Latest Posts
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The will to live
Throughout recorded history, thinkers and natural philosophers have commented on the innate, energetic spark that is imbued within all living things. Eastern and Western civilisations have simultaneously described a will to live, an internal life force, a spirit, or soul,… Continue reading
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What should life be like?
What should life be like? What can we reasonably expect from our existence? I’m not referring to those ultra people, with extreme lifestyles, who live as monastic monks or who have blue blood and live in palaces. I’m also not… Continue reading
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Draw Like a Boss
In this interview, author Ashley Edge and Paul Carney explore the purpose of drawing and learning to draw, including explicit instruction. Ashley Edge is a Lake District based artist and the author of the Draw Like a Boss series of… Continue reading
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It’s Life Jim!
Some scientists now believe the chances of life emerging on Earth by itself are too remote. In a very honest, refreshing, (but complex), scientific paper, Robert Endres of the Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College, London in December 2025, explored… Continue reading
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Finding God in an age of reason
What evidence is there that God exists? In my opinion, the likelihood of the universe springing into existence by itself, for no reason, is so remote as to be non-existent. The mathematics of this universe forming event are mind-bogglingly extreme.… Continue reading
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The Blob
A short story. The blob floated mindlessly in the darkness. It had no eyes, or senses, save the ability to touch. To feel. It had no explicit conscious thoughts as such. But, driven by impulse, it knew what it wanted.… Continue reading
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One in a billion
In the Big Bang, when the universe was formulated, there should have been a blinding flash of radiation as these opposing forces cancelled each other out. But that is not what happened. By the order of one particle in a… Continue reading
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Welcome to the spirit world.
A short story. It had been another excellent meeting, Wendy thought, as she tidied her props away into her handbag and picked up her phone. Her back was killing her from sitting on a hard seat all night, but she… Continue reading
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Stephen Hawking: Is there a God?
“One could define God as the embodiment of the laws of nature. However, this is not what most people would think of as God. They mean a human-like being, with whom one can have a personal relationship.” Hawking refers to… Continue reading
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Beyond Words
All of our thinking is through words, all of our actions, all of our science, all of our literature, all of our history, all our technology, all our kingdoms and empires. All of it stems from language and communication. And… Continue reading
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Pure awareness is heaven
What are your thoughts on life after death? Where do you think we go when we die? Perhaps you think you’ll live eternally in a heavenly paradise surrounded by your loved ones. Maybe you don’t believe any of that stuff… Continue reading
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Movie Night
‘Where the hell am I?’ she muttered to herself, as the vortex gave way to a dimly lit room, complete with brightly-coloured, patterned furnishings and the kind of Jamaican, cultural furnishings she was familiar with from her childhood. ‘Oh wow,… Continue reading
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Roads to Happiness
Two eastern mystics with profound insights into the nature of existence and how to lead happier lives are Sri Ramana Maharshi and Thich Nhat Hanh. Maharshi was a Hindu sage who lived around eighty years ago in India, while Hanh… Continue reading
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How can an inanimate force become a God?
When we think of a force such as the quantum field, we don’t think of an omnipotent, personified being, we think of an abstract mass of crackling energy; a bubbling froth of excitable forces, where a myriad of particles might… Continue reading
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The axis of evil
Aristotle’s geocentric model of the universe, with earth in the centre, fitted with western Biblical ideologies and so stood for two thousand years until Copernicus upset the apple cart and proclaimed the sun was at the centre of things. Despite… Continue reading
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True Survivor (the pom-poms)
Harry woke up before the alarm and instinctively woke his wife, Jacinda, too. ‘Hey Jac, come on, you’ve got a long day today, you’re on lates.’ ‘What? Huh, oh God, my head hurts.’ ‘I’ll let you go in the shower… Continue reading
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The grand coder
A computer coder creates a virtual world which replicates our ‘real’ world, and the characters have a form of artificial intelligence. Characters in this world have the ability to sense their environment, and assume what they experience is real. In… Continue reading
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An odd thing to find
‘Tonight, we bring you a special report on the mysterious phenomena known as sea pyramids – the strange, glowing triangular prisms that have washed up on the beaches of Japan and the Philippines in recent months. ‘Professor Richard Binks, a… Continue reading
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The True Self
The true Self is the spiritual self. The true Self is the single self; it is not scattered, disorganised or divided. The true Self has no ego. The true Self does not crave attention, fame, status, wealth, or ambition. The… Continue reading
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The Secret of Life
There is a secret to life that is so simple, yet so elusive, and it is this: all the life that has ever existed, in every corner of the universe, has one primary purpose – to find happiness. What is… Continue reading
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An Origin Story
A young girl was seated alone in a plush café, talking into her friend through her smartphone. The friend was on speakerphone, and the girl, although clearly distressed, made no attempt to hide her conversations. The girl sobbed and wailed… Continue reading
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Last Night in Middlesbrough
The old man winced in pain as he leant forward to pull the flimsy blanket over his calloused, gnarled feet. Even thick, thermal socks weren’t enough to keep out the icy cold depths of winter. It wouldn’t be long now,… Continue reading
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Dragged kicking and screaming
Do you trust your instincts? Everybody talks about the good old days, the good old days, right? Well, let’s talk about the good old days. As bad as we think they are, These will become the good old days for our children. Gladys Knight… Continue reading
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The Fundamental Spirit
Reality has a fundamental layer that pervades and connects all things. The Hindus call it Brahman; the invisible essence that permeates the whole universe. The Chinese call it the Tao. Buddhists call it the Dharma. Scientists might call it the… Continue reading
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An Almighty state of being
God for me, isn’t a being in the sky, but a creative life force all around me, present in all things. As my regular readers will know, I’ve been on a journey of self-discovery over the last year and an… Continue reading
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Finding Patterns
Pattern Is religion just the brain seeing patterns in things? Human beings have a tendency to attach supernatural meanings to everyday phenomena. Seeing faces in clouds (pareidolia), believing there is a pattern in random events (like in gambling), or confirmation… Continue reading
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Believing in Nothing
No one believes in a God who does nothing,” G. K. Chesterton Something rather than nothing It seems obvious to me that something, rather than nothing, created the universe. Proving it, however, is extremely difficult, if not impossible. It is… Continue reading
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If everything that exists has a cause, who or what is the cause of God?
Preface: Some people associate God with that described in religious texts, others like me simply say that God is an unknown higher power. The cosmological argument for the existence of God says that nothing exists without a cause. The universe… Continue reading
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The Ouroboros
How are you feeling right now? “The sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being.” Carl Jung For me, one of the hardest aspects of having ADHD is emotional dysregulation. I’ve struggled… Continue reading
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An Atheist Rebuttal
A rebuttal of a New Scientist article by atheist Victor J. Stenger In his 2012 New Scientist article, the God Hypothesis, Victor J. Stenger focusses on the Judaic-Christian-Islamic version of God, and then looks for empirical evidence for it. Here… Continue reading
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Melding our Minds
A mind meld is a fictional, telepathic link that the character Spock was able to perform on other organisms to connect their minds. But could it possibly be a real ability? Might we be able to connect our thoughts with… Continue reading
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Part of something greater
If the Earth were a hydrogen atom, and I looked out from my window at the electron whizzing past in the air above, I might be tempted to think that this was all there was. After all, I wouldn’t know… Continue reading
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What is the purpose of our existence?
Reading time 10 minutes For the majority of the world’s population, God is the purpose of their existence. According to the 13th-century Italian scholar Thomas Aquinas, the ultimate goal of human existence is to attain a supernatural union with God,… Continue reading
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A universal SATs exam
What are you curious about? I’m curious about God. I’m pretty sure God exists, but I’m also pretty sure there is no Divine Intervention. This is because I have enough evidence to say that the universe creating itself is highly… Continue reading
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A Spiritual Journey
What are your future travel plans? Life is taking me on a journey at present and it’s one I didn’t seek. Of course, all life is a journey, but this is something completely different. These last few years, I’ve felt… Continue reading
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Near Death Experiences
I’ve been reading an old book about Near Death Experiences called Life After Life by Dr Raymond Moody. It very much relates to a topic I wrote about a while ago Where Do We Go When We Die? in which… Continue reading
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The effects of infinity on finite systems
“Imagine you had a perfectly sealed box. Nothing can come in, and nothing can escape. Into this box you placed an apple and sealed it shut. If you waited long enough, the apple would go through various states of decomposition.… Continue reading
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Life and time
Which activities make you lose track of time? Einstein showed that, rather than there being a single unified time, time is relative, and so every phenomena has its own time. There isn’t a single entity of time, there are numerous… Continue reading
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Why Isn’t Life Easy?
Why isn’t life easy? If a God created life, why make it so difficult? I mean, if you were omnipotent, and you were designing life, surely you’d make it so that things ticked over nicely, you’d want them to purr… Continue reading
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Splashing in Puddles
So many of us are finding the world overwhelming these days. The constant hostility on social media, the lack of empathy and tolerance for other people’s’ views, not to mention the depressing news stories, climate change and soaring crime, it’s… Continue reading
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Was the world made for us?
Imagine there was a safari park, complete with big cats, monkeys, zebras, giraffes etc. Now, imagine that the human keepers became extinct and the park was left to its own devices, with all the cage doors left open. There would… Continue reading
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Explore Paul Carney’s Two Unique Albums
Paul Carney has released two albums, “Dying Days,” produced by Mike Franklin in 2008, featuring a tribute track for his late mother, and “Suspicion,” recorded in his home studio in 2010. He also performed covers with the band Red Book.… Continue reading
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Hand of God?
Many years ago I had a marine fish tank which took a lot of hard work to keep. I had to make sure it was always at the right temperature. I had to check the pH levels and ensure the… Continue reading
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The Spirit Within Me
How important is spirituality in your life? I define the spirit as the living essence of a person, which includes consciousness, and the bioelectrical life force within all living things. In this way, the spirit is my mind and my… Continue reading
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Beyond Words
All of our thinking is through words, all of our actions, all of our science, all of our literature, all of our history, all our technology, all our kingdoms and empires. All of it stems from language and communication. And… Continue reading
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Valuing our Values
Your beliefs become your thoughts, your thoughts become your words, your words become your actions, your actions become your habits, your habits become your values, your values become your destiny. Mahatma Gandhi We all have values that mould and shape our… Continue reading
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How to lead a good life
What are the most important things needed to live a good life? Dear Margot Here are five life lessons I’ve accumulated over the years. I hope they will help you become happy and healthy when you grow up. There are… Continue reading
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I Believe…
Beliefs are the foundations upon which we build our sense of self. They are pivotal to our well being and happiness. But our beliefs are also personal, insecure and subjective. That’s partly because of the nature of knowledge itself, but… Continue reading
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Get away from it all
It’s hard to be happy if you’re constantly looking inward. When we focus on ourselves too much, when we live inside our own heads, or even when our ailments occupy more of our time than they should, we suffer. It’s… Continue reading
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Memory & learning blog 3 – MARGE
notes from the pdf MARGE by neuroscientist Arthur Shimamura. Thanks to Daniel Willingham for posting this. Learning is the ability to acquire knowledge from sensory experiences, where learning is perceptual (reading an x-ray), conceptual (linking new facts & ideas to… Continue reading
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Explaining Creativity in education
Psychologist Csikszentmihalyi says we can be creative or Creative. Small ‘c’ creativity he describes as that which does not lead to a change in the symbolic domain of the culture; so small scale, personal acts of indulging in a playful,… Continue reading
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Factual knowledge
Why increasing factual knowledge doesn’t automatically lead to greater creative insight & why simply being creative doesn’t either Psychologist Csikszentmihalyi says we can be creative or Creative. Small ‘c’ creativity he describes as that which does not lead to a… Continue reading
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10 Classroom Strategies for Enhancing Memory
This article is based on an article by Christopher Pappas for the eLearning Industry (Instructional Design -7 strategies for eLearning Professionals) and MARGE by Arthur Shimamura If we want students to remember our lessons we should try to make them… Continue reading
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The problem with Cognitive Load Theory for general learning
This article is my own summary interpretation of the paper; Cognitive Load Theory, what does it mean for learning designers? By Walkergrove 2014. Cognitive Load Theory is a well researched, well proven and generally unchallenged practice of instruction that demonstrates… Continue reading
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Memory & Learning 2: Why drilling isn’t always the best way to remember things.
From the Idiot Brain by Professor of Neurology Dean Burnett Human memory isn’t organised like files on a computer. The brain organises memories with no logic, it cuts them up, adds irrelevant bits to them and organises them in multiple… Continue reading
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Memory and Learning
Short term memory is largely aural – words and sounds. They usually last about a minute. This is why you have an internal monologue and think in sentences. Moving memories from short term to long term memory might be done… Continue reading
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Knowledge first, then skills, then creativity?
Knowledge first. Then skills. Then creativity? This makes no sense to me. What knowledge do you refer to? Which skills and what form of creativity? There are around 17 different knowledge types according but these are more commonly related to… Continue reading
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Are you teaching art all wrong?
Ok I accept this may be a fairly contentious blog post and that not everyone will agree with me, but here’s my two penneth worth. Outcome driven artMost of the art in schools I see is outcome driven. In Primary… Continue reading
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The Art of Questions
This article appeared in NSEAD’s AD Magazine January 2016 When planning and delivering lesson content teachers are continually striving for a balance between ensuring their pupils achieve the intended learning objectives and maintaining their motivation. We can’t place enjoyment above… Continue reading
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Have your students got the G Factor?
What do the scientists say really affects a person’s intelligence? Continue reading
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Key Stage 3 Art, Craft and Design Progression
Key Stage 3 Art & Design Progression Much of what we define as progress is smoke and mirrors. You can’t always demonstrate progression, because more often than not, it isn’t tangible. Often, I’ve spent two hours wrestling with an idea… Continue reading
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Developing different approaches to Art
Develop more interesting and exciting approaches to making and teaching art Continue reading
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Ten tips for improving the quality of your Art & Design teaching
Ten tips for improving the quality of your Art & Design teaching It’s very easy to get lost in the frantic world of teaching. You get caught up in the day to day and sometimes you forget what is at… Continue reading
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The Negative Impact of Assessment
Assessment can do as much harm as it can good. Avoid the minefields of negativity to develop truly positive assessment strategies. Continue reading
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Durer Drawing and Printmaking
A great drawing or printmaking lesson idea for linking traditional practice to the present day. Continue reading
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Picasso Drawing exercise
Whilst looking at Picassos lovely sketches of animals in a single continuous line, it occurred to me that this would make a lovely drawing lesson. Create your own animal drawing using a single continuous line. Lots of art teachers do… Continue reading
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Memory Art
Memory Art I learned this exercise from a session i did at the Baltic Quays gallery, Gateshead. It was in a session done by art teacher Elinor Brass so it isn’t mine, but I’m sure she won’t mind me sharing it… Continue reading
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Progression in Art & Design using revised Blooms
Revised Blooms Learning Objectives for Art & Design that facilitate progression. Continue reading
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Does anyone know of an artist who does . . . ?
Good art teaching comes from the development of planning that opens minds, it doesn’t direct outcomes. Continue reading
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Idea Mining
Idea Mining – This art lesson involves applying the objective or purpose of the idea to different thinking strands, to facilitate the more complex production of ideas. Continue reading
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So you want to study an Art, Craft or Design degree?
So you want to study an Art, Craft or Design degree? Well, there’s some great news! The number of jobs in the Creative Industries increased by 5.5 per cent between 2013 and 2014 to 1.8 million jobs. This was an… Continue reading
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The case for Art: School Performance Measures from 2016
Where previously Art played a minor role in helping students attain the 5 A*-C threshold, the new attainment measures imply that good Art & Design figures will add significant value to pupils progress targets. Far from diminishing the role of… Continue reading
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Looking at Contemporary Art
Ways of Looking Ways of Looking by Ossian Ward is an excellent introduction into contemporary art. He has developed a way of looking art that he calls TABULA where T is time, A is association, B is background, U is… Continue reading
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If you want to improve boys learning, learn what it’s like to be a boy
A lot has been written about boy’s learning that I agree with; lack of self-esteem, poor motivation, weak presentation/organisation skills, female dominated schools and inability to concentrate for long periods of time etc. I passionately believe that the way lessons… Continue reading
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Raising drawing skills or ‘Dumbeldore’s Army’
Dumbeldore’s Army and the incredible dancing bears By Paul Carney In the Harry Potter book ‘the Order of the Phoenix’ the students resort to forming a secret class to teach themselves the dark arts of magic so that they might… Continue reading
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Creative Lesson Planning
One of the ways I see creativity being stifled is when well meaning teachers plan their lessons. Instead of planning for freedom of choice, they plan very controlled experiences. Instead of encouraging risk and exploration they limit the materials to… Continue reading
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Creating creative lessons and happy, independent students
When PLANNING AND PREPARING for creative lessons consider: The creativity you want to tap into Is it a new experience or a new way of seeing, is it relative… Continue reading
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Pixel Art
This is a great lesson for pupils at Primary or Elementary age. It might even be good for older pupils, especially boys. You could do this on laptops or Pc’s using Microsoft Excel or similar. But you could just use… Continue reading
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Music
I added a music p[layer to the blog that features some of my music. I sing and play music, compose, play guitar and perform. Check the player at the bottom of the page. Continue reading
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Baseline Assessments in Art & Design
You can’t measure progress until you know your student’s general ability in the areas of: Skills, Knowledge & Creativity. I developed a simple exercise to do this that takes about an hour to do and I would do it at… Continue reading
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NCEA TEACHMEET Jan 2014 and the concept of DIRT!
#NCEAPEDAGOGY What an excellent meet this was, Jon Tait spoke of opening up Skype in the global classroom, Susan Coles gave an inspirational and silent presentation about visual literacy and Louise Gatti showed us the Wheel of wonder. There were… Continue reading
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Drawdeck
I came across this website the other day which i think is a great way to upload your students’ artwork where they can comment on each other’s work and it’s FREE!! http://drawdeck.com Continue reading
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Teaching Drawing
Whenever I get a class of art students (of any age) to draw something from observation I always get a wide set of results, ranging from excellent to struggling. That must mean that most students are not working on a… Continue reading
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Eleanor Crook
A link to the brilliant, inspirational artwork of Eleanor Crook who I had the pleasure to meet. http://www.eleanorcrook.com Continue reading
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My Pinterest Boards
Here are some boards I put together on Pinterest, please feel free to link to them Contemporary Art Fluxus Art Drawing Pop Art Sculpture Surrealism Traditional Pop Art Continue reading
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Len Tabner
A great video from the brilliant but reclusive North east painter Len Tabner Continue reading
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Tate – Youtube site
All teachers of art should have the Tate Youtube page in their browser favourites. http://www.youtube.com/user/tate?app=desktop It’s a free link to contemporary art heaven! Continue reading
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