Seventh session, plus one

This session was initiated by showing the students some paintings which tell an obvious story. We showed them Pieter Bruegel's "The Blind Leading the Blind" and Winslow Homer's "Fog Warning" as examples of narrative images. Then we asked them to write a story about themselves and "collage" it.  They described and depicted an indelible experience in their lives. One student illustrated his hardships when he arrived in the city from his small mountain village, another eloquently described a bicycle accident (below) and the sense of self-reproach which accompanied it.  

What impresses us about this composition is the graphic device of having images break through the confines of the picture edge.  As a result, the dog's stick and the head of the cyclist become more dynamic and dimensional elements.  The student explained that the dog-with-stick is a symbol of contrition... as he hoped to console and compensate the person he hit with his bicycle.

During the coming weeks, there will be exams at the university, so the collage workshop will be suspended until January 31st.  We just started a children's art class, and will see what they do with collage!