Illustrator Sonja Burniston and musician Pearl Love delivered a series of workshops at Truro Learning Academy in October, aiming to record and preserve some of the words and creatures the children had discovered over their week long investigation into the magical ‘The Lost Words’ book.

The poignant words and triumphant illustrations in this classic book sparked lots of interesting conversations and the children talked about the colours found in fields and treetops, names of meadow flowers, what might be discovered in hedgerows and who lives by the river.  Poetry, song and artwork then flowed from every classroom!

Working with visiting artists, the children then explored and worked with lots of different artistic processes, from fabric dying, weaving, tying, tearing and stretching to mark making, cutting and sticking felt, creating tinfoil fish, stencilling and tissue scrunching to create four incredible wall hangings based on the themes of Woodland, Rivers, Meadows and Hedgerows. 

These pieces are a celebration of the natural world as well as a celebration of the young artists that make up Truro Learning Academy.  Every child in the school had some input into creating the four large scale artworks which are now brightening up the school hall and will continue to do so for many years to come.