Art – St. Columba's College

Trinity Term Art Report

It has been a very busy term in the Art Department. First up the Senior Art prizes were awarded with Antonia Ladanyi winning the Earl of Meath Art Prize, Senior. Ellen Beven won the Craft Prize, Senior and Calvin She won the Photography Prize, Senior. We also want to congratulate Jamie Green for taking up an offer for September from the Manchester School of Art.

Junior Cycle pupils, having completed their projects embarked on a sculpture project highlighting some of the environmental issues that we face and this work has been exhibited around the College.

Form VI carried out their practical art exam- a five hour window in which to demonstrate their skill and talent. It was a challenging and stressful day for them. TY pupils exhibited their Architectural Drawings at a Nationwide ‘Architects in Schools‘ exhibition at the Lexicon Library In Dun Laoghaire. Form I and II continued to work on craft projects such as clay modelling and lino printing.

In the week leading up to St. Columba’s Day senior pupils had the opportunity to meet with the designer and artist Serena Kitt to talk about creating a portfolio and applying to Art College. This was supported by a trip to the BIFE for their end-of-year portfolio show for those pupils interested in compiling a portfolio in the next year or two.

TY pupils exhibited their portraits in the Whispering House and an exhibition showcasing a selection of pupil work from Form I-VI was on display in the Sports Hall for St. Columba’s Day.

There was a trip to the Lavina Fontana exhibition at the NGI and a guided tour of the Casino Marino for Form V. Below, Lily Boyle and Jesse Reynolds write reports on those expeditions.

National Gallery of Ireland by Lily Boyle, Form V

On Tuesday, May 30th, the Form V art pupils went on a trip to see the Mannerist paintings of Lavinia Fontana in the National Gallery. Lavinia Fontana was born in Bologna in the middle 1500s and she was best known for her attention to detail, especially in the fabrics she painted. We had a tour of all of her works on display in the gallery and we developed a deeper insight into her compositing and the story behind her work. We learnt that Fontana was managed by her husband Gian Paolo Zappi, all the while having eleven children. One thing I found particularly interesting was how Fontana combined the interest and/or professions of her clients into their paintings eg, a horoscope globe into an astrologer’s portrait or into her self-portrait she included a piano. Lastly, something I found truly interesting, was the classical and biblical allusions in some of her work, including the love affair of Aphrodite and Mars and Judith slaying Holofernes. I thoroughly enjoyed the trip and found learning about Lavinia Fontana enlightening and it has inspired me to dig deeper into other Renaissance and Mannerist artists.

Casino at Marino by Jesse Reynolds, Form V

After visiting the gallery, we went to see the architectural gem – The Casino at Marino. The Casino was designed by Sir William Chambers as a summer house for James Cauldield, the first earl of Charlemont. It is a great example of an eighteenth-century neo-classical building. Our tour guide told us that the egg and spear design throughout the casino represents life and death and that the lions surrounding the building were originally supposed to be water fountains; however, they ran out of money. The Casino was designed to look small on the outside when in reality it is much larger than it seems on the inside. The classic Greek columns elongate the building and deceive the mind into thinking the building is small. The Casino has been recently restored by the Office of Public Works and it now stands as a perfect example of Chambers’ work and the cultural aspirations of the Irish ruling classes.

Seeing the building in person really helped to understand the architectural innovations and how effective the deception was. We had a great day out.

Below is an album of photos and pieces of work from this term in Art.

Trinity Term Art '23

34 photos

June 12, 2023/by sccdublin

Performing Arts

Senior Art Prizes 2023

Congratulations to the winners of the Art Prizes for 2023. The standard of entries was excellent this year. Well done to everyone who entered. We are very thankful to artist and educator Laura Earley, who was invited to look at the entries, which were based on the themes ‘Tranquillity’ or ‘Daily Routines’.

The Earl of Meath Art Prize (Senior) was won by Antonia Ladanyi, Form VI. The Craft Prize (Senior) was awarded to Ellen Bevan, Form VI. Calvin She, Form V won the Photography Prize (Senior). Commendations were awarded to Georgia Goodbody, Form V, and Keelin Bradley-Brady, Form IV.

Senior Art Prize Winners 2023

5 photos

May 4, 2023/by sccdublin

Events

Senior Art Trip to Newgrange & National Museum of Ireland

On Tuesday 8th and Friday 11th of November, the Form V and Form VI Art sets visited the fascinating ancient burial site at Newgrange Co. Meath. In the afternoon they went to the NMI where they carried out an in depth examination of the pre-Christian artefacts they have studied as part of their Visual Studies Leaving Certificate course. Felicitas Ratibor and Joy Orogun report on the Form V trip.

Newgrange, Co. Meath.

Our tour of Newgrange began in the visitor centre where we were able to explore the Neolithic culture, landscape and monuments of Brú na Bóinne. It was a very interactive centre with beautiful light reflections on the floor representing the flowing water of the River Boyne and simulated forests with shadows of terrifying dogs creeping around. There was also a game in which you had to grow crops and harvest them which the whole class had fun trying out. It was all amazing and helped us to submerge into the experience.

After this we took a little shuttle bus to Newgrange, and I think that it’s worth mentioning that all of the staff were so friendly and we were also welcomed so kindly by our tour guide at Newgrange.

On arrival at Newgrange we split into two groups: one could take a walk around the passage tomb, examine the highly decorated entrance stone, Kerbstone 52 and take photographs whilst the other group went inside. Our tour guide talked about the unknown purpose of Newgrange, as well as the many theories. Since remains of the dead were found in the mound, the most definite theory is that it was used as a burial tomb. He also explained to us that as we enter and walk into the passage the ground level grows higher. This is an important feature of the construction at Newgrange as it allows the sunlight on the shortest day of the year to shine through the light box. Some of the theories to explain this phenomenon include sun worship or perhaps a celebration of the new agricultural year. When he talked about this he turned the light off and stimulated the sunlight coming through the lightbox shining directly into the chamber on the Winter solstice, which was a magical experience.

The thing that stuck to my mind the most is that the corbelled vault made everything much smaller than we expected and also that the chambers seemed more like one room with three protrusions rather than three different chambers. This trip to Newgrange was so very impressive. Standing in this tomb which has remained intact since its construction, without one single drop of water coming in, made us realise how amazing, innovative and inventive the Neolithic people were 5000 years ago!

Felicitas Ratibor.

National Museum of Ireland.

The trip to the National Museum of Ireland was a truly enlightening and clarifying experience for all pupils that went. The exterior of the beautiful building had intriguing information about some artifacts- one that was even formerly owned by the College- The Míosach! Once we got inside we began examining the different Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age artifacts we have studied. Some of the standout artefacts we examined included; a model of one of the passage tombs (though we had already seen the real thing at Newgrange). The Lunula from the Early Bronze Age, which was made by hammering gold into a thin sheet, cutting out the shape and incising the designs. Ribbon torcs from the Middle Bronze Age, made by hammering gold into thin sheets, cutting and twisting them to fashion neck ornaments. The beautiful Gleninsheen Gorget from the Late Bronze Age was made by hammering gold into a thin sheet and using the technique of repousée to make the designs stand out; another very ornate necklace. We also saw the stunning golden Broighter collar from the Iron Age. We even had a look at some of the bog bodies which was almost surreal, to say the least.

Later we all took a picture beside the book Shrine of Míosach. Had we had more time, we would have gone upstairs to view the Ancient Egyptian Gallery. It just means we have a reason to go back! However, the experience we had was very fulfilling as it solidified what we had already covered in class while giving us a new perspective as we see them in person.

Joy Orogun.

Art Trip, Nov 22

16 photos

November 14, 2022/by sccdublin

Events

Art Exhibition – Sculpture in Context

Form IV pupil Aeladh Bradley Brady reports on the recent art expedition to the National Botanic Gardens.

On Friday the 16th of September the Form IV art pupils went on an outing to the National Botanic Gardens in Dublin to see the art exhibition, Sculpture in Context. The purpose of this trip was to get inspiration for our own artwork and exhibition based on the Sustainable Development Goals.

Once we arrived we were separated into two groups and each group was accompanied by a tour guide to show us around and tell us about the individual pieces. The tour guides were very interesting and had extensive knowledge of all the pieces we visited. This made the trip thoroughly enjoyable.

Some of the art work was intricately made, such as a shark piece that was made out of recycled seaglass. A mother and son collected the seaglass over eight months and created the piece during lockdown.

After the tour of the outside area we were led by our guide into a separate room. Large transparent plastic sheets hung from the ceiling almost in the format of a maze. The transparent plastic created a distorted view which represented the media and how everything is not always as it seems. This piece felt quite ominous and yet the idea was so simple. It really goes to show when you really look into a piece many deeper meanings can appear.

This outing really helped us develop new ideas and concepts for our own pieces that we will be able to make soon. It was an eye opening experience to see that with the simplest of recycled resources you can create art.

Thank you very much to Ms. Murphy and Ms. Cullen for organizing and supervising such an enjoyable art trip.

September 29, 2022/by sccdublin

Academic, General, Performing Arts

Senior Art Prizes

Congratulations to the following pupils on receipt of one of the Senior Art Prizes.

Senior Photography Prize.

‘Blurred Time Series’ by Alice Letort, Form V.

Senior Craft Prize.

‘Finite Infinity’ by Antonia Ladanyi, Form V.

Earl of Meath Art Prize, Senior.

Time and tide wait for no man’ by Georgia Goodbody, Form IV.

March 31, 2022/by sccdublin

General

Art Expedition to National Gallery of Ireland

Verlaine Bolger reports on the recent Form V Art trip to the National Gallery of Ireland.

On Monday morning, our Art class took the bus to Dublin city centre to the National Gallery of Ireland. It was a beautiful day to be out in Dublin. This visit was linked to what we have been studying in class. We had previously been learning about the Modernist Movement in Europe before switching to look at the Irish Modernist painter, Jack B. Yeats and his artwork. It was exciting to be able to go and view his work first-hand. We entered the gallery and were separated into three groups. We met our guide who started with an introduction to the background of the exhibition, the artist and the 84 oil paintings we were about to see. The main theme of the exhibition was “Painting & Memory”. Each one of us had a worksheet which asked us questions about some of the paintings and allowed us to take notes about what we saw and what we liked.

I thought this outing was different from usual as it was directly linked to what we are already studying in our Visual Studies lessons. It afforded us the opportunity to look at the topic from all possible perspectives and of course inspire each one of us for our future art pieces! By doing this I got an overall deeper understanding of the artwork by Jack B. Yeats and the topic of Modernism that we have been studying. Doing this collectively with my friends and amazing art teachers Ms Cullen and Ms Murphy was a lot of fun and made us all want to do these types of visits more often.

October 13, 2021/by sccdublin

General

Earth Day Photo Challenge

On Thursday 22nd April, pupils and staff shared photographs of what they were doing to celebrate Earth Day. Sharing photographs is a nice way to connect and check in with one another, especially during periods of distance learning. We celebrate Earth Day to continue promoting environmental awareness and to remind us that we can protect the earth in our everyday lives. “At the heart of Earth Day 2021 is optimism, a critically needed sentiment in a world ravaged by both climate change and the pandemic,” said Kathleen Rogers, president of EarthDay.org. We received wonderful entries from both pupils and staff including; small positive changes people made for Earth Day such as cycling, gardening, finding alternatives to single use plastics, and photographs capturing the beautiful landscapes, plants and animals of our Planet Earth. Thank you to all who entered. Entries can be seen in this album:

Earth Day 2021

31 photos

April 26, 2021/by sccdublin

Events, General

Seachtain na Gaeilge Report

“Seachtain na Gaeilge” (“Irish Week”, in English) was actually celebrated over a two week period – that sounds mad but the country celebrates it for 17 days! Obviously, activities had to be carried out remotely and it was great to see so many pupils taking part in the various activities. We played “biongó foclóra” (vocabulary bingo) and had “tráthanna na gceist” (quizzes) during our Irish classes. Pupils, both those who study Irish and those who don’t, could enter a poster competition in which they were asked to illustrate one of three “seanfhocail” (proverbs). We received some wonderful entries; the winner was Isabella Treacy and Zofia Cannon-Brookes was awarded second prize. Pupils also entered a “tóraíocht taisce” (a treasure hunt) and answers had to be submitted by way of a collage. The winners were Cameron McKinley, Tabitha Larke and Rachel Shaw. Have a look at their amazing work below.

The Irish Department are also running a “Dialann Ghaeilge” (Irish Diary) competition, whereby pupils keep a record of the Irish they use and hear outside of the classroom for 14 days. The deadline for this has been extended until after the Easter holidays, so why not give it a go?! All prizes will be awarded to pupils after the Easter break.

Many words used in English in Ireland come from the Irish language and some of these were displayed on the College Twitter account and on the Irish Department’s new Instagram account @sccgaeilge. We would love it if you would follow us!

Bainigí go léir taitneamh as briseadh na Cásca agus táimid ag tnúth go mór leis na daltaí ar fad a fheiceáil ar ais ar scoil arís go luath! (Enjoy the Easter break and we are really looking forward to seeing all pupils back at school again soon!)

March 25, 2021/by sccdublin

General

Form I Sensory Walk

Form I pupils recently took part in a ‘Sensory Walk’ as part of their wellbeing programme. It was a fantastic opportunity to explore the College Deerpark and to get in touch with nature. The scheme involves the students creating an accordion book where they documented their findings. They collected samples and also and took ‘rubbings’ of a variety of surface textures along the walk. They had a handout to guide them along the walk and to use as a prompt for what they should be gathering. Many thanks to Ms. Byrne for the fantastic photos.

Form I Wellbeing Sensory Walk

9 photos

November 20, 2020/by sccdublin

Performing Arts

Art History Challenge

Throughout June, pupils have been challenged to recreate a famous work of art using the objects and people at home. It really captured the pupils’ imagination and the variety of submissions was amazing. The album below contains a large variety of the entries received. Well done to everyone involved!

Art History Challenge

25 photos

June 19, 2020/by sccdublin

General

Biological Art Competition Winners Announced

During the June Programme, the Biology Department challenged the pupils to create a piece of artwork with a biological focus. Biology and art are cosy bed-fellows, and their evolution has intertwined throughout history. Art provides an opportunity to study living things, and their parts, in extraordinary detail thus improving our knowledge and understanding of the world around us. Pupils could use a variety of media to explore biological art in one of the following five themes: plants, animals, inside the cell, viruses or anatomy.

The entries have now all been received and our judge, Old Columban and botanical artist Holly Somerville, has decided on a winner. Many congratulations to Zofia Cannon-Brookes (Form III) for her piece ‘Inside we are all the same‘. Holly remarks: “It combines excellent illustrative qualities with painterly skills, while at the same time reminding us of such an important and timely issue. A superb design!” Zofia wins a signed print of Holly’s wonderful painting ‘Sanctuary’ (shown above).

‘Inside we are all the same’ by Zofia Cannon-Brookes

The following pupils and their paintings were all ‘Highly Commended’: Kate Higgins (Lung Flowers), Elena O’Dowd (Vibrant Skull) and Isabel Warnock (Coffea arabica). Each will receive a copy of either Animalium, Botanicum or Anaticum – wonderful books celebrating the best of biological art.

June 18, 2020/by sccdublin

Performing Arts

TY Art Project – Virtual Wall of Tools

The Form IV Art set had a busy Trinity term. Alice Letort explains the work they undertook over the past 6 weeks.

The Form IV distance learning project this term was to create a ‘Virtual Wall of Tools’. The project comprised a number of steps. We started by learning the shape of tools by doing some blind line drawings as well as positive and negative space drawing. Then we studied Jim Dine, and his tool drawings before moving to the experimental printing section of the project. Jim Dine is an American Pop Artist. We were able to take inspiration from his black and white tool drawings. We all had great fun composing and printing the tools with shoe polish, paint, and any other material we could find at home! Next, we started focusing on one tool by doing a detailed observational drawing.

Now we were ready to start the final part of the project which lasted 2 weeks. It consisted of creating 3D tools with cardboard. We first had to plan the construction and then build them. It was a challenge to make the mechanism of the tools function but many of us achieved it. I created pruning shears in which the hinge fully functions! When all of them were done, Ms Cullen created the ‘Virtual Tool Wall’.

I had a lot of fun this term trying all these new techniques, especially the experimental printing because I never practised it before. I also enjoyed building the 3D tool, it was fun and complex.

June 5, 2020/by sccdublin

Performing Arts

Transition Year Portrait Gallery

Form IV (Transition Year) Art pupils have been working on a portraiture-themed project throughout the Hilary Term. This began with a trip to the National Gallery of Ireland to see The Zurich Portrait Prize in late December. Pupils also researched a portrait artist of their choice and the range of artists chosen was wide and varied. This research, along with a number of drawing exercises, prompted and encouraged pupils through the concept and design phase of the creative process of portraiture. The pupils completed the final portrait in the medium of their choice. Enjoy the gallery below.

Transition Year Portraits 2020

57 photos

April 7, 2020/by sccdublin

Events, Performing Arts

2020 Arts Week & Art Prize Brief

The recent naming of the Art Centre as the ‘Patrick Scott Art School’ has provided great inspiration for Arts Week 2020. Arts Week organiser Mrs Cathy Boobbyer has teamed up with visual artist Yvonne McGuinness to plan an exciting week of events. From March 18th to 22nd there will be a number of artists visiting the College to carry out workshops with various year groups. There will be drama and music and there are plans for a collective art piece involving everyone!

‘Community Matters‘ will be the theme of the week. The College’s strong connection to Patrick Scott will anchor a number of the activities but there will also be an emphasis on our current community. Community is also the theme for the 2020 Art Prize brief. The brief has now been published and can be found here on firefly. Pupils can also get details on entering for the prize from Ms Cullen or Miss Murphy.

Preparation for the Art prize can begin immediately and entries must be submitted by March 19th.

November 20, 2019/by sccdublin

Events, Performing Arts

Art Trip to Newgrange

Julia Kaptein, Form V, reports on the recent art trip to the UNESCO World Heritage Site at Newgrange.

On October 19^th, Saturday morning we left the school on a bus filled with V and VI Form Art pupils to go to the Boyne Valley. We arrived to the Interpretive Centre (currently undergoing renovations) where we met a shuttle bus which would bring us to our destination. Our first stop was Newgrange. Our guide showed us around and explained everything to us about the Newgrange passage tomb, a UNESCO world heritage monument. Through the narrow passage, we entered the grave. It is astonishing to think about the craftsmanship that was needed to build this structure. Looking up inside the passage tomb, we could see the corbel vaulting technique that was used to keep the grave dry inside. We walked around the outside of Newgrange and took a second shuttle bus that took us to Knowth. We were shown a short video about Knowth before we went inside the passage tomb. The Knowth monument was more decorated on the outside and surrounded by smaller tombs. We walked on top of the tomb and although the weather was not as beautiful as we hoped, the view was stunning and overlooked the entire Boyne valley. I think it was very helpful for all pupils to see and walk around the tombs rather than just learning from of our books. Visiting the site brought to life all that we had learned in the classroom. Many thanks to Ms. Cullen and Miss Murphy for organising this memorable trip. The excursion was very successful and a chance for us to learn outside of our classroom.

Newgrange Art Expedition

17 photos

November 10, 2019/by sccdublin

General, Performing Arts

Whispering House Art Exhibition

To celebrate the opening of the College’s new social and cultural centre, Whispering House, an exhibition of Leaving Certificate artwork from 2019 has been displayed. The artwork on display in Whispering House comprises the coursework elements completed by the Leaving Certificate candidates of 2019. Pupils had to produce two works of art for the coursework element, one craft and one imaginative composition. These entirely original works of art were conceived through the development of specific themes; ‘Balance’, ‘Indentation’ and ‘Familiar’.

Eight pupils sat the Leaving Certificate Art in 2019 and all at Higher Level. Their results were excellent – collectively they scored 718 points out of a potential maximum of 800! Two of the pupils have since gone on to study Art at third level.

The artwork was erected yesterday – see photos here.

Exhibitors:

Antonia Bullrich, Lucas Cho, Emily Devereux, Clara Eck, Florentine Kolb, Josephine Krieger, Jeanne Levesque, Isabelle Townshend

September 27, 2019/by sccdublin

Events

Art Prize Evening – Pupil Report

Emma Hinde, Form III, reports on her experience of participating in this year’s Art Prize and on the prize giving evening, held last weekend. Emma won the Junior Art Prize this year with her painting above.

The Art Prize was different this year. It used to be just drawing or painting any picture or making something within any theme for the craft. But this year there were set themes: Journey and Identity. We also had to make a mind map relating our artwork to the chosen theme. This meant that fewer people entered fewer pieces of work, but also made it easier for our visiting artist, Conrad Frankel, to judge.

On Saturday evening, he came in to talk about his work and announce the prizes. The talk came along with a slideshow, which showed some of his paintings and how they had evolved over time. Inspirations change. He mainly paints landscapes now. We were given lots of useful tips for painting. I will tell you some of these now:

“The sky is light and the Earth is a shadow,” “Shadows are cold” and; “the best colour you can make is unnameable.”

He also told us how he started his paintings; beginning with the sky with a palette knife, looking at what he is painting with his peripheral vision to get the outline, and then blocking a silhouette of the land.

It was a very interesting talk, and then the prizes were announced. Jeanne Levesque won the Earl of Meath Senior Art Prize, Tania Stokes won the Senior Craft Prize, Verlaine Bolger won the Photography Prize, Isabel Warnock won the Junior Craft Prize, and I won the Junior Art Prize. When I heard my name and saw my paintings on the screen, I felt like I could almost have jumped up and down in joy. It was an amazing feeling.

April 4, 2019/by sccdublin

Events

Debora Ando Print Workshop

Amelie Buzay , Form IV, reports on her experience of the recent print workshop with Debora Ando.

During Arts Week on Thursday, March 28^th, Form IV and V had the opportunity to take part in a print workshop. Debora Ando, who is a specialist in printing visited St. Columba’s for this day to teach us how Intaglio Drypoint printing works.

Firstly, she showed us some examples of her work so we could see what this type of printing is about. There were many different kinds of prints in different colours and sizes. Secondly, she showed us how the actual printing works; firstly, you need to have an idea of what you want to print. If what you want to print is a photo you need to print it out first, on the other hand, if what you want to print is an idea you have in your mind you need to draw it with pencil on a sheet of paper. Once that is ready, you need a small plastic plate that is placed on the drawing. You need to use a tool called a drypoint (a wooden handle with a hard metal tip) and you scratch with it on the plastic as you were using a pencil. The lighter you scratch, the lighter the print. Once you are finished you put the chosen colour of ink on the plastic plate and spread it into the scratched image with a small piece of cardboard. After you finished that, you place the plastic plate in the printing machine. On top of this, you place a wet piece of printing cotton paper. Finally, you run your paper and plate through the print press. This called pulling a print.

We all tried doing our own piece and the results were wonderful prints. It was really interesting trying something new and we all had great fun with this workshop.

April 4, 2019/by sccdublin

Tag Archive for: Art

Trinity Term Art Report

Senior Art Prizes 2023

Senior Art Trip to Newgrange & National Museum of Ireland

Art Exhibition – Sculpture in Context

Senior Art Prizes

Art Expedition to National Gallery of Ireland

Earth Day Photo Challenge

Seachtain na Gaeilge Report

Form I Sensory Walk

Art History Challenge

Biological Art Competition Winners Announced

TY Art Project – Virtual Wall of Tools

Transition Year Portrait Gallery

2020 Arts Week & Art Prize Brief

Art Trip to Newgrange

Whispering House Art Exhibition

Art Prize Evening – Pupil Report

Debora Ando Print Workshop

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