Art for Arts Sake!

Sang 10CC way back in the prehistoric 1970's - but I doubt they were referring to a French slogan from the early 19th century, ''l'art pour l'art'', which expresses a philosophy that the intrinsic value of art, and the only "true" art, is divorced from any didactic, moral or utilitarian function! Probably not...

But art was what the cubs were involved in last Saturday (11th October) as they visited Gallery Oldham to take part in an Art Day. The Gallery would run the day and at the end of the day the Cubs would have gained not only their Artist badge but also an Arts Award!!

Joe enjoying his art!

After meeting up with the day organisers, Dee and Glenys, the Cubs were off for their first activity of the day - a visit to the actual Gallery area. With their log books in hand the cubs were sent off around the gallery to find various bits of information on different types of art. With plenty of areas to explore it was maybe a bit surprising to find that most of them seemed to congregate in the Computer Games exhibition - in particular around the Space Invaders game!!! Or maybe not that surprising... But with a little coercion they all went off to fill in their books.

The girls getting down with early 20th Century hats!

  

Dee demonstrating the block printing

After an hour or so in the gallery, the cubs had lunch followed by a ten minute run about outside! Then it was on to the next activity - Block Printing. After a run through from Dee, the cubs were off coming up with their own designs, some based on the computer games exhibition they had seen in the morning or anything else they liked. After the designs had been transferred to their blocks , it was time to print! 

A block design 'selfie'!

 After covering the blocks with ink they were placed on a sheet of material and pressure applied. Re-inking and printing on the material over and over until the pattern they wanted was all done - then it was time for brushing oils on. Various colours were available and some used them sparingly whilst others did not! Once done, it was time to put them on the dryer and then on to the next activity.

Even Mike had a go!

Alex enjoyed the oil!!

Dry point printing was up next and the cubs were given a silver foil 'plate' with which to draw their design/picture on. This was then taken over to the inking area where they were covered with a colour, and then working ink in to the lines and also removing some ink with various methods like paper towels, scrim and screwed up bits of Yellow Pages. Now it was time to go over to the printing press! Placing the 'plate' on the bottom and with a piece of paper on the top the cubs then worked the machine to pass their designs through the press. Once outside the other side, there were some great results!! Some had time to do other colours, or to tweak their designs and others chose to blow up their protective gloves into balloons!!

Inking the plates...

Time to remove excess ink...

Time for the press!

And then that was the end of the day. After completing their log books and passing to Dee it was time for the cubs to go home and for the leaders to have a well earned rest!


The cubs and the leaders would like to thank Dee and Glenys for their time and enthusiasm throughout the day. When asking the cubs, they all replied that they had enjoyed the day. And that's all that mattered - despite the awarding of badges or awards. And i presume the cafe in the gallery also enjoyed the day as cub after cub went in to buy an ice cream!!

Phil
Assistant Cub Leader

Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting....

So said Carl Douglas way back in the 70's when even I was a small boy!!

But the cubs werent Kung Fu Fighting.... they were taking part in a Karate taster session. The style of karate in question was Tang Soo Do which is a Korean Martial Art that has roots in various styles of martial arts, including Shotokan Karate, Taekkyeon and in some schools Shaolin Kung Fu.

I can't get my leg that high up!

Through various stretches, twists, turns, kicks and punches the cubs were put through their paces by Chief Instructor Nick. With various degrees of success I must add - some did end up on the floor when they tried a high kick!!

Nearly....

 
Nicks classes aim to introduce children to physical exercise and learning in a friendly, structured enviroment while introducing them to Tang Soo Do Karate with the emphasis on teaching basic skills and positive reinforcement. These skills include: Balance and Coordination; Self Confidence; Self Esteem; Following Instructions; Self Discipline; Respect for others and themselves; Energy Release; Learn Healthy Habits; Manners ; Train hard and have Fun.

Wouldn't want to be on the end of that kick!

Even though some of them already attend some form of karate class - everybody acquitted themselves well and everybody seemed to enjoy it. Which of course is the most important thing! And some of them who hadn't done karate before did show some real ability and skill which maybe they could take up?

The cubs would like to offer Nick a big thank you for donating his time and energies to this session which has helped the cubs move further on in their Fitness Challenge badge. If anybody would like to contact Nick in relation to his classes, you can call him on 07852439779 or visit his website http://karateclubs.webs.com/.

Phil
Assistant Cub Leader