Bruton School for Girls Art Exhibition

Brian Wyatt, is Head of Art at Bruton School for Girls and this year, assisted by Jess Latrobe Bateman and with the full backing of the Head, Mrs Nicola Botterill, he has laid on an exhibition at the school to show just what those doing Art GCSE and A level have been doing.

Using the same hall and similar lighting and layout as the annual Bruton Art Society exhibition, this is a large exhibition well worth visiting Bruton to see and it runs until 5th October.

The work on show demonstrates both outstanding achievement and unusual commitment to the visual arts including drawing, painting, photography, textiles and mixed media. Also on display are examples of the work of former pupils who have gone on to work professionally as artists and two studies - in pencil - by Brian himself.

Bruton School for Girls is a small, independent school for girls which attracts pupils from overseas as well as Britain and has built a reputation for friendliness and academic excellence. At the same time, as this exhibition shows, it provides an opportunity for what is clearly an exceptional education in art.

Work produced by teenagers will always be exploratory. They are discovering themselves. This should make their work in the Art department a place where they can reflect and experiment with subjects, compositions, styles and media. We found this very much in evidence in the impressive workbooks that are also on show and which are submitted as part of their examination courses.

Anna Saunders with her painting and Megan Hatt with the evening dress she made and designed.

What struck me, though, was the evident encouragement Brian has given to students to learn how to draw with care and precision – starting with the use of the humble pencil. This is also often combined with the use of photography and the selection of images from a variety of sources, though as he told me, as many as possible of these should be the result of personal and direct observation.

The result on display is many works showing an exceptionally high standard of competence in composition, line, the handling of tone, texture and contrast as well as imaginative choices of subject.

I am sure the girls who have passed through this process will leave school with an enthusiasm for art and a set of skills to build on which they will never lose.

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