The Kildare Artist Notebook Project is ran by the Kildare Arts Office and it invites artists at all stages of their development to participate in the project. Artists are invited to fill a notebook in a creative way. Each notebook is then donated to Kildare County Council Arts Service to become part of a permanent touring collection. I am extremely excited to be part of this project, i am one of those artists who cares their notebook with them at all times, and i have always been that way since my early days in art college! So a chance to glimpse at other artists' notebook's always interests me because sometimes i feel that you learn more about an artist from their development work or rough idea's than their finished pieces.
Since i've had to hand over my notebook to the Arts Office, i decided i would document my notebook, I then made the photographs into a stop motion flipbook animation.
The offical opening of the Artist Notebook Project took place on Saturday 18th October by Dr Maebh O' Regan, in the ever impressive "Riverbank Arts Centre" in Newbridge. The exhibition is also part of the Kildare Literary Festival 2014. Check out the Kildare Artist Notebook Project website for more information on the Artists and where the touring exhibition will be next http://www.kildarenotebookproject.com/
Over the course of several months I had been collaborating with
twenty-eight pupils in Scoil Choca Naofa in a stop motion animation group
project funded by the Kildare Arts Office. The project involved all students in
a third and fourth class mix, and seen pupils learn the art of stop motion
animation. Pupils explored the theme of “A Trip To The Circus.” They took
inspiration from Alice Maher, Kara Walker and Shaun The Sheep! Learning about
all elements of animation, from scriptwriting, storyboarding, character design,
set design to final production shooting. Pupils collaborated their idea’s,
stories, characters and imaginations to create one final stop motion animation
production. The result of which was a seven minute short.
The first phase was
writing a group story and developing a script, from here each student was
assigned a scene to sketch the storyboard, then they designed and made a
character and a prop or set piece. The collaboration of each pupils work began
in the next phase, when shooting began, taking reference from previous
storyboards produced. Each pupil gained hands on experience of animating
characters, adjusting lighting, managing sets and deciding on camera angles,
alternatively referred to as “Lights, Camera, Action!!” Pupils also recorded
narrating the script, known as a “voice over.”Once all the production
photography had been shot, I digitally combined the audio with the visual
imagery, then added a musical soundtrack, with sound effects.
A great hype was created
around the school on the day “Penny And The Big Top” premiered for the first
time pupils seen their hard work come to life. Each pupil got a certificate of
participation and a DVD copy of the animation.
During my time in Scoil
Choca, I hope that I have made an impact on the pupils perception of art and
it’s limitless possibilities. All pupils were alert, smart, imaginative and
keen to learn. They enjoyed all activities and the school and class teachers
were continually supportive. The skills they have learnt will last them much
longer and they have experienced the power of collaboration, working as part of
one team. The finished animation is
viewable on the school website or is available for viewing in the school. https://vimeo.com/85248709
