FSC - Tiny Tots and Tiled Patterns

One of the most exciting features of the art project at the FSC building is the tiled painting created by 500 little hands.

Children have a unique ability to make marks spontaneously, which as adults we often find challenging to mimic (too many years following rules and structure). Picasso aptly captured this sentiment with his quote, "It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child."

The painted tile mural was created by cutting 500 squares of ply 15 x15cm in size (thank you Walter and team). These squares were then assembled, and Stephen Michael King and I drew a design on the front of the shapes in pencil.

I then began the arduous process of turning all the shapes over, redrawing the design on the back and numbering them so they could be reassembled again in the correct positions after they had been painted.

The squares were divided by colour schemes and given to local preschools and schools, with each child asked to paint a square in a specific colour way. For example, if the colour was blue, the children had four different shades to choose from to create a design, pattern, or picture.

Some kids even had sections where 3 colour ways converged… and they handled it brilliantly!

Thank you to Jo Burge and Sue Russell who came to Manning Gardens Primary School with me to support the kids to paint the squares. And then a huge thank you to Sue who continued the project on her own in the local preschools… what a mammoth effort!

When all the tiles came back Stephen, Walter and I pieced the artwork back together and glued the squares to the wall.

I think you will agree the final artwork looks pretty fabulous!

Now to the final stage of the project… the artwork on the exterior entry wall!

In keeping with the ethos of the project around sustainability… materials from the building site like Core10, corrugated iron, fibre cement sheeting and kitchen benchtop panelling were used in the design to create the forms and shape that flowed out from the internal spaces.

Here are some pics of the construction stages…

I mapped out the initial design on the external wall, Shaun Clark then painted in the larger shapes and Walter and the team cut and attached the forms to the wall.

What a team!!!!!!