WHEN I think of computer presentation programme Microsoft PowerPoint, I cannot help but remember the garish slides crowded with too many words and tacky animation effects which I was guilty of producing while in school.

But all these impressions changed after meeting CHIJ Our Lady of the Nativity art teacher Nur Ilyana Mohamed Anwar who for the last three years has been teaching her students to use PowerPoint to create art pieces.

The girls created mini masterpieces with the tools like auto shapes and 3-D shading.

Coloured with the delightful array of hues provided by the programme’s colour palate, the pieces were feasts for the eyes.

Title: Hop Hop Hop
Artist: Jamie Chow, 11

Title: Oink
Artist: Alicia Chan, 12

Title: Pet Shop Dance
Artist: Marcella Chua, 11

Title: Three Delicious Looking Pies
Artist: Marcella Chua, 11

Title: Who Stole My Cheese?
Artist: Vera Sng, 12

Title: Under The Sea
Artist: Tan Yi Ting, 12

The reactions of the students while they were doing their art work was priceless.

They were smiling in delight as they clicked their mouses to change the colours of their pictures. Crowding around their classmates computers, they got into in-depth discussions of what colours would suit the teddy bear the best.

PowerPoint allows everyone to be an artist.

You do not need good sketching skills or need to have steady hands.

With a click of the mouse, you immediately can get a perfect circle which you can fill in without worrying about colouring beyond the lines.

And the best thing is that it is installed in most computers.

I think I will be trying my hand at creating some art work with PowerPoint soon.

Read Amelia's full story, Turning PowerPoint into an art.