Visual Arts

Communicating with the Specialist Team

We look forward to partnering with you in 2024, and welcome your input:

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

Foundation students started off term three with a look at the artworks of American artist, Alexander Calder. Students discussed different elements of art they could see in his abstract works, identifying colours and shapes they could use as inspiration for their own artwork. Using oil pastel, each student drew shapes they saw in Calders work that overlap and layer to fill their page. They then began painting each shape using only primary colours. Their challenge was to make sure the same colour doesn't touch the shape next to it and keeping the colours clean and bright.

This week Foundation students continued to develop their cutting skills, experimenting with paper collage techniques to create a letter monster. Each student cut out the first letter of their name, and then proceeded to give their letter monster a personality, adding eyes, teeth and all sorts of crazy details.

There has been a buzz of excitement in Year One and Two as students get messy with papier mache. After forming groups of two or three, students have spend the first two weeks covering their balloons with newspaper to create the shape of a hot air balloon. This week the year twos have started designing what they would like their balloon to look like, colouring their design sheet so they can take turns to paint parts of the balloons. The year ones are looking forward to starting this process in the coming weeks and are especially excited to draw a picture of themselves to fly in their hot air balloon baskets.

Year Three and Four students jumped into term four by experimenting with adding texture to clay. Students used leaves and texture plates to create imprints into medallions of clay and other tools to create patterns into handmade beads. Students have taken these pieces and threaded them into a mobile and painted them with liquid watercolour paints. These beautiful pieces are coming together nicely, everyone is very excited to take them home.

Year Five and Six students been using clay to create coil bowls inspired by pottery from different cultures. They spent some time examining pottery of the Native American Pueblo people and Chinese cultures, both having used coil techniques since as far back as 4000BC. Chinese pottery is not only known for its refined shapes but also for its rich and diverse patterns, such as cloud patterns, thunder patterns, and fretwork, which hold deep cultural meanings. Students used these as inspiration for their work, each student rolling coils from their clay and creating spirals and other shapes to create a unique design.