Winner of the Anna Airy Award 2016

Congratulations go to Northgate art student Maria Balanuca for winning the prestigious Anna Airy Award 2016. The exhibition was organized by the society and hosted at the UCS Waterfront Gallery overlooking Neptune Quay. The long-established exhibition is renowned for showcasing the talents of young artists aged 16-20 from all around the county. Indeed, all the Northgate entries that were submitted were short-listed from a huge entry of student work from the Ipswich area and beyond.

This year’s adjudicator was artist Kate Bright, lecturer at The Slade School of Fine Art, UCL. Bright specialises in landscape painting and the ideas of illusion. Her work has been exhibited in the British Art Show, as well as in numerous solo shows both internationally and within the UK. Commenting on Maria’s painting entitled ‘Digital Perspective’ and some of the factors that contributed towards her winning the prize:

‘The empty centre of the painting shows the view, but the viewer is drawn to the boy who is more interested in the screen he is holding. There is a confidence in the painting that I recognize, as some of the choices you have made are quite risky, the positioning of the figure, the grass in the foreground (taking as much attention as the figure) the glimpses of underpainting that reveal a looseness in your practice that balances well against the tight composition. However, your painting shows a sophisticated understanding of composition, point of view and narrative, structure is key to this worthy winner. Congratulations.’

Darren Beattie, Head of Art & Design, offered his congratulations to all other Northgate art students who contributed towards the exhibition and notably Chelsea Spurgeon, former Year 13 student whose work was awarded a commendation certificate.  All the work looked stunning within the space and was admired by fellow students, family, teachers and artists of all ages. The open exhibition was well-attended by the Ipswich community and the work was on show to the public for a further two weeks.

Huge accolade for A Level Art student exhibiting her painting at prestigious London galleries

Congratulations must go to Ellen Lear, an A Level Art student who has recently had her work exhibited at two prestigious art galleries in London, including the Mall galleries and the Lloyd’s gallery. Ellen’s work was selected at the A Level art exhibition and submitted on behalf of IDFAS (Ipswich Decorative and Fine Art Society) amongst many works from all around the country to be considered for the exhibition hosted by NADFAS and the Royal Society of British Artists. The National Association of Decorative & Fine Arts Societies – or simply NADFAS - has 98,000 members in more than 375 Societies throughout the UK, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. They also work with young people around the country to encourage and enhance their appreciation and understanding of art and our artistic heritage through their Young Arts and grant programmes.

The collaboration between NADFAS and the Royal Society of British Artists came about following a pilot project in East Anglia in 2009. There, Societies organised an exhibition of work chosen from eleven schools and two students’ work was selected to go forward to the RBA annual exhibition, including Northgate High School. The project was opened up to NADFAS Societies across the UK. This year fifty five Societies supported the venture and they submitted a staggering 348 images of original student work including paintings, ceramics and sculpture. The challenge was for RBA President James Horton and his fellow council members to select work which combined the highest levels of skill, expression and draughtsmanship.

Darren Beattie, Head of Art & Design, was proud to attend the award ceremony with Ellen and was very impressed with the high quality of work on display, representing the very best of A level work nationally. It is an invaluable opportunity to showcase students’ talent to a wider audience, and in seeking to make the Arts accessible to all.

Anna Airy Award 2014

The Art & Photography Department have reason to be pleased as last year’s Y13 student, Miriam Trabold won the prestigious Ipswich Art Society Award at the Anna Airy Award ceremony 2014. This is the third year in a row Northgate have been lucky to win the accolade. The exhibition is organized by the society and hosted at the UCS Waterfront Gallery overlooking Neptune Quay. The long-established exhibition is renowned for showcasing the talents of young artists aged 16-20 from all around the county. Indeed, all the Northgate entries that were submitted were short-listed from a huge entry of student work from the Ipswich area and beyond.

The Ipswich Mayor (Cllr Bill Quinton) and the Mayoress were honorary guests and commented on the high level of work on show and in particular the technical skill and creativity displayed within our students’ work.

The Award, set up in 1965 in memory of Anna Airy, had more significance this year as it was the centenary year of the start of the Great War. To commemorate this there was an exhibition of Anna Airy’s running parallel, drawing wider attention to the artistic contribution of her work as an official war artist. This was a rare opportunity to view works that are usually to be found in many national collections including those of the British Museum, the V&A and the Imperial War Museum.

Miriam Trabold was awarded the prize for a large oil painting that she had been working on throughout her A Level coursework. The subject was our very own Steve Hawksley who was happy to sit and be photographed for the project. It proudly exhibits Steve in his natural habitat, his workshop amongst his tools and personal belongings and bares a real resemblance. Steve has been the subject of more than one student’s work as pupils really appreciate the lengths he goes to help realise some of their ambitious projects and for many years has been a real asset to the department.

Congratulations must also go to the other art students Andreaa Stanuta (Y12), Tallulah Smith (Y11), Eye Suriyanon (Y13) and Charlotte Simpson (Y13), whose work was awarded commendation certificates.  All the work looked stunning within the space and was admired by fellow students, family, teachers and artists of all ages. The open exhibition was well-attended and the work was on show to the public for a further two weeks.

Exciting Work from Lower School Students

Our Lower School Art room has had a recent injection of colour from Mrs Hornet's year 7 and 8 groups. Using a variety of skills and tecniques final pieces have been made from clay, cardboard, wood and mod-roc.

Year 7 students studied masks from around the world and this display shows a variety of work
made in lesson and for homework in an extened task.

This term Yr 8 students looked at Mythical Creatures as the theme and we chose to look at Gargoyles.

Students studied gargoyles from round around Europe and then had to design their own. Large drawings of these designs were completed in charcoal and chalk. Students then developed their Three dimensional clay construction skills and used their knowledge of Gargoyles to design their own characters using clay.

 

 

Environmental Photographer of the Year

"Now open for entries, the Atkins CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year competition is an international showcase for the very best in environmental photography and film. Honouring amateurs and professionals of all ages, it provides an opportunity for photographers to share images of environmental and social issues with international audiences, and to enhance our understanding of the causes, consequences and solutions to climate change and social inequality."

The competition is free to enter and you may upload up to 10 digital images. 
The prize for under 18 year olds is £1000!
There is lots more information and previous enteries to explore on the site here.

Good luck!

Win Apple iPad for Travel Photos

A nice quick competition for any budding photographers.  Simply enter your three best photographs under the title "Travel", and you could be in with a chance to win your very own Apple iPad mini 16GB worth £299!! Second and third prizes are memory stations and flash drives.

It is free to enter and closes 28th Febuary.

For more information and uploading please click here.

Create a Picture Book Competition

Reading Zone have launced a new competition to create a picture book for World Book Day. The winner will receive 50 printed copies of the winnng book, £100 worth of books for your library, plus a free visit by an author or illustrator!

The competition is now open for ages 4-18 so all year groups at Northgate can submit, closing date is 25th April 2014. The winners will be announced in June. Author and illustrator Guy Parker-Rees (illustrator of Giraffes Can't Dance) will select the winning entries.
Your picture books can be done in groups or individually in any media with up to 24 pages in length. There is also Achievement Award which will be given for the most enthusiastic 'behind the scenes' activities that have gone into making the picture book entries, such as the whole school getting involved, groups working well together or entrants sharing their picture books with other children

For more information, tips and template, please visit the website here
Good luck!!