So today saw the first visit to Sallynoggin to give my very first crash course in jewellery design. I gave the children mood boards and explained the complexities of the hierarchy in corporate design houses. This did not impress the children but they reassured me that they understood. While explaining the reasons behind the mood boards (art, architecture, interior design, landscape as inspiration) one girl looked at the Gary Fernandez illustration and proclaimed "I think it looks really sad". The joy that I sensed to see a child feel emotion through art was beyond description. The class progressed very smoothly with the children working together as a team and only spilling the beads all over the floor every... 12 minutes.
There was certainly budding talent in the classes and while some struggled with the finicky pieces in their jewellery materials kit, many took to it really easily. I was surprised at the level of design that 8 to 12 year olds can produce. In my last entry I posted the mood boards that I gave them. Here are the mood boards with the jewellery that they designed and handmade. Incredible.
What Caitriona Anglim and Katie Fitzgerald, the founders of Fashion Workshops 2010, have created is invaluable. I remember when I was a child and no such thing existed. My parents were the ones who encouraged me to use my crayons, paints, pencils and when I wanted a new skirt, my mother would treat me to the remnant section of Hickeys fabric store, teach me how to use her sewing machine and tell me to work until I got what I wanted. She gave me creative freedom and space to learn on my own.
The reason I came back to Ireland was to partake in the growing fashion industry in Ireland. I never thought I would be part of educating children like my mother did with me. Of that, I am very proud.
For more images from the classes, click here.
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