“Urban Jungle”, Created by Artist Serene Lau and the students of Camberwell Grammar Junior School 2025. Mediums: Hand made food based watercolours, water colour paper and digital media.
When Artist and Art teacher, Sofia Tsolakis, got in touch with me to see whether I would be a good fit to be the next artist in residence for Camberwell Grammar Junior School, her commitment to not only giving the best but pioneering art experience to her students was impressive (and envious! if only I had this when I was in school).
Sofi enthusiastically presenting John Russell’s Morning Light (Liguria) 1920 original and her creatively collaging the students works. Photos by Serene Lau
She wanted an professional artist who was able to deliver an engaging sustainable and digital art experience that resulted in a collaborative digital art animation involving students from Prep to Year 5 which will be presented as a projection at their biennial Junior School Art Show in October 2025. My proposal of doing a combination of my Fish Safe Paints project and experience in digital animation that responded to a piece from Camberwell Grammar’s Xipell collection sealed the deal!
My artist residency involved 2 weeks of artist engagement classes and months of pre and post production work. During the first week of artist engagement, we covered:
- A summary of my Fish Safe Paints project including original artworks and animation
- A brief history of paints and pigments covering natural earth pigments, contemporary Boonwurrung artist Mitch Mahoney paint making process and paint binders used in antiquity.
- The importance of sustainability in Paints and how digital arts can play a role.
Students making their own watercolour paints from beetroot, spirulina, cocoa, turmeric, butterfly pea flower, honey and gum arabic solution. Photo credit Sofia Tsolakis
- Making the FRESHEST watercolours using food in a similar colour palette to John Russell’s Morning Sunlight (Liguria) 1920
Students colour swatching and painting their version of a home. Photo credit Sofia Tsolakis
- Student responses to the piece. It was amazing that Sofi managed to bring in the original during week 2!
Photo credit Sofia Tsolakis
- Students working in teams to paint their animation frames using their freshly made watercolours.
Animation of the raw images I processed using a scanner of the Year 5 students works
The focus of the second artist engagement week was on animation, we covered:
- The basics of animation and local examples of projection mapping art.
- The overall process behind making the collaborative animation. Specifically, walking animation cycles, how to draw multiple copies of the same artwork using an image projection mobile app, the programs needed to create animation and how I digitally process their work from week 1.
Animation of the raw images I processed using a scanner of the Prep students works
- For Prep to year 3: Exploring animation through making flip books using their original works. This is a hands on activity where students made their own custom flipbook which they can further animate using markers. God bless my paper guillotine!
- For Year 4-5s: Exploring animation digitally by making one using ClipChamp (a Microsoft free video editor) using stop motion techniques. Huge thanks to the IT support staff that helped out during these classes as there was an internal it system to navigate.
I was pretty spoiled during my artist engagement weeks! From being part of the Arty Mouse (Art) Assembly where there were student piano solo and brass orchestra performances, a prose reading, video interviews and my artist in residency introduction to receiving gifts: Campus foraged “Welcome” ochre from students and a matching lunchbox, pencil case and pens from Sofi (such a sweetheart). The latter was given during my final day Arty Mouse Morning tea where we both came up with an idea of decorating cupcakes using buttercream coloured with saffron, blue spirulina, beetroot and cocoa paired with safflower and butterfly pea flower tea. Did I mention the community pianos and the school canteen as well? $7 for a pasta salad in our current cost of living crisis?! Joy!!
This was how the final outcome looked during the event. I loved how it was integrated with the pigeon eating chippies artwork. Sofi, Emma and Stuart absolutely did a great job at the curation!! I also had a great time explaining the process to confused parents when their kids say “I painted that” whilst pointing at an animated pigeon.
Each student (240 to be exact) received their very own 3 palette handmade watercolours so that they can continue their paint sustainability journey at home. I made it using upcycled postcards, bottle caps and yarn.
What made this artist residency special, aside from the unique brief, was representation. The vast majority of the students I worked with had a similar cultural background to myself. I personally felt that it is important for them to know that you can be something other than a doctor, engineer, accountant or lawyer when they are older. That they can choose the Arts.
Special thanks to Michelle Ponert and to the staff of Camberwell Grammar Junior school
Would you like a similar or completely new sustainable experience for your school? Get in touch with me at hello@serenekitchen.art
Serenekitchen | Visual Artist 