It’s been a wonderfully busy start to the year in the Art Room! We’ve been exploring where our materials live, practising our routines and building shared expectations to help our space feel creative, calm and full of possibility.

Most importantly, we’ve been making ART!

We began our year with painting and drawing, diving into self-expression and discovering how to represent ourselves through our artworks. From bold colour choices to thoughtful details, it’s been such a joy to see each student’s unique personality shining through. What a fantastic creative adventure we’ve begun — and we’re only just getting started!

Foundation - Experimenting with Pastel and Paint

Students explored how oil pastel resists watery paint, watching colours appear and patterns magically reveal themselves. There were many delighted gasps as hidden lines suddenly came to life under the brush. Beyond the excitement, our young artists practised patience, following steps carefully and learning that artworks often take more than one lesson to complete.

We had a fabulous discussion; are we making rainbows or jellyfish? Either way, Foundation students enjoyed seeing a whole project through, from painting to construction. FM even got a chance to take their rainbows outside for a quick “fly” before the storm broke!

Most importantly, they discovered that there isn’t always a single “right” answer in art. A rainbow to one student became a floating jellyfish to another. I love seeing their confidence grow as they proudly explain their ideas and the stories behind their creations.

Grade 1 - BIG Shape abstract drawing

There’s something wonderfully exciting about drawing on giant paper when you’re a pint-sized Grade 1 artist! Armed with bold markers and brave ideas, students filled large sheets with confident, sweeping shapes.

We began by identifying all the shapes we know: circles, triangles, rectangles and more, before listening carefully to instructions about how many of each shape to include. The challenge was to draw them BIG, small, overlapping and even tumbling across the page. And wow! Even though everyone followed the same directions, every single artwork was completely individual. It was a brilliant visual reminder that in art, shared instructions can still lead to wonderfully unique results. The confidence and joy in these large-scale works was something special to see.

Grade 2 - Oil Pastel resist circles

Grade 2 artists revisited the magic of oil pastel resist, this time with a cosmic twist. Using circles as our starting point, students carefully traced, overlapped and layered their shapes to build dynamic compositions across the page.

After filling each section with vibrant oil pastel colour, we brushed a layer of watery black paint over the top and the real magic began. As the paint glided across the surface, bright colours burst through, transforming simple circles into glowing planets drifting through a faraway galaxy.

There was genuine awe in the room as students watched their work change before their eyes. Beyond the visual drama, this project strengthened their understanding of layering, contrast and careful colouring and proved once again that a little bit of art-room “magic” never gets old.

Grade 3 and 4 - Self Portrait Painting on Canvas

Our Grade 3 and 4 students have been tackling a very different kind of portrait. Painting it in reverse!

We began by learning how to mix realistic skin tones using only the primary colours and white. After carefully covering the entire canvas, students cut out a head-shaped stencil to mask the space where their detailed portrait will eventually appear.

Next came colour mixing again, this time creating a favourite secondary colour for the background. As they painted around the stencil, students were introduced to the idea of negative space - painting everything around the subject so the portrait is revealed later. This project has required patience, planning and a lot of thoughtful decision-making. Students are beginning to understand that artists often work in layers, and sometimes you don’t see the final image until the very end, which is adding plenty of anticipation in the art room!

Grade 5 and 6 - Designer Paper Engineered Shoe Construction

Our senior students have stepped into the role of designers, transforming a flat plan into a fully constructed paper shoe. Beginning with the template, students carefully personalised their designs, selecting a colour palette and illustrative style that reflected their personality and interests. From bold graphic patterns to intricate symbolic details, each shoe tells a story about its creator.

However, the real challenge came during construction. Turning a two-dimensional plan into a three-dimensional form required patience, problem-solving and persistence. Lacing the shoe to quite literally “pull it all together” demanded focus and fine motor control. There were moments of frustration, but also wonderful determination.

The finished works are a testament to resilience and creativity. These wearable sculptures highlight just how much our students have grown, not only in artistic skill, but in confidence and independence as young designers.

I look forward to sharing more Art Room photos and stories in the next newsletter!

Deanne Lawn

Visual Arts Teacher

Kitchen Garden

Term 1