And now they are preparing an exhibition of their own work to be staged at the museum.
The group from years nine and 12 saw ‘Landscapes of the Mind: The Art of Tristram Hillier’, who was Somerset-based and died in 1983.
The Museum of Somerset and Contains Art in Watchet collaborated to deliver this Arts Council England-funded project as part of South West Heritage’s Museums in Schools funding.
By visiting, the students were able to gain insight into Hillier’s life, work and practice, whilst drawing comparisons with Jenny’s exhibition, Form and Fascination, also on show in the museum’s Hammett Room.
Jenny later led day-long workshops at the college for the students, guiding them in how to use her own watercolour technique, as well as supporting them in taking inspiration from Hillier’s surrealist ideas and themes.
“I was very impressed with how the students took inspiration from both the exhibitions and then produced such inventive and imaginative paintings in the unfamiliar (to them) medium of watercolour,” she said.
A Level participants will go further and produce a personalised response, guided by their teacher Lizzy Barnes and informed by their learning both from the trip, the watercolour workshop and knowledge of other surrealist artists of the time.
Ms Barnes said: “Using both Jenny’s watercolour techniques and Hillier’s surreal, colourful compositions, I am excited to see how their individual responses will develop from such rich starting points.
“This is a fantastic opportunity to enable the students to have their work seen publicly, reflecting an authentic understanding of artists’ practice.”
The students’ work will be exhibited at West Somerset College from Monday February 24 for two weeks before moving on to the Museum of Somerset’s Hammett Room where it will be until April 18.