the   OUREES   marionettes                          

       an eLLis production                           .

                   

production creator                                      joHN eLLis

                                                                       

 Aiming to achieve brilliance in visual story telling and art creation.

 Vision: The creation of a marionette performing art group based in Ballarat Secondary College using unique story telling methods through workshops and production groups, The Ourees are the starting point for this exciting tradition, and creating opportunities for young people to become more involved within our local arts community. With 30 years of teaching art, artist John Ellis intends to develop a production team engaging in creative, joyful, eventful hands on creative arts and art making experiences. Puppet making and performance creation over a 20 day series of workshops  

EACH DAY RECORDED PHOTOGRAPHICALLY ON THE PROGRAMS OWN WEB SITE.( within Privacy Legistration constraints)

 

 

 

Snap shot:

For students who:  • may be spending too much time on computers  • creative in their thinking • enjoy the art making processes • big on the telling of stories • to explore  • to form new peer groups  • to create and think visually. Creative learning in a studio like  environment. Opening the doors of studio art practice: School skill ages from years 7 to 12 .  

Below, some previous student works done by John Ellis over his creative arts career.

A monster is built  for a film project bigger than a car. Year 7 students Rainbow Secondary College.

Circling around art.

Inspiration can come from the most unexpected places and so it was when Ellis visited a second-hand market. There he stumbled upon an old framed print of a picture by Melbourne artist Leonard French. The picture became the inspiration for the above work by 180 students in Brentwood Secondary College Melbourne. In essence they developed a series of emblematic mandalas.

 

The Artist

A brief outline of current arts practice.

Artists and Art Consultant/ teacher John Ellis, the Founder and a Managing Partner of The Muse studios, Curious Traveller and Willsmore cottage retreat Ballarat, brings the avant-garde and designer urban style to the world of education and world group travel. A long-time advocate for young and emerging artists and the creative process, Ellis for the past four years has been expanding boundaries through connecting people to burgeoning cultural destinations and events throughout the globe. Prior to founding the Curious Travel Group™, Ellis served as art teacher and art coordinator for cultural productions from 1983-2004 Vic. Ed. Dept., where he implemented and managed new and innovative arts programs

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Recent works:Venice / Rome

 

 He holds a Bachelor of Education, arts and crafts Melbourne Uni majored in Sculpture and Asian studies. Internationally he has worked in Paris as University arts travel guild and has exhibited his work widely. Most recently he did an Art piece of oxide based works with the students of Ballarat Secondary College. Additional coursework in art history and connoisseurship as educational officer at Ballarat Fine art gallery under Ron Radford and Waverley Art Gallery under Fiona Christie. Ellis was part of the save the Waverley gallery group. Recently researched and studied Marionettes in Prague. In the distant past he was art director for pop videos, Countdown 84.  He has even been known to be a non singing performer for Australian Opera!

 

Ellis continues to stay on the leading edge of the art world every year by attending annual offerings here and overseas with his travel arts tourist business and as he says it is all about finding the magic in place.

 

The Project

         The need or demand for the project.

The project is aimed at revitalizing the creative arts in the Wendouree campus. There exists a need for the art area to be given a new focus so as to generate and stimulate curriculum and resource changes.

         What you are proposing to create?

The creation of a marionette performing art group, developing unique story telling methods through workshops and production groups, The Ourees are the starting point for this exciting tradition, and creating opportunities for young people to become more involved within our local arts community

          The artistic concept of the work.

With 30 years of teaching art, artist John Ellis and the development of a production team are out to create joyful, eventful hands-on creative arts and art making experiences. The puppet making and performance creation will be achieved over a 20 day series of workshops.

           

                                             

 

He has worked as a casual replacement teacher on a daily basis for two years in all subject levels and we wish to expand this role as a force that can change and develop the arts curriculum. He is well received by the students and as he says, "Raw talent can sometimes create something really original." He represented Brentwood Secondary College in 2002 at an International conference on gifted and talented children where the key discussion focused on difficult students,often the most misunderstood group of bright children. He has maintained the focus in his art and teaching ever since.

Artist's role in the school.

By creating a studio space a parallel curriculum can naturally emerge. The sharing of ideas will make the learning more engaging. We want students to experience the self driven nature of the studio and how to research and develop a product in that context.

Artist's role in the development and production of any collaborative work.

Because of his film and theatre work  in the past he sees the group activities of the marionette theatre as being essential in developing a final key production work. In his final year at Brentwood Secondary College his key work of story, set and lighting for a ROCK  EISTEDFOD was highly praised and interestingly were partially replicated in the opening of the Commonwealth Games! He has written three school productions and his students work with Apple MAC technology resulted in his being asked by the company to teach various filmic methods at conferences.

 Student Learning

 Year levels 7 to to 10 are the target student group that will be involved. Key group will number 20 students

The project will be integrated into the school's curriculum planning by the open shop and studio approach to the work. The work will be seen as a natural extentsion of the students participation in the arts curriculum, covering key Victorian Essential Learning Standards.

  • Construction
  • Painting
  • Resource management
  • Story creation
  • Presentation

All students involved in the tasks will be expected to present their work at student driven presentation days, at the end of June and again at the end of term 3.

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Teacher Learning·        

All teachers (4) in the Arts will be engaged in the processes of marionette creation using their existing skills in clay modeling, wax moulds, paper mache, 2D perspective works.  The marionettes will be based on drawings by Fellini created as storyboards for his films, the backgrounds based on Carravaggio images of Venice and all marionettes will have moving facial features and use geared, stringed controls.  The key learning experiences for the teachers will be understanding production values using Apple MAC technololgy and web creation as a means of documentation. At least 3 key workshops will be held and recorded.

 Time has already been given to the music department for production presentations and John has already been asked to contribute. A special workshop for the Dean, the principal class and all members of the school council will be conducted in the Muse studio, John's own privately run art work space. see http://www.willsmore.com.au/

 The principal has requested this application and it has the full support of the school council. 

 

 John at 13                        John today

 Some things are a life time passion

                   and "OUREE" mean Away