Art

This term the Grade 3 and 4 students have started looking at Abstract art, specifically the extremely versatile Austrian artist Paul Klee (pronounced Klay). Klee was a very important artist in the early twentieth century, his abstract work was varied and could not easily be categorized, but was influenced by expressionism, surrealism, and cubism. 

His primitive drawing style and use of symbols and shapes in his art revealed his wit and childlike perspective. Klee also became increasingly interested in colour, in fact it was one of the central subjects taught at the Bauhaus, a German art and design school where Klee was a teacher. 

In this artwork the students first learned a technique called ‘colour leeching’. On a wet piece of paper, they cut crepe paper into rectangles and squares and placed it on the paper in a geometric pattern, similar to a checkerboard. The crepe paper was further wettened with a spray bottle of water and pushed onto the paper. This ensures that the colour from the crepe paper is leeched into the white paper, after drying the crepe paper is removed and leaves behind its colour. 

Onto these colourful backgrounds, the students printed black marks using a variety of materials such as cardboard, texta lids and bottle tops. Inspired by Klee’s use of black lines onto his checkerboard patterns, the students made lines and marks, some were representational and others abstract. Here are some of the artworks that the students have created: 

Also, at the fair on the weekend IPS proudly held an Art show that featured samples of all the work created this year from Foundation students to Grade 6. Myself, the art captains, Mr Kent and Mrs Wright all got to choose our favourites:

These students have won art materials so they can keep the creativity going at home, well done to Joanne, Ross, Olivia and Frankie.