Piano painting

1) Helping to finish painting a piano at Glenfall Primary School (1 Day)

We took the bus to the school and met the Art Director and another volunteer. The piano we were helping to finish had been started by the children who were told to paint themselves doing their everyday activities but in an Ancient Egyptian setting. There were also some ceramic tiles that they had made that needed attaching to it. At the start of the day, the piano only had a few paintings on it but over the course of the day we worked as a team to add to this with more paintings, tiles and decoration.

We spent the day painting extra characters and adding extra coats to the children's paintings using acrylic paints and gold leaf. I brought my own paintbrushes which proved useful. Painting onto an unusual surface was difficult as I was not used to that or the medium we were using. By the end of the day, the piano was covered in designs that were more vibrant and created a better overall effect.

Although I had a good time and worked hard, I felt that I did not gain much from this experience as I did not further any illustrative skills, except perhaps working to a specific style (Ancient Egyptian). I did gain experience of planning a route and method of getting to the school via bus, something which I was anxious about.