The Neilson art center

When we went to the Neilson art center it was a lot of fun. After we put our stuff away we reached up and grabbed a bunch of imagination from the air. Have you ever done that? Then we did some exercises. Can you guess what we did? After the exercise we picked a painting that we really liked ,chose a color and shape from it and made a picture mine was of a person from the real world going into Minecraft.

After lunch a woman came in and told us about her art. She created a beautiful picture of a woman. We then looked at our old pictures and chose a shape and 2 colors from that. Can you guess what shape and colors I chose? Unfortunately all good things come to an end and we had to go. I will miss the Neilson art center

               

Imagination Explored

             Hey kids!  On Thursday, November 29, 2012 our class went on a trip to The Neilson Creative Arts Centre.  Have you ever been there?  After the quite tedious bus ride, we were warmly welcomed by the staff; Austin, Brenda, Ina, and Patricia.

            We then took part in an exercise where we grabbed all of the imagination around us and put it right into our heads!  After this, we went into the gallery.  This gallery was definitely unique.  Not only was every illustration special in its own way but the entire gallery is restocked weekly!  In the gallery we were told to sit in front of and study an illustration that we found attractive.  The illustration that I chose is quite difficult to describe.  It was an abstract piece, with straight rigid edges, and done exclusively in warm colours.  In a way, I think it resembled cliffs. 

            With the illustration that we chose in mind, we were told to create our own oil pastel drawing.  I titled mine, “Unfinished”.  This is because, while I was making it, I planned on adding more to it.  However, when it came time for small group discussions, my title was received as quite a surprise.  Others said that it looked like I had meant to leave it just the way it was.  Do you think it looks finished?

            After this, we were told to make another oil pastel drawing based off of our first.  I titled mine, “Defiled”.  At first I planned on making a tree in the foreground the emphasis of my painting.  Then, taking up a large majority of the picture, a large green hill.  I tried to colour this hill in a way that made the grass look long, and like it was moving with wind.  Behind the hill, I planned on showing a little bit of sky, in order to express the fact that the hill was not limitless.

After I finished this and look at my painting, I thought that it looked very cliché and mainstream.  My solution to this problem was to put a fairly small but very distracting ‘something’ in my illustration. Yes, a ‘something’.  I don’t know exactly what this ‘something’ is, however, I do know that its sole purpose is to catch the attention of observers, and from what I have heard...it’s working!  What would you liken this ‘something’ to? I've heard a vortex, a parallel world, death, the sun, and a chasm.

All in all, I have found this trip to be... amazing.  Not only when it comes to learning how to express ideas through art, but also, and perhaps more importantly, to always be willing to let your imagination roam free.

           ~Debbie

P.S. The white line across both illustrations is just light, not part of the composition.

Neilson Creative Art Centre

Hi guys.

A few weeks ago, my class went to the Neilson Creative Art Center, to participate in an amazing program, based around art. It is an amazing place that I think will be around for a very long time.  The program is also astounding.  I think many schools will participate in the program just as long.  When we arrived at the center, we started off by looking at the art gallery.  It had many great pieces ranging from drawings to multimedia.  It’s amazing they change it every week.

After we looked at all the artwork, we sat in front of a piece that we liked.  We examined it carefully and let our creative juices flow.  I chose a picture of a forest.  After that, all of us went into the art studio to begin our first art piece.  We used oil pastel for all our artwork.  Could you tell that by looking at my pictures?  First, we all coloured the background a colour of our choice.  After that, we all drew a shape of our choice.  I made a triangle, which reminded me of pine trees, and made it red, since that is what a triangle reminds me of.  My original idea was to make a picture of a bear protecting its cubs from a snake; however the triangle didn’t fit in with the scene.  I decided to disregard it and make my picture on half the page.  However, after I drew the pine tree, there wasn’t any more space for the animals.  Instead, I just made another tree.  After that, we all got up and looked at our pictures from different angles.  When I turned my picture to the right, the pine tree looked like camouflage.  There were only 5 minutes left, so in the rush, I just made it look like a camouflaged cave instead.  I named my picture, “Hidden Passage.”  Where do you think the passage goes?  Can you see how my picture evolved?  After that, we got into groups and talked about our pictures.  We also made stories using the pictures.  What do you see?  Feel?  Hear? Smell?  Taste?  What stories can you think of with these pictures?  Then, we ate lunch and talked to an artist who occasionally came to the center.  She did many types of art, but specialized in print-making.  The artist showed us some of her artwork.  It was amazing.

After the presentation, we began our second session.  This time, we examined our morning picture and used that as our inspiration instead.  I came up with two ideas.  One was to draw different shapes, surrounded by black.  The other idea I had was to create a forest fire scene.  I debated with myself and in the end, chose to create a forest fire scene.  What would you have done?  However, after I finished my picture, I realized I made the wrong decision.  My art skills aren’t that great, so the picture didn’t turn out like I planned.  I named the picture, “Evacuate.”  After finishing our second picture, we got into the same groups again.  This time, we talked about the similarities and differences between our morning picture, and afternoon picture.  After that we prepared to go back to school.

As we were about to leave, I saw a picture that I didn’t notice before.  It was a picture of a river flowing through a forest.  It reminded me of native canoes and European ships going towards each other and meeting for the first time.  I wished I chose that picture for my inspiration instead.  I could have drawn European ships and native canoes meeting, for the morning picture.  In the afternoon, I could have drawn a winter scene where the ship was stuck in ice.  It would have been much better than my two other pictures, and kind of cool to see different seasons of the same scene.

Overall, it was a great day and I had a lot of fun.  I recommend the art center to everyone.

Feel free to comment.  I really want to hear your responses to the questions.  I especially want to hear your stories.  I will be waiting to hear some very creative stuff.

Abdul

Neilson Art Centre-Rashawn

Hello fellow bloggers! My name is Rashawn, and this blog is about my experience at the Neilson Art Centre. The day started ab it slow. We had a very boring bus ride there, but the wait was worth it. This was my fourth year at the centre. It had always been fun so i knew today would be great, but I was still wondering what would happen. I was wondering what kind of pictures i was going to see. What kind of pictures i was going to make. what kind of things would i learn. 

First, we went into the gallery and walked around. I saw many great paintings. Next, we had to sit in front of our favourit. Then, after looking at our picture for a while, we went into another room to start making our own pictures. My painting wa very calm and relaxing. Because it was so calm and relaxing, I made a picture of what makes me feel relaxed. That was, the beach. I made picture of a sunset on the beach. The painting i used had many colours, so i tried to incorporate many colours into mine as well. Because it was a very relaxing picture, i named it,"Contemplation".

After we finished, we went into small groups and dicussed our pictures. Everyone's pictures were so different and unique. When we finished, we went back to make another picture. This time, we were going to use our first picture as inspiration. Mine first picture made me very happy so i decided to make a happy picture this time. I made some flowers and decorations. This time, my picture was very random. The only thing i actually came up wth was the flowers.They took a while so i didnt get to finish. Since there was a little bit of time left, i added a bunch of decorations. I liked my second picture but i liked my first one more.

When we finished we went into our gruops again to discuss our new piantings. Again, everyones were different and unique. Over all i really enjoyed thetrip and hope that i will get the chance to come again next year.

Neilson Art Centre-Shazi

In November, 7/8G went to the Neilson Creative Arts Centre. There we learned many techniques about making various art pieces and we explored them to a depth that I didn’t think existed. There we made 2 different art pieces. The first one that we made was after we got an inspiration from another painting in the gallery. The paintings in the gallery were very detailed and amazing. The pictures that most of us ended up getting looked nothing like the original.

The second picture that we made was from an inspiration from our first picture. Some of the results were very different and others were similar. We discussed everyone’s paintings in groups, first and second. The staff were very friendly and looked at our work as if there was another world inside of it as if it were alive, or telling a story. They were even able to tell a story about my painting, which was a completely random compilation of colours and shapes. Not even I was able to tell that much about my painting.

          Overall, I personally thought that the trip to the Neilson Creative Arts Centre was a very fun and enriching experience that I felt, made art more fun for me. I am not the best in art and after going to this trip, my self esteem has grown, now that I have seen what I am able to accomplish if it is not being marked.  

                                                                                                          -Shazi

My Not-So-Great-Passion-For Art

Tashifa

     Once upon a time, a little girl travelled with her fellow classmates through the bus route, and walked through a nice neighbourhood, to get to an amazing place, they called the NEILSON ART CENTRE! The journey was tough, and rough, but the children made it to this wonderful place. Yet, little did this little girl know that her dislike for art would lead her to find new hope and inspiration....and could it be that possibly she is not a bad artist....you will soon find out as the journey continues...
    My dear people reading this story, you see I'm not a fan of art. Anyone who knows me well enough would know. I have made a name for people my kind, "Artistically Challenged." Are you with me? Yet, I don't think all art is bad, like the only problem with art is.....here's a not-so-secretive-secret, I'm really bad at it. Hmmm, to think of it, not all, mostly drawing. I like painting, though....(continues to think). Its easy if the colours blend...no one will know how bad it actually is! For me,- I'm sure you are an amazing artist smirking at this.
    Anyway, when we went  to the Neilson Art Centre, i was a bit scared to show my work....cause....well....seems like everyone else in my class is better at art, or doesn't care. Specially, since some people are willing to speak their minds when it comes to criticism. So, I inferred (smart way to say guess...ohh la la) that this would be a complete disaster for me. Anyone else feel this way before a special subject? Guess what though!? It wasn't, it was actually the funnest from all hundred times I went to the Neilson Art Centre, I'm kidding, It's a fun place. Good thing, they aren't your art teachers, you aren't graded on this! YAAAAAAA!!! So, I was pretty glad no body in particular was going to tell me that I didn't blend right, or use that technique or blah blah blah....
     Now, I had a very smart idea! You see, I decided to force myself to make it "lookable (like edible but instead for the eyes)." I'm a genius, but I don't know for sure, because no one was going to tell me it was ugly. :D Let's just go with I'm a genius! So, I inferred that maybe if I just forced myself to make it nice and like art, than just say it over and over again, it would turn prettier! Ya! It worked....sort of...I wouldn't know, but the very nice lady...(forgot her name, I'm generally bad with names) seemed to like it enough. I don't know about my group....I' rather not. Has anyone ever wanted to literally "run away from bad news?'
    Well, actually....all in all....I love their cookies, and their people, and their ways of not telling me if it's ugly....they are such wonderful people for saving me the trouble of being grumpy! Anyway, I loved my painting at the end (love is an overstatement), but it was lookable! I love the Neilson Art Centre, for their fun ways and nice staff! I can't remember their names....curse you memory of names... but i really had fun! Thank you for the experience, oh, and Mr.Cornell thank you to...for not looking at my art work, and if you did not saying anything! Oh, ya, and thanks for taking us there. It wouldn't be the same if we didn't go every year. It's like a fun tradition! Thank you all, I feel like I got an award and am saying my speech. Either way I was surrounded by such amazing, artistic, people, thank you!
    P.S My group members, your painting were also very lookable! Did anyone understand what I just wrote?
    P.P.S It was really fun....
    P.P.P.S I really like how this P.S thing works....oh an hoped you enjoy.
    P.P.P.P.S I can't think of anything right now....so the typical...be sure to post comments and follow me on Facebook....wait can you follow someone on Facebook? I don't have a Facebook! Oh well, instead of another P.S, I'll say the Neilson Art Centre is very fun!


    The girl discovered here that art was such a special thing, and if you mean your art work, it will be beautiful. The little girl wasn't a great artist, but she could be for she meant something in her art. That was what made it beautiful. 
The Neilson Art Centre: A Place Where Dreams Come True, (isn't that for something else though) - Artistic Dreams. Filled with inspirational art work, people and imagination that will show you what art really is. ;D

Neilson Art Center Experience & Artwork Created

Hello everyone. My name is Iqbal and I was one of the students who went to the Neilson Art Center on November 29^th. I personally had a lot of fun there and hope more people have a chance to go there. Anyways, at the Neilson Art Center, we did various activities such as demonstrating aspect in a painting with our bodies, in a group. We also made art with oil pastels inspired from an artwork in their gallery.

The first artwork is called “Entangled”. It was made with inspiration from the art I found in the gallery. My inspiration had a lot of plantation and water and I tried to incorporate that into my artwork. I had a lot of fun making this artwork. At first I just tried to recreate the scene from my inspired artwork but then it turned into something new. When looking at the painting itself, I didn't really have any emotions. There were a lot of curves in it and tree/vine like shapes.

My second artwork was inspired from my first. It was called “Two Worlds”. I had used the tree/vine like shapes but other than that, it was very different. I also took a bit of inspiration from other people’s first artwork. For example, the stripe design in the corners was inspiration from our teacher’s artwork. As you can see, it has a lot of contrast and is not as busy as the first. This is because I wanted this painting to be simpler. This artwork gives you mixed feelings as the various colours trigger multiple emotions. What did you feel while looking at my art?

The good thing about the program was that we were able to share our artwork with our classmates.  It was interesting to hear different views on you artwork. What was the most fun was when someone had an abstract art and could guess what was in it or the story in the art was.  Overall, the trip was amazing and I had a lot of fun there!

Neilson Creative Arts Center - Mingwei

      Let me just begin by saying "I did not remember to set my alarm clock to the right time." There, I said it, now let's get on with the blog post.

      Like I mentioned, I missed the deadline for the trip and I got stuck to Mr. Wickett's class for the day. Thankfully, my mom and dad said that they could drive me there by car (thanks mom and dad!). It didn't seem like I missed much as the group was still in the first room when I got there. Now, since I've been to the Neilson Creative Arts Center before, I've got a pretty good understanding of how the program would run. Still, I was hoping to be surprised.

      The program starts like how my foggy memory remembers it, which is the introduction of the staff and the program. Though I was thinking in my head "Can this go any slower?" But hey, some people actually need to listen to this stuff...right? Okay, to be fair, it was a bore as we obviously know not to touch the paintings and artwork.

      Despite that, the paintings were actually pretty well done; not trying to say that I didn't expect them to be or anything of that sort. There was one painting that I actually really liked (who knew?) and it seemed like the northern lights from my angle. I stared at it for what I thought was just a minute, but apparently, it was all I looked at as Debbie thought I just passed out standing up. As you'd expect, when they told us to choose a painting, I chose that one. As they told us to focus into the painting, I inferred what it would be like if the painting was a landscape. I think that it would be fluffy and warm, but I think that's just me. The next part of the activity was they had us draw what came into our heads with those painting with some guidelines.

     The rest of the day went as I expected, which was basically a repeat of the beginning without the intro. We did another painting, discussed it and that was it. Except our second painting had to be inspired by our first painting. Obviously, you can see I took the circle shape in the middle, however I'm beginning to think that that wasn't the smartest option. Do you think I should've taken the colour scheme instead?

      Below are the two drawings that I did for the day. I don't think my second one was as good but what do you think? It just didn't seem to pop out in terms of colour to me.

     Overall, the program was still the same as before. It seemed quite bland to me but as I've said before, I've already done this multiple times so it might have taken away the surprise and wonder of doing this for the first time away from me. However, 1 thing that bothered me was, why did we have to use pastel to colour? Every time I've been to this program, we had pastel. I'd like some variety such as paint, or even chalk pastel. But, that may just be me looking for something to complain about due to the guidelines set for us on this blog post. Either way, this program was quite enjoyable. An oldie but a goodie, if you will. I especially liked the part where we were explained about print making because it was something new to me. I know I did a lot of second guessing during this post but trust me when I say this: this program is still excellent, it was just me doing the program for who knows how many times now. I'd recommend anyone this program for the first time.

Neilson Creative Art Center - Joshua

Well, the Neilson Creative Art Centre was definitely a very enjoyable, fun, and easy going trip. But one thing I always wonder is, how in the world do they make up that program? Any thoughts from you guys? I think that it took many weeks of trial and error. Anyways.... the trip was really fun, you got to make art,, and we got a chance to hang out with classmates, and through sharing, learn more about them.

After a long, but fun bus ride we got to the Art Centre. The staff greeted us, and we had a pleasant surprise drop in from Ming Wei. I infer that it was pretty embarrassing for him when he found out that we were leaving and he was still at home. The staff outlined some rules, and we then proceeded into the Art Gallery to look at some pictures. We then did a fun activity, mimicking shapes, creating scenarios and overall, opening our imagination. We were then instructed to pick a picture and sit in front of it.

The picture I picked was a sub Arctic scene. There was lots of snow, a couple of trees, something that looked like Caribou running in the distance, and an orgaeish-yellowish light coming from behind the tress. Anyways, the picture I drew after that was supposed to be inspired off the picture we chose. But, my picture looks nothing like it, but it does have a few similarities. We had to pick a colour to cover the background with, so I picked the orgaeish-yellowish colour from behind the tree. We also had to pick one shape from the it and use it on our picture. I picked the biggest tree and put it on. I just kept on drawing whatever my heart told me to draw and VOILA, it's done!! My art piece has no name, and I have no idea what in the world it is. What do you think it is? And based on what you think it is, what would you name it?

My second art piece was inspired off of my first. We had to pick one shape from our first picture, and put it in our second, and pick two random colours that we like. I I picked the colours yellow and light blue because I think they go well together. What colours do you think go well together? The shape was the lighting bolt in the centre of my first picture. Can you see it? I recreated it multiple times in my second picture. At first I thought my second picture would be “EPIC.” But I ended up not liking it. So in the last five minutes I scribbled over it, and drew some big, random black sign. At first it reminded me of the swastika, but I changed it so it did not end up looking like it. As with the first picture, I have no idea what it is, or what it's called. Any ideas?

After finishing each picture we got a chance to talk about them. Through this we learned a lot about our classmates, and ourselves. For example, I like ABSTRACT art!!! I infer that if we did this everyday, we would learn so much about ourselves, and so much about our classmates. Even doing this once a month would be great. Doing this also helps us broaden our imagination, which by doing often, would be beneficial.

Until next time, BYE.

Neilson Creative Arts Centre - Adrian's Thoughts

             November 28^th was just a normal day, until I remembered that we had a trip to the Neilson Creative Arts Centre. I became excited. Our class (7/8G) has been going to the Neilson Creative Arts Centre for many years now, and every time I go there, I am not disappointed.

               We took the TTC there. The ride was painfully boring, and we almost got lost… Anyways, once we reached the centre, we were greeted by Austin, Ina, Patricia, and Brenda. We were then taken into the gallery where many paintings were held. When I was in there, it felt like another world. There was a vast selection of paintings to see, ranging from something as simple as a river to something as complex as a forest. We were asked to sit down in front of a painting that interested us. I chose a painting that had a complex forest, and a field in front of it. The field seemed to be on fire, since the entire painting was red. This perked my interest. What does this make you think of?

               After we chose our painting, we were asked to “memorize” the painting. The staff took us through some exercises to remember the painting. After that, we went into the studio. This is where the magic happens. We had to draw a picture that was inspired by the painting we chose. We all had to have a background colour, and mine was red. I began to draw. I drew like my life depended on it. I drew what seemed to be a tree at the time, and two smaller trees beside them. These “trees” then turned into pedestals holding fire. I was very pleased about this drawing. I named it “Fire Tree” to represent the giant “tree” in the middle. What does this drawing make you think of? After we were done our drawing, we looked at it for ten minutes to see if we wanted to change the direction it was in. I was fine with my painting.

               After we looked at our paintings, we went back into the gallery. We got into groups, and discussed our drawings. I predicted that my drawing looked worse than everyone else’s. Fortunately, I wasn’t wrong or right. The drawings varied from good to bad.

After lunch, we were then asked to draw a second picture, this time our motivation was our first painting. We were allowed to use two background colours, so I used orange and blue. What do the colours orange and blue remind you of? I then drew a caterpillar and an unfinished dragon that was being chained. I titled this picture “Unfinished” because I ran out of time. I liked how it turned out though.

We got into the same groups, and discussed our drawings. I found that most people didn’t finish their drawings just like I did. This made me relieved. I made up a story, in where I predicted that the caterpillar would grow up someday and free the dragon, bringing it happiness. What did you think of when you first saw this painting?

Overall, it was a very fun trip, and I predict I will be coming back in the future. I thank Austin, Brenda, Patricia, and Ina for hosting us on this wonderful adventure.

(Credits to Saksham for the title)

~Fanticc

Sabhat's Neilson Art Center Experience

            Dear reader:

Before I begin my blog, I wanted to show you a little poem:

           Roses are red.

           Violets are blue,

           I went to an Art center,

           And you should too!

          You'll hear about my thoughts,

          And how it was for me,

          From a random idea to a masterpiece.

          Not all would agree,

          That I did quite well,

          But in my opinion, 

          My painting was swell.

          From imagination in air,

          to sitting in a chair,

          I had a great time,

          and then filled a questionnaire!

The rest is all below!

           One of our recent trips has been to the Neilson Art Center.  Before we had even gotten to the center, there was excitement. Someone even missed the TTC bus, but its okay, in the end we all made it.

When we arrived, we were told to grab some imagination from the air. Pretty weird, especially for skeptical 12 and 13 year olds (and trust me, a lot of us are very skeptical). I think the air imagination paid off in the end (and middle, and beginning) , because the paintings and discussions were amazing.

I would say, by far, one of the best parts would be sharing time. My painting was a bunch of patterns and colours ,and my sharing group actually turned my mess on paper (I’m saying that in the best way possible) into something that inspired my next drawing. They told me it was a birthday party. Our sharing group had such nice paintings and even nicer comments. There was a Bigfoot, aliens, octopus tentacles (which later turned into Mitch), a movie theater, a birthday party, a universe, a web of thoughts, people connected through lines, and so much more! 

I personally think that, the fact that we are able to create even the most random paintings and have them recognized by someone is amazing. It turns your work of art into an absolute story.  I was super surprised (and happy) when I was told (by Joshua) that the blue splat in the corner of my page was actually blue kool-aid that spilled at the party.  There was one paintings (by Saksham) of a movie theater. I had fun predicting the topic of the movie, but I did. The scene, colours, and overall  drawing reminded me of a horror movie! Trust me, I mean that in the best way possible. 

The bottom painting is my first and the top is my second.

I don't know if it's just me, but sometimes I feel a bit awkward as the people walk around looking at your painting. I just get stuck every time someone comes around to look at it, as if my ideas have stopped freezing. It only happens at the Art Center, I find that peculiar. 
I have been there four times now and it is truly amazing. I wonder though, how they choose the paintings that they display. How do they choose the arrangement and layout? Was building was originally constructed for the purpose of a museum or something else?

The best part of all, which I would absolutely never forget….were the…..COOKIES! I’m just kidding, the cookies can’t compare to my awesome sharing group who inspired my second painting.

All in all, it was fun, and I was very proud of the random scribbles I created on paper! I'm glad we were giving the opportunity to participate in the program. I'm also glad that I got to meet an artist. But then again,  there were artists all around me! My classmates!

Blog #1-Nelson Art Centre

Whats up! this is Baarath Sritharan and I am here to tell you about my pictures that I made when my classmates and I went to the Nelson Art Centre. Before I get to that, I should talk to you a little about what the Nelson Art Centre. You would probably want to know that the Nelson Art Centre is known to have many famous artists and their paintings visit and stay in the museum. the particular art museum run programs for the several schools who come to visit for the day and activities they do are paintings and artwork. also some basic games, like using a group of a prole and make types of art like line, pattern, colour etc.

Now to talk to you about my pictures and how I made them. After, we played the art games in our groups, we found a piece of art that we liked the most and we made our own inspirations of the artwork. we made these painting using oil pastels.

My first painting was made with sadness, happiness and with a touch of plain. you can see the sadness in the skies with the rain and dark clouds, but as your eyes move down, you sense a happy feeling with the gigantic heart and the two people in love with all the little children all the exact same. I feel that this would be related to my picture because in the picture, their were two ties in the middle being pointed out and a bunch of other ties that looked exactly the same. I felt that I could have related this to people.


My second picture was supposed to be an inspiration of my inspiration and I found quiet easy because I thought instead of doing a similarity, I could do an exact opposite to my picture. In my first picture's description, I said that my picture would represent sadness, happiness, and plain. it could still show sadness, and happiness because the two are opposite and the two can be represented again, but in a different form. Although, the the plain, that can be turned into colourful and uniqueness. that is what I did. 

I had alot of fun doing this assignment and I wish to do this again.

Thank you   

Neilson Creative Arts Centre-Harsimran's thoughts

  On November 29th, 2012, our class had a trip to the Neilson Creative Art Centre. It was my first time going there so I wondered what it would be like. Once we arrived we were greeted by the people that worked there (Austin, Brenda, Ina, and Patricia.) Was it going to be a fun trip?

  We went into the gallery and looked at a few paintings that were displayed. Then we were asked to find a painting that we thought was inspiring. We sat in front of the painting and visualised it in our heads. There was a special technique that was spoken while we visualised it. We then went into the studio. We were given a huge piece of paper and pastels. We were supposed to choose one colour for the background. I chose white because my picture was based on a snowy background. We had the choice of making the picture abstract or not. It was basically drawing what you wanted. I drew trees, bushes, some interestin footsteps, a horizon and much more. It was to signify what it looks like in the Arctic. That's why I decided to name my picture "An Evening in the Arctic." It was a fun experience. After finishing our pictures, we got cookies. Who dosn't like cookies after working?  We then went back into the studio. We got into groups and discussed or pictures. We all guessed at each others pictures. I found some of my peers' pictures very interesting. I described my picture as a real life picture. What does my picture make you think of?

  After the "presentation", we had lunch. So far it was going great. I had seen great artwork and got to make my own as well. After lunch we had a short presentation in the gallery, but soon after we went back into the gallery. This time we created another picture. This time I drew a picture that showed continuation of the footsteps in my first picture. In this picture I drew a cabin, with trees, rocks, and more footsteps. But this time it had a mystery. There was a pair of footsteps coming into the cabin from both sides. During the discussion after creating our seconds picture, one of my peers infered that it was Santa Clause coming from the other side. Who do you think was in there? That was why I named my picture "Cabin Mystery." We then said bye to the staff, and went back to school.

  I enjoyed my first time being there. I feel that everyone should have that time to just be creative. At the end, it was a fun trip. 

The Neilson Art Center blog by Baseer Yousufzai 8G

Blog #1-The Neilson Art Centre

           

            Hello bloggers, this is Baseer, starting my first ever blog post. Today, I’m going to tell you about a field trip our class went to, about a few weeks ago. First off, we sat down when the whole staff introduced themselves and then told us to grab some imagination and put them in our head. Yes, it sounds weird but it got us exited on what were going to do next. We entered an art gallery which they told us to pick a drawing and describe it with the five senses with it. We then went to an art studio and took several aspects from the painting we chose and brought on the paper (e.g., shapes, color etc).

          My 1^st drawing looks a lot the three guardians of the Hoenn region (in a game) with a lot of different shapes that I spoofed in my creation. I called my drawing, ‘’The Hidden Land’’, because this stuff would be a secret to the public and only be seen in a dream. My drawing overall was supposed to represent tranquility because of the light colors. What do you see in this picture? Try looking at it sideways or upside down as well.

          My 2^nd drawing, in my opinion, looks completely different than my 1^st painting. It looks like a happy, colorful, forest right? WRONG! This whole place could make your adventure stop here. The colorful trees are a powerful hallucinogen that makes you see things. The tall mushrooms are very poisonous when consumed; the only antidote is to leave the forest, as the poison will degrade after additional vitamin D. Also, the happy clouds smiling at you are actually hiding a vicious thunderstorm. Creative or what? Any-who we actually got to meet an artist who made one of the drawings in the gallery. She told us how she made her art and we realized how hard it was to make a piece of artwork on a regular sized piece of paper. Overall, the Neilson Art Center was a great place to express your imagination without being graded. Comment on what you see in the two drawings and try looking at an angle. What do you see?

                                                                                          By Baseer Yousufzai 8G

Neilson Creative Arts Centre - Tien's Thoughts

         On November 28th, our class went to the Neilson Creative Arts Centre. There, we were greeted by Austin, Brenda, Ina, and Patricia, and we all went inside of the gallery to observe paintings.

          In the gallery, we were asked to choose a painting to sit in front of, to do an exercise, and observe the painting in greater detail. My painting was a depiction of a forest during winter, the sunset, and a river. We all visualized the paintings in our heads, and examined closely.

         We then entered the studio, and were asked to make a picture inspired by the painting we chose in the gallery. My background colour was orange, and I took the sunset and river from the original picture. At first, I had no idea what to do, and I was drawing random shapes, which resulted from these strange looking beings. We were asked to look at our picture from different angles, about 10 minutes before the end of the session, and I decided to keep it flipped. I titled it, "Loss for Words", as I couldn't think of anything to say about it.

         We shared our pictures in three groups, and were asked to describe our feelings at first glance of a picture. The topics were "how you think it feels, sounds, tastes, smells". We came up with many different interpretations about each picture, and I found out what I could say about my own picture. We had time to spare, so then we did an activity where we made a story where we use all of our pictures to make a story. What do you think my picture represents?

       
        After lunch, we came back into the studio, and we were to make a second picture, using our first as an inspiration. As my first was full of nonsense, I also had no idea what to do on the second. What parts do you think I've taken from the first, and implemented into the second? My second picture was titled, "Disaster Strikes"

        We shared our pictures one last time, although without the activity.

        All in all, I had a great time, and it was a wonderful experience. I recommend going here, if you just wish to have a day of peace, away from the stressful parts of life.

~ Squiddles

Neilson Art Centre-Saksham's Thoughts

      The Neilson Art Centre, a place where creativity and imagination flourish, and all negative thoughts are banished. Our class had the opportunity to go there on the 29th of November, and we were welcomed in by the staff. The staff first explained the rules of the centre, and the guided us to the gallery. In the gallery, I was surrounded by works of every kind: Portraits, Landscapes, Abstract and more. We were then asked to take a seat in front of a painting that seemed inspiring to us. We then started studying the painting, every colour, shape and texture. The staff then guided us to a room in which there were desks laid out. I took a seat then, the staff asked us to draw a picture from the picture that inspired us. In the end of all the activities, all students had produced two works, the first picture was inspired from the painting we saw in the gallery. The second picture was inspired from the picture we drew.

   After we had drawn the first picture, we were separated into groups and discussed each picture individually. The picture above shows the two pictures I drew. Though you may not be able to see them clearly the bottom picture is an empty movie theater with only one person as the audience. The movie screen shows two words "The End," and a hand that is hesitant to touch a wilting flower. Bordering the picture are two phrases "People you love, turn their back on you" and "People you hate, bring you down." Would you say the flower is going to wilt or grow back? I predict that the flower won't wilt.  The second picture shows  a train stopped at the edge of the cliff. In the middle of the picture there is a man jumping, and around the picture there is a variety of colour. Also in the middle of the abyss there is a pack of cards. I think that the pack of cards was supposed to represent gambling or risks, as the man was gambling his life, whether he would make that jump or not.  What would you say? Will he make it or will he just barely miss the mark? I predict he'll make it, but just barely, by catching the ledge with his hand rather than landing on the platform because whatever he's jumping towards, he's obviously very dedicated to it..

   Overall, the Neilson Art Centre was a great trip and I think that each class should go to broaden their minds and let their creativity blossom. I am sure everyone who visits the Neilson Art Centre will enjoy it. 

     

The neilson creative arts centre

    The fact that I have, unlike some of my colleagues, never been to this art centre, I was very excited to go. Overall, I thought that my experience there was beyond what I would have ever expected.

    What we did there actually surprised me, because I thought that we were just going to look at the different paintings displayed there. Instead, we got to draw our own two little paintings through inspiration from an actual painting. I inferred that we only got oil pastels for drawing our paintings. This leads me to ask a question, why were we only given oil pastels? I think that with a different variety of painting tools, it could have become a more unique experience.

    I also inferred that the studio that we all went into to had different paintings. We got our first inspiration from it and drew our first paintings after. However, I noticed that all the paintings in the studio had a price on it. Was it it's price? Or did somebody who drew the painting get that much out of  it?(If so, can our paintings also get us some money?) This all reminds me of the time when I went to my first art museum. It had excellent artworks from all over the world, and were all done in their artist's own special way. What was similar about them though, was that they all had a price, which I later learned was how much the artists of those paintings made out of it.

    In conclusion, I personally found this a pleasant and one-of-a-kind experience. If I ever get the chance to do this again, I'd definitely be ready for more!

Neilson Art Centre

perspicacious: observant, perceptive

Some of our Class's work. Not bad if I do say so myself. It was a full day trip, had fun with Patricia, Austin, Ina and Brenda. We took the TTC there and back. Enjoy Mitch the Octopus, courtesy of Brian.

Flourite~

Joshua Guinness

^That one's pretty fanceh

Mr. Cornell

Saksham Aggarwal

Mr. Cornell

Harsimran Darhan

Sabhat Khan

Joshua Guinness

#Brian Tran

^There's Mitch

Chelsea Santoo

Iqbal Banwait

Abdul Arif

Rashawn Thakoordeen

Sion Lee

Baseer Yousafzai

Tien Nguyen

Adrian Watson

Baarath  Sritharan

Ying Yang~
Mingwei Huang

Tashifa Imtiaz

Debbie Dada

Shahzaib Asher

Jaedan Prescott-Brown