Patrick Cairns: (Head of Art, Boarding Tutor)
I joined the School in September 2000 from
a background of teaching both in this country and overseas in the International
sector, including the Middle East and Indonesia.
A passion for Art led to a foundation course followed by a degree at Liverpool
University. A gap year after the foundation course in fact developed into
a three-year spell! Involvement in Theatre and Music drew me into the music
industry under a number of guises from musician to sound and lighting engineer
to tour manager. Those three years were most enjoyable with theatre tours
to Poland in the early seventies, when Poland was just coming into the 20th
century after the fall of communism. Other tours included this country and
most of Europe with a variety of lesser-known bands, but also some major tours
with more recognisable names such as Queen. However, university beckoned
and subsequently the call to teach.
My specialism within the arts focuses on ceramics with a particular interest
in Raku. This is an ancient Japanese style of ceramics heavily steeped in
tradition. My work tends to be more three-dimensionally orientated; after
all we do live in a three dimensional world!
Over the years I have had to learn to diversify and teach across a range of
media and materials, which include Drawing and Painting, Printing, Graphics,
Textiles and Mixed Media Studies. I have more recently become involved with
Digital Photography and am exploring the ever-increasing capabilities of this
particular area of study.
Paul Taylor
Paul joined the teaching staff at Trinity School in November 2003 as a part time artist having led the Art Department at Teignmouth Community College for a number of years. His wide experience is much valued within the Art Department and in the short time that Paul has been with us, students have benefitted from his expertise and talent.