What a fabulous day of art we had in Class 1 this week! Building on their recent trip to London and their meeting with renowned artist Ben Wilson, the pupils embarked on a truly memorable creative journey.
The day began with pupils chewing gum and sticking it onto tiles whilst their gum dried and hardened. In the meantime, they explored Ben’s incredible work and browsed his online gallery of gum pictures. We discussed why painting on chewing gum is so powerful and how Ben’s work aims to improve and highlight the things other people discard and throw away – challenging our throw-away society in such a creative way.
Using Ben’s own words – consciously spontaneous – the pupils created their own designs. When collating their ideas in their sketchbooks, they had to justify their choice of image and colours, but then be spontaneous in how they brought their image to life. The children practised drawing smaller and smaller versions until they had recreated exactly what they wanted their piece of gum art to look like. After lunch, they completed a draft painting in their books using acrylic, before finally creating their gum art.
What struck us most was how this activity embodied two of our school values: creativity and perseverance. Painting on chewing gum proved much harder than we anticipated, but the pupils’ determination shone through, and the outcomes were truly wonderful.
This experience perfectly demonstrates how art can be a powerful vehicle for learning and self-expression. The pupils didn’t simply create artwork – they engaged with meaningful ideas about sustainability, creativity, and the value in things we might otherwise overlook. It was an inspiring way to create and display their art, and we are so proud of what Class 1 achieved.
