Working with a therapy dog to produce work to be used as part of a pupil’s GCSE Colour Portfolio Art GCSE.
This work was inspired by a pupil’s personal interest in animal therapy, artists Banksy and Jim Dine, with a focus on Hearts and Colour. The family’s Labrador is a school therapy dog at a local primary school on a regular basis.
This work forms part of a pupil’s GCSE project and was integrated into a Community Outreach Project.
The pupil sprayed and photographed the therapy Labrador and then went into school with the pupil and her mum, who is a qualified nurse. The children there made paw prints with the dog and then did ‘lick painting’ with cream cheese on the outside of a sandwich bag and paint on the inside.
Water based paints were used throughout this project to ensure no harm to the dog.
At the end of the project, mum fed back the following:-
“X did really well . It was a monumental effort for her to go today it was lovely to see.’
The pupils involved in the project fed back the following:-
‘Please can the dog stay like that?’
‘I really like the hearts’
‘The dog looks very pretty today’
‘She looks like a walking Banksy ‘
Mums observation of effect on X of an art project involving animals-
‘It has enabled her to talk about her art work to friends and family, it has improved her confidence and self esteem, and supports her to feel more relaxed and mindful.’
