Olivia Ann White

We had three groups of  yr 8, yr9 and FLC student artists engaged in this residency. On my first visit to the school, I joined in on their existing art projects, talked to the student artists about my work and asked them what they would like to make with me. We considered a mural or a multipart work that fits together or creating our own individual paintings. All three groups wanted to create their own individual paintings. We were fortunate that the school was safely open to low risk visitors at this time and able to run this residency.

The student artists were asked to paint something that was meaningful to them. We worked our way through a value and a temperature study. Then started working on our own paintings by creating custom limited palettes and exploring the palette by creating swatches for the key colours in our reference as a way to ease into the painting, while the artists who wanted to launched straight onto their panels. 

I also wanted to show the artists my process and talk them through my approach to creating and problem solving. I decided to paint something inspired by conversations with them about their school community and what makes it special and unique. While working on my piece I was always available for assistance, questions or for the student artists to take a break, observe and hang out. I was also able to spend some time painting in the library so I could be available to more students during my time at Stuart High School.

I learnt so much about communicating as a teacher and mentor. My core intention for the project was to break down the barriers to painting, which is usually some form of fear. The program was developed in steps designed to build skills, experience and confidence as we went along. Referring to the students as artists, validating their artistic decisions, encouraging their unique application and helping to solve problems was key to my approach. 

I’m so pleased to have been able to work with the phenomenal teacher Tammy-Lee Smith who learnt along with the students and had the space and encouragement to paint her own amazing piece. In term three she is applying her new skills and leading a whole new group through the oil painting process we developed. I’ve learned so much about the art of teaching from Tammy and gained more confidence in my own capacity and abilities as a teacher.

A huge thank you to all the students for painting along with me. Thank you for your hard work and persistence and all your brilliant questions. Your feedback meant so much I will definitely be coming back to Stuart to visit and see what you make next.

Thanks to SALA and credit Union SA for making this project possible. Thank you for giving us the flexibility to develop this residency into a meaningful experience for all of us in this unusual time.