By Lydia Henry (Lower Sixth)

On Tuesday 21st May, A Level and IB art students from the Lower Sixth visited the Higgins Art Gallery and Museum in Bedford. It was a really exciting trip with a great range of pieces to take in by many different artists.

First, we viewed the exhibition On the Wings of a Wire Bird by Sophie Gresswell, which captures a celebration of heritage and the opportunity to connect with the past. I particularly liked her paintings which use bold and contrasting colour very effectively and it inspires me to use more of this technique in my own work.

We also looked at a second exhibition; Edward Bawden and Me, which includes works by local artists inspired by the painter, illustrator and graphic artist Edward Bawden, curated by Chris Brown. Many of these pieces varied in scale and media and included lino printing and stitch work. It was interesting to see how these can be applied to different imagery.

We looked carefully at the application of paint and the details in the pieces. It was a very beneficial trip to gain inspiration for our own A-Level projects and also to view both artists' use of media in person.