FIFTH YEAR IRISH ART CRAFT PANELS
The fifth year Art and Design group recently displayed the fruits of many weeks labour in the art room. They produced decorative, mixed-media textured panels based on the art and design of ancient Ireland. Many hours of experimentation, material manipulation and design problem solving went into their completion. These pieces are sumptuous and elaborate to reflect the artefacts of Ireland’s High Christian Golden era. Sources of inspiration include not only the sculpted High Crosses dotted around the Irish landscape, the intricate Metalwork and the Illuminated Manuscripts produced during the incredibly productive time between the sixth and the tenth centuries, but also as far back to Ireland’s Stone Age and the incredible rock art on the magnificent passage tombs. As part of their research, students visited the Newgrange passage tomb at Bru na Boinne and the beautiful high cross at Monasterboice to marvel first hand at these Irish treasures. This project proved to be a wonderful way of linking the history and appreciation section of the Leaving Cert course with the practical craft component of the exam.