Children at a Teignmouth primary school spent a day creating stories with art thanks to a recent workshop funded by arts charity The Helen Foundation.

The Year 3 students at Teignmouth Primary School on Mill Lane were guided through a process of collaborative learning by artist Cara Roxanne, building on each other’s artistic ideas and creating narratives to go with their imaginative designs. The children were then invited to link these ideas together to form larger stories.

Building on their knowledge of colour theory, the seven- and eight-year-old youngsters used water colours to create washes with warmer or cooler hues. From this, they identified familiar objects, animals and humans hidden in their backgrounds and began to bring these to life both visually and with more stories to go with what they saw.

‘The enthusiasm and sheer joy displayed by the children during the day as they explored techniques and imagination was evident throughout,’ said a spokesperson from Teignmouth Primary School. ‘It was a pleasure for all involved.’

The workshop one of a series taking place in schools across Teignbridge, funded by The Helen Foundation and project managed by Devon-based arts charity Daisi.

The Helen Foundation was launched in 2006 in memory of Helen Kirk who died at the age of 24 after a car accident on Christmas Eve in 2005. The charity aims to support the aspirations of young people in Teignbridge. As part of this the charity subsidises art-based workshops led by professional artists in schools across Teignbridge. These are administered and organised on behalf of The Helen Foundation by Daisi, which works with the schools to ensure workshops are most suited to schools’ requirements.