the brief in any way or in any medium we chose.

John: Being able to use all the resources in the art room allowed us to learn and experiment in ways that we wouldn’t otherwise. Ms Tebbs is knowledgeable and encouraging, making the whole experience fun and relaxed. 

How did you interpret the floral centrepiece?

Adam: My idea was to take the colours of an Australian native plant palette which I blended for the background in an abstract way. The centre piece to the painting were the banksia flowers which were enhanced with colour to make pop from the background and the leaves were my abstract version. Ashleigh’s painting was also abstract with a bright ochre orange background then two shades of green for the banksia leaf colour. The flower was coloured with white and ivory stamens. We both focused on the banksia flowers but had our own interpretations and turned to each other for help when we got stuck.

Aneesa: Brycen loves dinosaurs just about as much as he loves to draw! So while everyone else saw a vase full of flowers Brycen used components of the Australian native wildflowers to create a Stegosaurus! I love that Ms Tebbs encouraged this creativity and we weren’t all boxed into creating the same thing. I re-discovered a love of willow charcoal and thoroughly enjoyed designing a more stylised section of the arrangement. Ms Tebbs introduced me to liquid ink so my end piece was a combination of mediums including acrylic paint, charcoal and ink.

John: Eliza and all the children interpreted and painted without inhibition or expectation, I tried to copy them by deviating from realistic interpretation as much as my non artist adult mind would allow.

What was the biggest lesson you learnt?

Adam: Everybody sees things differently and possibly I should listen to my daughter a bit more, she had some great ideas! I now appreciate the effort and thinking that goes into all my kids’ artwork when they bring the home.

Aneesa: I think the biggest lesson we both learnt is that there isn’t anything that can’t be turned into a dinosaur! We especially loved that there isn’t a right or wrong way to express yourself with art. I thoroughly enjoyed spending quiet Sunday morning’s painting in harmony with my son in his favourite place in the school - the Art Department! It was especially lovely to display our artwork on the final morning and have our friends and family view our work.

John: I’ve learned that art is a great way to spend Sunday morning with Eliza. It is also great to watch other people produce vastly different paintings from the same inspiration. 

Do you have any plans for your finished work?

Adam: Our greatest critic and now art curator (mum) is yet to approve our latest pieces for hanging. We can only hope and be grateful if given the opportunity to hang them in our home!

Aneesa: Brycen’s painting is already proudly hanging on his bedroom wall. I’m thinking about re-painting mine on an even larger scale.

John: Eliza’s painting is proudly exhibited in her bedroom. My painting is "going straight to the pool room"!