The visit was part of the Art Department’s theme for this term, ‘hybrid’. While exploring this theme, pupils will be 
challenged to stretch their imagination by creating surreal combinations of animal and object.
Inspired by artists such as Ros Ingram, who combines fish and objects in his work, their first task was to assemble a collection of drawings to be used as their projects develop.
Upon arrival, pupils were given a talk by the resident artist who, using her work to illustrate, explained the technicalities of water colour painting and the difficulties of having sea creatures as her subject.
The talk was concluded with a valuable insight into how thorough appreciation of her subject can help her to learn more about each fish and its innate habits.
As the day progressed, pupils visited different parts of the aquarium to collect sketches that focused on outlines and patterns. They were all hugely inspired by the great walls of glass which allowed them to see the hundreds of species in the gigantic tanks.
They particularly enjoyed seeing the sharks and the blind turtle! Pupils made notes about certain characteristics and movements of the fish and were encouraged to consider marine life in new ways, even having to lie on their backs to draw in the aquarium’s glass tunnel. These drawings will be used later in the term to create hybrid sculptures.
Everyone at Kelly College would like to express their thanks to the National Marine Aquarium for helping to make this trip possible and for allowing our pupils to gain so much inspiration from such an unforgettable day.