Friday 15th May

The first group to attend today's workshop was the Junior infants. Their cups had been prepared with a painting of a white base layer so they could get straight into painting their designs onto their cups. We passed around numerous images and pattern types to give them some ideas. Once they got over the limitations of only using blue and white, they got stuck into the design process. They were using the cotton buds to apply the paint to their cups and it was very interesting to see how the different children approached this and used the buds in various ways. Some were intent on just covering the cup in the one colour, some use the buds to make a pattern and others make recognisable shapes on the surface. It was great to see them notice that when the inside of the cup was painted with a particular design that it changed the perception giving it a 3D effect in some cases. Once girl did a lovely design on the inside of her cup that when looked at from above, looked like a rose. Once all the cups were completed they then moved onto painting the bunting using numerous foam stamps, cotton buds and eventually fingers and hands! 

The next group attending workshops were the 3rd & 4th Class. They were also at the stage of painting their cups but their cups had only been prepared with a coat of gesso primer paint, Using this type of primer makes it easier for them to then only need to apply one layer of base coat before applying their design. The primer also makes it easier for the base layer to dry using a hair dryer for a few minutes. We passed around the different designs and patterns to give them some ideas and they had the option of using brushes as well as cotton buds. It was great to see how creative they could be with something as simple as a cotton bud and there were a lot of interesting designs by the end of the session. We explained that the cups will all need to be painted with PVA glue to protect them from the elements as they will be outdoors for the finished installation. 

The Final group to attend the workshop was the 5th & 6th Class. Their cups were dried and prepared with a layer of gesso primer the same as for the previous group. Once they had decided on which colour to use as a base layer, we then dried them using the hair dryer in order for them to then apply their chosen design. As with the last group they could use either brushes or cotton buds for the design. 

We also had some of the children helping to make colourful flag bunting using paint swatch cards and twine which will also be used as decoration around the installation. 

It was great to see all the painted cups from the day lined up and they created quite and impact with the limited use of colour and it will be exciting to see how they look when all 131 are in place!