We were delighted to welcome Natural-Art Founder, Zac Newham in to school to produce a new wood mosaic for the wall of the playground. Zac guided one class at a time, so that every child in school had the opportunity to produce a piece of the mosaic, which depicts Ramsbury and the creature representing each of the four school ‘teams’ – Muntjac, Red Kite, Raven and Crayfish.
It was wonderful to see all of the children involved and working alongside Zac to produce our beautiful new wood mosaic. Every child had the chance to participate and see the results of their work in a wonderful piece of art that will remain in the playground for years to come.
Zac Newham is a New Forest-based artist who specialises in working with wood, in particular producing wood mosaics, with the aim of teaching and inspiring children about art and the natural world. Whilst working alongside the children at Ramsbury, Zac introduced the unique tree species from which the wood slices came and the individuality of materials used, encouraging the young Ramsbury artists to use the natural shapes and colour of the wood slices. Arthur in Class 6 commented ‘It was a super amazing art lesson while learning about the different types of trees”.
Zac also produced a beautiful wood mosaic depicted a raven (the school logo), which now adorns the front desk of the school for all to see as they come in through the main doors.
Quotes from Year 1, 3, 4 and 6 children, in response to the question ‘what have you enjoyed most about making the wood mosaic?’
- “I thought that it was fun and interesting” Daisy C, Class 6
- “It was fun to learn about trees and make collages” Annabelle W, Class 6
- “I thought it was very interesting seeing the difference between all the different trees!” Daisy D, Class 6
- “I liked that we got to sniff the wood as they all smelt different and really nice” Maisie, Class 4
- “We learnt that the King of Trees is an oak and the Queen of Trees is the beech!” Greyson, Class 4
- “I loved that fact that we made a landscape of Ramsbury” Arthur, Class 4
- “I enjoyed identifying what the pieces of wood were” James, Class 4
- “It was really fun. I loved the different shapes and the feeling of the pieces of wood” Hamish, Class 3
- “I liked how the different shapes fit together” Caspar, Class 3
- “It made a funny noise when I squished the wood on the glue” Imogen, Class 3
- “They all slotted together perfectly. I will always remember my piece of Oak with the star in the middle” Oliver, Class 3
- “I liked talking about trees” Toby, Class 1
- “I liked to design with the wood” Kyla, Class 1
- “I liked making a jigsaw out of the wood” Isabelle, Class 1.
