Visual Arts

Communicating with the Specialist Team

We look forward to partnering with you in 2025, and welcome your input:

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

Save the Date! 

Can you believe we are already talking about end of year events? 

That's right, save the date for the USPS 2025 Art Showcase. 

A chance to see all the amazing, inspired pieces our students have been creating across the year in one place. Be on the look out for more information later in the term.

Foundation students started off Term Three by being introduced to the art of weaving. Using their special papers they made in Term Two, students developed their fine motor skills to thread their strips of paper over and under through a loom. This tricky project tests students resilience as they come up against challenges to thread their paper in the alternating pattern. Students made symmetrical flowers by cutting pieces out of a folded circle, and made design choices of colour and position to place their flowers to best compliment their work. When they were finished, they experimented with their left over strips of paper to create some three-dimensional roads. Learning simple techniques to make their paper stand up off the page. They were all very excited to take these experiments home and continue working on ideas. 

Last week we read 'Perfectly Percy' by Paul Schmid. This little porcupine loves balloons, but has a problem, they always pop on his spines. After drawing their own Percy, students used printing techniques to sponge clouds in the sky and stamp straight lines for spikes, before adding their own special balloon for Percy to play with. It was wonderful to see them continue to build their confidence with the tools that they use in the art room to work independently and experiment with ideas.

Year One and Two students started Term Three excitedly painting their clay hands, making colour choices to emphasise the heart design they created. 

Our next project moved us into the world of textiles, using a loom to weave our coloured wool over and under. The looms were pre-cut into llamas by a band of helpers, and set up for students to decorate with unique designs. The result is an array of personalities with cosy warm, colourful blankets. They did an amazing job with this project, building on the weaving skills learnt in foundation.

Year Three and Four students have been weaving to kick off Term Three. Building on their skills from previous years, these students were challenged to create a patch that would come off the loom, adding knot tying to the process when they changed colours. Each piece is unique, with students making colour and texture choices to create variety. When finished, they used felt to add features for an owl, creating all sorts of quirky characters.

Year Five and Six students made their finishing touches to their David Hockney inspired landscapes. They added trees, fences and other features that would help to add perspective to their work, focusing on the size of objects as they get further away.

Our next project has combined Science with Art. Students invented bioluminescent animals in science, understanding the way flora and fauna can glow in the dark. They are continuing to work in their group to create the creature and environment from a variety of materials. After brainstorming ideas using the mind map process, they use fluorescent clay to bring their creatures to life. Students are very excited to display these under our UV lights at the upcoming Art Showcase in Term Four.