Great Oaks from Little Acorns Grow

'As streams from little fountains flow, Great oaks from little acorns grow'

The next image in the series of 'Journeys' mosaics has got underway. In these three weeks every child in the Infant School (around 360!) and a number of teachers will have made a personal, small clay contribution to the Oak Tree, in the form of clay oak leaves and acorns and the odd butterfly.  The children have almost without exception have grasped the concept of being artistically represented in this way and even the notion that the school can be thought of as a tree! Surprising for some, but the analogy of school being a place for learning and growing has been a useful one. The children have very much enjoyed their involvement and it's been a real joy working with them in this way! 

The mountains of leaves and acorns now waiting to be fired and glazed is only a little daunting but are going to look fantastic within the finished piece, I'm certain!

Thank you to the staff involved in the ferrying around of small children, especially TA Sam Barnes!

Time passes but the seasons always return

The making of this first piece has been a journey in itself with only the final stems to 'ground' the piece, to complete the picture. Conversely, the image has grown from the top downwards the opposite direction to nature. 
From a personal development perspective we experience growth in a far more random pattern - the growing of consciousness and learning comes when our 'teacher', which may be a person or simply a given experience, triggers our inspiration.


It is perhaps by looking back to where we started, that provides a different perspective of any journey, when we see the true colour of things past and feel our feet on the ground for the next part.

T. S. Eliot
	Little Gidding V
	"We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time. Through the unknown, remembered gate When the last of earth left to discover Is that which was the beginning; "

Personal Honey Bee

The honey bee is set to the dandelion and as many surrounding flowers and trees as will be flowing with nectar. She is working so hard for the good of the colony, she will fly around 500 miles in her lifetime she will produce less than half a teaspoon of honey. As the mosaic progresses her flight and destination will be able to be followed, her determination and commitment relatively unrecognised.

Week 3: 'Energy never disappears it only ever changes form'

The above title was the most exciting thing any physics teacher ever told me; once heard this has resounded in my life, every so often resurging - as energy itself. The breeze, swirling gently around the Dandelion clocks, not only gathers up and sweeps the seed away to it's new destination but brings fresh air - a wind of change, of the 'next season', the future on it's way.
This blog is a journey on the theme of Journeys. Each step of the way, each cutting and placing of a row of tiny tiles constitutes for me, stepping stones of personal journeys; not only to the completion of each large panel but symbolically in the 125 years of the Gladstone Rd infants, their school and personal development, which includes my own.

Dandelion and Bee progress: The worker honey bee with her (bee line) flight trail behind her and her head stuck firmly into the pollen of the Dandelion has (partly because I am a bee keeper) taken on a more personal significance.

5 celebratory Mosaics on the theme of 'Journeys' - Number 1 'A Dandelion Releases it's Seed on the Wind'

‘I aim to evoke our experience of boundaries, borders, intersections and connection points, where times change and sections separate. These are vital in order to evaluate beginnings and endings, the microcosm and macrocosm of nature and experience.

The natural environment is my strongest influence with evidence of past human habitation and personal development. In a harmonious celebration, my work brings the past and present together with unique results.’

gabriellenaptali.com

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I was really interested in the project firstly because of the positivity of the school reaching the grand age of 125 years and still continually evolving and rolling with the times;  teaching, encouraging and supporting so many children with such creative and inspiring teachers and staff and secondly but because I went to Gladstone Rd Primary School and my younger sister Clare went to the Infant School way back in 1972 when we first arrived in Scarborough. The school has changed so much in those years (we had outside toilets!). I remember my first artistic display on the corridor wall being such an honour. So here I am again, 30 odd years later, able to contribute something special and bring my own creative improvements, adding another dimension to the childrens' school life, that I hope will continue to inspire the children and other viewers for many years to come. 


Gabrielle Naptali