Visual Arts

Communicating with the Specialist Team

We look forward to partnering with you in 2022, and welcome your input:

Danielle Haines (Visual Arts)  danielle.haines@education.vic.gov.au 

We've been busy super busy in the art room with most year levels jumping straight into some painting using both watercolour paints and acrylics. Painting is a great opportunity to explore materials they don't often get to use at home or in their classroom but it does get messy. If your child doesn't already have one, then they definitely need an art smock for these sorts of projects. While they assure me they are neat and won't get paint on their uniform, accidents happen and it is inevitable. Trust me, I have so many painty clothes no matter how hard I try! While I do have spares in the art room, I do try to keep borrowing to a minimum as it creates a lot of washing for me to take home each night. An old oversized shirt will do if you don't have an art smock handy or anything really, as long as it covers their clothes and they are willing to wear it. Make sure it's clearly labelled so they can find it easily in their class tub. 

Meanwhile I have set up a new display in the art room so the whole school can see what everyone is working on and think about which art elements they each tie into. It's been lovely to hear excited comments about the sorts of things they get to try in years to come and amusing cries of jealously from the older kids at the fun they would also like to try. 

An Overview of our Learning

Last week Foundation students began our first major project of a mixed media butterfly. Step one was to become a 'line ninja' and use our bodies to express different types of line. Using our new found skills we could then transfer this to paper, drawing zig zags, curly lines, castle shaped lines and much much more. Step 2 was to cut out a complex shape. Keeping our butterfly folded, students had to navigate their way around the tricky curves with great results. This early cutting challenge helps to develop fine motor skills and control, strengthening hands and fingers for tricky tasks to come.

This week we focus on colour and texture. It's all about experimenting with materials and finding out what they can do. Some essential questions we've been asking are: 

What will happen if we put drops of red and yellow food dye on one half of the butterfly and fold it together? 

What will happen if I rub a pastel over my paper when it's on top of a rough surface? 

How do I paint so that my colours stay bright?

The last two weeks have seen students apply their knowledge of watercolour paints and create their own coloured papers to begin their paper collage project. Dubbed 'How does your garden grow', students talked about the things we need in our garden to help the flowers grow. Sun, dirt, water, seeds and especially bugs were all essential for our gardens. This week students began cutting up their papers to make a variety of unique flowers and stems, suns, leaves and grass. Look out for photos in the next newsletter of our amazing gardens. 

Our colour mixing balloons are looking fabulous. I can't wait to put these bright and colourful artworks on display. Students have shown an excellent understanding of primary and secondary colours and how they create our colour wheel. This project also incorporated an element of presentation by requiring the students to prepare their work for display. This additional element helps students explore different ways to display artworks to enhance and compliment the work. 

Our Melanie Hava inspired paintings are starting to take shape with students completing their tonal backgrounds and painting a variety of textured papers for the collage elements. Students are even making a start on the dot pattern elements to complement their backgrounds. This can be a tedious task for some but when embraced it can become quite relaxing in it's repetitive nature.