Visual Arts

Communicating with the Specialist Team

We look forward to partnering with you in 2023, and welcome your input:

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

An Overview of our Learning

Welcome back to all of our amazing students and families and a big warm welcome to some new faces in the school along with the foundation students. I'm very excited to jump into a new year of creations, exploring ideas and understandings. 

We kicked off the year with a collaborative artwork celebrating our differences and ideas. Each student from year 1 to 6 designed and decorated a small bird to be placed on our tree. More than 200 unique birds are nesting in our tree, all with different personalities and details. I'm so proud of the positive start all our students have made to the year in the art room and around the school.  

Foundation students have started the year running with some amazing drawings and line work already. I love seeing the wide eyes of the students as they enter the art room for the first time. It brings so much excitement of all the possibilities for the year. We started by drawing our own homes. Trying to remember the small details. Everything from the front door to what your house was made from. There was a lot of artistic licence as students had fun adding things and colours they wish were included in their homes. 

We have started our first big project of a mixed media butterfly. This artwork kicks off an introduction to the elements of art which we refer to when observing and describing artworks and the world around us. Kicking off with the element of line, students practiced being line ninjas, acting out different types of line before drawing them on paper.  

This week we introduced 'think, pair, share' while exploring a variety of abstract artworks. This gave students an opportunity to share ideas with each other about what they see and imagine is happening in an artwork. Using the artworks of Melinda Harper as inspiration, year 1 and 2 students have begun to create their own abstract art, exploring shape and colour. 

Year 3 and 4 are starting the year with a focus on the element of line by practicing zentangle drawing techniques. This exploration helps them to slow down and make purposeful marks in their art making, experimenting with pattern and practicing precision. Students were very excited to chose an animal which they will then fill with different zentangles to create a dynamic design. 

Year 5 and 6 are begining the year with zentangles but combining their techniques with 3 dimensional sculpture. After briefly exploring the art of camouflage artist Liu Bolin, students have begun planning their own zentangle camouflage artwork. Students will design a background and incorporate a mask they must camouflage simply using a black marker. I'm excited to see the results as there are some fantastic designs coming through in their planning.