Art teacher who loves to bring out the creativity in young ones
Shyamala Pinto Jayawardena (centre) with her students. Pix by M.A. Pushpa Kumara
Every inch of the Shyamala School of Art has been decked with art. On display from May 19 to June 30, the ‘Creative Mind’ exhibition presents the work of Shyamala Pinto Jayawardena’s students at her art school at No. 3 Siripa Road, Colombo 5 from 10.30 a.m. to 6.30 p.m. so that everyone can walk in and see the creativity on display.
Shyamala is a passionate art teacher who believes in the value of aesthetic education for children and as such is excited to be showcasing her students’ artwork. “Art makes you sensitive, it makes you able to see ahead, see through things and it brings young people together,” says Shyamala talking of the importance of art.
“Many young children give up art because either schools don’t teach art or their parents don’t value an aesthetic education because they aren’t aware that art is a profitable subject that leads to many career opportunities,” says Shyamala.
Pavani Kaluarachchi’s work (above) and Zain Riyaz’s painting ‘Freedom and Limitation’ (below)
Accredited to the British Council for London O/L IGCSE and A/L Cambridge and Edexcel Art, the Shyama School of Art focuses on Edexcel O’Levels and A’ Levels and also teaches the local O’L and A’L syllabuses.
Among the works on display, two thought provoking creations caught our eye.
Pavani Kaluarachchi has been a student of Shyamala since she was four years old and at the age of 16 her Edexcel O’Level examination piece displays much thought. As the topic was ‘a collection’, she started off studying cuckoo clocks. She then created a concept of how in the body, organs like clocks work on a specific time. Using an avocado skin as her inspiration, she drew a heart and inside it a brain; another heart was drawn but with clocks incorporated into it, fusing biological organs with clocks in her work to comment on how timing is an important factor in our survival.
Zain Riyaz on the topic of ‘Freedom and Limitation’ for the Edexcel A Level examination depicts in her painting a woman soldier crying out in anguish; suspended above her is a pair of boots. In the background soldiers at war can be seen as well as a different and happier version of the woman wreathed in mist.
In addition to the exhibition Shyamala will be holding workshops for any interested teachers who want to bring their students to see the exhibition. Taking art as a subject as well as the practical application of art outside of school are some of the aspects she will touch on.