The Ladies 'Collage' continues its celebrations

Thursday 26 January 2023

The Ladies College is continuing to mark its 150th anniversary year with a former pupil mentoring current students during a creative project to make collages depicting their school.

Eleanor Daisy Atkinson studied art while at the Ladies College before forging her career in the creative sector.

She is now well known for her individual pieces of artwork which she makes using different materials.

Miss Atkinson was commissioned by her former school to create a collage of the College grounds. She also worked with the year seven girls - known as Remove - who created their own pictures showcasing the school through the eyes of its students.

Miss Atkinson said the school has changed since she was a pupil so it was nice to be reacquainted with it.

"When I came back to look around the school, I saw the key pieces to me that stood out. I left in 2012 so it's changed massively. This (area) wasn't here, the cafeteria wasn't there, so for me it was a celebration of the old and new buildings."

Pictured: The art is now on display at the Ladies College.

Miss Atkinson toured the school with new students who had joined the school or moved up from Melrose in September. 

"We were both busy on our own projects but mirroring each other and I also made videos to help them through their collage process," she said.

"It's just such a creative feast for an artist because it is that celebration of old and new, and that green space and the playground, and I feel like its that nostalgia for me, but also it's a celebration for the younger generations."

The Remove students were given the task of taking 15 photographs of the school and then recreating one of them using a variety of materials assisted by guidance from Miss Atkinson and their teachers.

Emma Clements, Head of Sixth Form and Art, said: "We commissioned Ellie to do piece of art work to be a celebration of the 150th (anniversary) and the girls in Remove were inspired by her work. Ellie produced videos and demonstrated how you produce the work, then all the girls went around the site at the Ladies College, took some photos and produced individual pieces based on what they like about the Ladies College and the environment."

Pictured: Eleanor Daisy Atkinson and year seven pupils at the Ladies College.

Hope W, a student in Remove, said: "We started off the project by looking at Eleanor’s work and drawing a copy, and then moved on to starting our own. The project was a lot of fun to do and went really well, with all students enjoying it."

Holly added: "We were looking at other pieces of her work and what types of material she used and trying to incorporate her style into our artwork.

"We used watercolour, and I used foam for the windows, and paper from a magazine for the sun."

Ruby said: "Mine is of the Melrose playground. I chose it because I like nature and it was sunny.

"I used watercolour, and I watercoloured some paper and stuck it down and I used some magazines."

Miss Atkinson used similar materials to the students, suggesting her mentoring had paid off.

Describing her collage she said: "It was mostly acrylic paint and watercolour and then I would just layer it up on to watercolour paper and cut it out. It varies on what project (I am working on), my older work I used magazines but this piece is mostly acrylic and watercolour."

The exhibition of Remove art work and Miss Atkinson's work will be on display at the school starting on 30 January.

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