Painting #6 - Day 1 (31/05/19)

Another tricky day for me as it is almost the end of the Half Term holiday and I'm feeling like not enough progress has been made on our house and garden. We also had to alter our plans today both this morning and again this afternoon. I don't always cope well with last minute changes and unfortunately this can (and usually does) affect my mood and productivity for the rest of the day! As I am quickly learning, the best way to manage these feelings is to paint...

I spend a lot of time on my phone, reading the BBC news. I am always interested in stories about health (particularly mental health), culture and education. Today I stumbled across an article about Broomlands Primary School entitled "Does a 'stunning school' aid learning?" I took inspiration from a photo of the school and around 5 hours later I completed an Acrylic painting of the school. It isn't an exact representation, more an artistic interpretation of it; it certainly isn't architecturally accurate!

The Kelso school is clearly very impressive and as the BBC pointed out, it has received a nomination for an award from The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland.

I really enjoyed reading the comments from the staff, parents and particularly the children about how the new school building has made them feel. One pupil, Ker said it 'cheers you up a wee bit' (if you're having a bad day) 'because it is quite bright'.

Head Teacher, Michelle Matthews told the BBC that the 'lovely feeling' which embodied the old school has very much been maintained despite the move, something that was of concern to some pupils. I love the idea that this feeling is "within them" (the children) and that the feeling would "radiate around" the new school building as a result. What a lovely way to reassure those anxious pupils that the thing they loved about their old school would still be very much at the heart of the new building too!

Head of Place at Architecture and Design Scotland, Diarmaid Lawlor stated that there is "no doubt" that well designed schools can help children learn. He also pointed out though that great learning can happen in "almost any type of setting". That's fantastic news because this very cool school cost nearly £10m!!!

I absolutely loved looking at the photos of the school and found the article fascinating, probably because of my time in education and also the design aspect of it. I enjoyed doing my painting of the school and I really like the end result; I particularly like the colour palette and the interesting shapes. There are a few little tweaks that I intend to tackle but for now, it is framed and #6 is done, yay!

Please go to the BBC news website to see all of the photos of Broomlands and to read the complete article. (www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-48185714)