My First Summer Camp…

Well, I’ve just survived my first summer camp. Actually, it was a blast! Summer camps are not so big in the U.K., so I didn’t go (or can’t remember going) to any when I was young. But when an opening came up to teach a couple of portrait camps at the Orléans Campus of the Ottawa School of Art this summer, I thought, why not? My spouse thought It was a good idea too, so there was little chance of turning back.

My group was for ages 9 to 12 and my general plan was to try some of the programs I teach to adults and not change things too much. Of course, this was a simplistic view and things took on a bit of a life of their own. With some superb help from Pari, my dedicated volunteer and the awesome Summer Camp staff at the school, Claire, Patrick and Mélanie, it all went really well. Yes, I’m really looking forward to the next camp in August and I think I’ll make this a regular part of my art practice.

I’ve probably got a few stories to tell (my first hip hop dance lesson (!) springs to mind) and more on these may come out in time. For now, I’ll stick to a couple of joint projects we undertook. I love doing art in groups. Visual arts can be such a solitary affair and why should that be?

Here’s our version of Renoir’s “Luncheon of the Boating Party”.

Each camper got a character to study. We pretended to bring the characters into the present by imagining what they would have been be texting on their phones…if they could have! Then, we painted our characters and finally assembled the whole composite. Those who finished first helped fill in the white space on our wall display!

Another group activity was a joint portrait of Measha Brueggergosman:

As with the composite portraits from my adult classes, each was given a small image showing their part of the composition, unaware of the complete picture and the subject for the portrait.

With these and other great experiences, I think the most memorable moment for me came right at the end of the camp, when most of the campers had been picked up by their parents. One remaining student insisted on showing me how to make a jumping origami frog…..and it’s a really good jumper too…. I’ll take on all comers!