Art education produces captivating works

Arecent art education exhibition at the Shanghai Haipai Museum displayed more than 100 works by teachers and students in Minhang District.

The exhibits ranged from oil paintings, watercolors and Chinese ink-wash sketches to prints, pottery and paper-cutting.

Works of students were displayed alongside those of their teachers to emphasize the effects and importance of a learning process that encourages students to “think outside the box” and observe the world around them.

A Chinese painting “Brocade” by Lei Yujie from Zhuanqiao Middle School depicted a village scene surrounded by yellow rapeseed flowers. Lei blurred the images of the flowers to accentuate the center of the picture — an idea he got from school art lessons.

The paper-cut work “A Mouse’s Wedding,” made by art teacher Tan Lingling from Shanghai Qibao No. 2 Middle School illustrated a folk story using patches of modern materials, such as old newspapers and magazines.

Han Junli, a teacher from West Shanghai Experimental School, showed a cloth picture painting, an art genre from northwestern China that she saw on a field trip there. The painting features bright, audacious reds, yellows and greens in big blocks. It integrates textile printing, embroidery and patchwork to showcase legends, everyday life and nature’s creatures.

Han even developed a course for the art form, which inspired some of her students to pursue art studies and even become professional designers.