About Brava Art Press
Children who participate in the Brava Art Visual Art Program express their thoughts, ideas, and feelings, and at the same time, they develop their own symbols and techniques to create their art works.
As artists, children are encouraged to rely on the concept of personal freedom and expression – utilizing a variety of both new and old materials – to transform this Visual Art Program into a very creative adventure.
In the process of expressing their ideas about different topics children don’t seem to be troubled by tradition and they are encouraged to be:
- Inventive in their approach to art materials
- Risk taking when developing new techniques
- Free to make mistakes
Within this framework their works are instilled with originality and meaning. Their works reflect the students’ attempts to examine different ideas such as identity, construction and deconstruction, creating new meanings, humour, history and cultural heritage.
Once focused on these ideas, children progress to Procedures to learn the different techniques and to know the different steps involved in their chosen project by observing a demonstration by the artist. Children are invited to ask questions and to contribute with their opinions.
These activities within the context of the program include:
- Painting, involving different painting techniques and different subject matter.
- Drawing with a range of tools and materials including charcoal, pastels, pens and ink and paint.
- Clay Modelling, using basic hand building techniques and basic tools.
- Assembling textiles and found materials into 3D constructions, relief collages, mixed media collages and textile collages.
- Printmaking, card printing, linocut printing, mono printing and foam printing
- Book making, concertina books, altered books and other creative approaches to book making using printmaking
- Colour Theory, projects designed to learn how to mixed and unlock different colours, and how to use colour to express ideas like, space and emotions.
- Design, Architecture inspired projects involving the different areas of Fine Art, Painting, Drawing, Printmaking and Sculpture.
- Puppetry for different levels of ability
- Art History, Art Stories for children – introduction to Artists and their work.
Based on these procedures, and the way children use the art materials, they are expected to develop their own individualized techniques.
Throughout the program children engage in making choices and judgements. Combined with creating their works – based on learnt procedures – they decided why certain shapes, lines, colours and textures are better than others, or they intuitively select, or eliminate in order to achieve their best choices.
The results of these choices reflect the aesthetic judgements of the children who participate in the Brava Art Press, Visual Art Program that we present here and the children’s creation is very visibly and make possible this very exciting website.
Raquel Redmond, for Brava Art