QPHS magazine - Spring Term 2026 - Magazine - Page 22
3 SCHOOLS, 1 CREATIVE VISION
Bringing together young artists from across The Learning Trust
As part of the ongoing collaboration
across The Learning Trust, Queen's
Park High School was delighted to
host a Sixth Form Art Workshop on
25th June. The event brought
together A Level Art students and
staff from Christleton High School,
Chester International School and
Queen's Park High School to share
ideas and work creatively together.
We were especially pleased to
welcome back former student Dr
Anna Jane Houghton, who led the
workshop. Now an established
contemporary artist, Anna shared
insights into her own practice and
introduced students to a range of
artistic influences, including the
pioneering cyanotype studies of
Anna Atkins and the shadow-based
drawings of Ellsworth Kelly.
Using these ideas as inspiration,
students explored how plant forms
can be used to investigate line,
shape, scale and space. Through
collecting plant specimens, tracing
shadows and experimenting with
positive and negative space, they
developed a series of creative
drawings.
These experiments were then
transformed into cyanotypes, with
students creating striking lightbased images using UV-sensitive
paper. Working in mixed groups with
students from different schools, they
used their designs to create a series
of large-scale paintings on
impressive six-foot canvases.
