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“Moving to the UAE at the beginning of Sixth Form was initially very daunting, but quickly felt part of the Cranleigh Community. From the excellent teaching staff and their enthusiasm for their subjects to the School’s ethos, Cranleigh has helped me become my best self, and for that, I say thank you! If were to give one piece of advice, it would be: everything happens for a reason. Every experience constantly develops our resilience and personality, so our ‘up’ times are equally important as our ‘down’ times. Why things happen may not always be apparent, but when it is, it will all seem worthwhile in the end.”

“Moving to the UAE at the beginning of Sixth Form was initially very daunting, but quickly felt part of the Cranleigh Community. From the excellent teaching staff and their enthusiasm for their subjects to the School’s ethos, Cranleigh has helped me become my best self, and for that, I say thank you! If were to give one piece of advice, it would be: everything happens for a reason. Every experience constantly develops our resilience and personality, so our ‘up’ times are equally important as our ‘down’ times. Why things happen may not always be apparent, but when it is, it will all seem worthwhile in the end.”

Art Week

“During the Inktober challenge, I learned much about my preferred art style. really like painting with watercolour and using black markers. This has helped me improve as an artist. It was also a satisfying and validating feeling to finish something I had spent a long time on.”

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NEW Ceramics Room

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

This year, the Art Department was focused on ‘re-engagement and reconnection’.

After two challenging years caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we were excited to re-engage with our Cranleigh art environments. Working in a wide range of media, techniques, and approaches, pupils were incredibly enthusiastic and exuded a creative vibrancy that could be seen in artistic displays throughout the School (as seen on these pages).

All Year groups showed remarkable resilience, perseverance, and imagination as they tackled the 2021/22 Art curriculum. This year’s projects inspired and challenged in equal measures; the theme of Globalisation provided the opportunity for observation and reflection and asked questions about how society and art come together. CCAs were also back this year, and we had record numbers partaking in ceramics, environmental art, and competitions, including BSME Art and Inktober.

Art Department

Colour, creativity, and teamwork were abundant during our enlivening Prep School Art Week. This much-loved event also ran alongside Abu Dhabi Art, an international platform for modern and contemporary art. The week included many collaborative events and activities within school. One highlight was designing a poster for National Day, which reflected the Nation’s spirit of diversity, kindness, openness, humanity, and ambition. The finished creations were of an excellent standard and were displayed in our National Day Art Exhibition.

Inktober

Inktober is a worldwide annual art challenge of ink art that takes place for the whole month of October. To get involved, we held an exciting whole School art competition, attracting hundreds of artistic entries from pupils and staff. The concept of drawing in ink is not new, but it was inspiring to see the various drawing styles and a great exercise in self-improvement.

A brilliant addition to our expanding Art Department. Our new ceramics room houses a kiln and clay recycling equipment where pupils can enjoy making pots and responding to ceramicists. This year we also offered the first CCA in Ceramics which was a huge hit and quickly became oversubscribed.

BSME Art Competition 2022

Another stellar performance by 50 of our talented Cranleigh artists who participated in this regional competition. The theme for 2022 was ‘My City, My View’. Artworks ranged from drawing and painting to 3D relief work and collage. As part of the criteria, our pupils created meaningful and expressive art pieces in just two hours while filming themselves in time-lapse as they worked. Special mention goes to Shrouq and Isabella, who were asked to exhibit at the BSME Conference.

Picasso

GCSE Exhibition

This year’s GCSE exhibition was the most eclectic and expansive yet. An incredible showcase of creative and innovative expression, mature approach, and detailed application of a wide variety of materials and styles. Visitors were treated to large oil and acrylic paintings of landscapes and portraiture, 3D sculpture, casting, drypoint etching and mixed media.

Our GCSE exhibition portrayed cyanotype exposures. The technique allowed pupils to use light-sensitive materials for the first time.

The theme of Globalisation was explored by our GCSE Fine Artists as they tackled the topic of Food for their independent study. Students were asked to innovate and think critically about the theme, and the resulting endof-year portfolio work has been nothing short of outstanding.

A Level Exhibition

Three of our A Level Art students devised an impressive collection - two of whom are continuing to study Art at tertiary level. The exhibition displayed some innovative and highly creative digital photography. A master of Photoshop, Abdelrahman created several stunning compositions that wowed audiences with their technical excellence. Maha and Chloe, our two Fine Artists, created some mesmerising works in oils and acrylics, 3D sculpture and pencil work.

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Cranleighan Magazine 2021/2022