Year 6 Bug Project at Haworth Art Gallery

To view slideshow of event click here

Pat Ellacot first became fascinated in bugs, or "Arthropods" because of her father, who enticed them in to the bathroom overnight by leaving the window open and the light on. Her early interest was revived recently after she started drawing crane flies while working on the cow paintings she is famous for. She sees true beauty in the way insects are made and in how they adapt to changes in the environment and thinks we should be more respectful of them than we generally are. Pat says "There is an illogical paradox between our response to a dew-coated spider's web and to the creature that spun the silk for it.

 

With a grant from the Arts Council, Pat worked to produce the 20 large drawings of insects in the exhibition, then used them as the centrepiece for The Bug Project. The idea of the project was to get young people to enjoy making art while encouraging in them an awareness of climate change and its effects on insects.

 

The 10 and 11 year-old pupils at Spring Hill have had access to new paint boxes, brushes, watercolour crayons and pencils paid for by the Ribble Valley branch of NADFAS. They looked at Pat's drawings, took part in a bug hunt and met Roger Swaes, the Bug Man and his impressive collection of insects. Pupils and staff were able to touch and hold most, though not all, of them!

 

The resulting fifty-plus 'Bug Project' paintings, shown at Haworth Art Gallery, with Pat's drawings, show the different ways in which the pupils responded to the experience of close contact with bugs. They demonstrate imagination, enthusiasm and creative flair as well as a new - found respect for these creatures which are both vital to survival of bigger creatures, like ourselves and so easy to discount in the grand scheme of things