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Whangaparāoa College art students recently had the opportunity to observe and critique an artist as he painted a mural to be installed at the school.
Over a period of six days, students saw artist Chris Dews’ mural take shape.
He describes it as a landscape representing “home” and the natural environment of Whangaparāoa, and celebrating the white heron (kotuku), whale and nikau, all of which feature in the college logo.
Art teacher Camilla Copley, a friend of Chris’s, arranged for five art classes, from year 7 to 13, to see him in action and interact with him.
She says having an artist in residence during school hours enabled students to view the process from start to finish, and to quiz Chris about his working methods.
He began with a ‘plein air’ sketch from a friend’s house on Wade River Road facing south towards the city, and then scaled it up to mural size on a marine ply sheet.
“He was able to answer endless questions about his painting of the mural,” she says. At times he would paint an entire area before deciding it wasn’t working and then blank it out and start again.
“Learners were very disconcerted by this, as the areas he deleted were very well painted. But this did show them how artists work and rework areas, to create a resolved artwork.”
Camilla says the students were intrigued by how efficiently Chris worked and how he was able to produce depth, creating the illusion of objects in the distance while bringing forward plants in the foreground.
Chris explains that his decision to relocate the heron had been a useful exercise because students could see that it’s important when having made a mistake to recognise and correct it.
“I love painting around anyone that age because they’re so honest. Kids will always be the first ones to tell you what you’re doing wrong. If you’re slightly off, they’ll let you know straight away if it looks like a bird or a whale. I wish more people were like that in real life.”
The mural, along with another created by students, will be installed soon on a wall at the college.
Chris, who recently also worked on a large mural at the new primary school at Milldale, grew up on the Coast and currently travels between Red Beach and Ōkato, Taranaki, where he’s working on a project.
“It was good to be back here, and bring it all back to where it came from.”
