: Art

On Tuesday 14^th October, Cardiff-born artist Rosie Moriarty Simmonds showcased her talent in the galleries at National Museum Cardiff, painting a version of La Parisienne – or the Blue Lady – by French Impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

The event was part of a UK-wide roadshow organised by the Mouth and Foot Painting Artists (MFPA). MFPA artists paint with a brush held in their mouth or foot where an accident, disability or illness means they are unable to use their hands. They have are 33 artists working in the UK, and over 800 worldwide.

Rosie, an MFPA student artist who paints holding a brush in her mouth, spent the afternoon in the galleries painting a version of La Parisienne and chatting to staff and visitors. ‘I like chatting to children the most’ she said. ‘They ask the questions adults are afraid to ask’.

Her passion for art goes back to her school days, although juggling family and career commitments has prevented her from devoting much time to it until recently.

Last year she was persuaded to submit a portfolio to the MFPA, and was awarded a 3-year scholarship which gives her financial support to develop her skills, buy art materials and pay for tutoring – although she said she has also learnt a lot from You Tube! She is currently mid-way through her scholarship.

Rosie described the experience as ‘a definite highlight of my career’, and that as a local girl growing up in Cardiff, Amgueddfa Cymru's art collection had always been a source of inspiration.

Her painting will be sent to the MFPA, who will then decide what to do with it and whether it will go on tour with other works. We will keep you posted!

Last week we created a storm in the galleries at National Museum Cardiff with our Easter workshops. Families who took part got to make their own pop-up landscapes inspired by John Constable’s Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows 1831. This activity was part of the Aspire programme, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Art Fund.

Here are some of the mini masterpieces created.

We were impressed by the variety of skies! Some were stormy and brooding. Others filled with colour and light. Butterflies, bees, and a murder of crows all made an appearance – and, of course, some beautiful rainbows.

If Constable were alive today he surely would have approved! For him the sky was the most important part of a painting. It creates feelings, mood and emotions. I wonder what mood our families were in when they created theirs?

Whatever mood they were in at the time, they left the workshop feeling happy! Families were asked to complete the sentence ‘the workshop made me feel...’, and to hang it on our specially-created comments cloud. ‘Happy’ was the most popular response! Here are some others:

The workshop made me feel…

• Happy happy and I loved it a lot - Jack
• Interested because I like learning about Constable
• Hapus fel y gog achos rwy’n hoffi celf a chrefft
• Welcome ♥

Find out more:

Explore Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows 1831 with this interactive guide.

Download a free pack for teachers from our Learning Resources page.

Download our Landscape and Lights family trail

Aspire

Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows was purchased by Tate with assistance from the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund, The Manton Foundation, the Art Fund (with a contribution from the Wolfson Foundation) and Tate Members in partnership with Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales, Colchester and Ipswich Museum Service, National Galleries of Scotland, and Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum, 2013.

To secure the painting, a unique partnership initiative was formed between five public collections: Tate Britain, Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales, Colchester and Ipswich Museums, Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum and the National Galleries of Scotland. This initiative, named Aspire, is a five-year project supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Art Fund enabling the work to be viewed in partner venues across the UK. National Museum Cardiff is the first venue to display the work.