1/2 ~ Henri Rousseau

Henri Rousseau was the perfect artist to investigate while the Grade 1/2 students learned about jungle animals. Henri Rousseau was best known for his paintings of tropical jungles. Did you know that he never visited a jungle in his life and that art critics ridiculed him for his artworks, calling them 'child like'? We learned a lot about Rousseau when we shared the book 'The Fantastic Jungles of Henri Rousseau'.

Students were inspired by his artworks 'The Dream' and 'Surprised' when they created these collages of tigers, further developing their understanding of space (foreground and background) and overlapping shapes.

Chameleons were another animal we investigated in Art. Students particularly enjoyed reading Leo Lionni's book called 'A Colour of his Own'.

Students painted colour diffusing paper with food dye to make their chameleons and then glued them onto a collaged background.

5/6 ~ Gold

While learning about Gold this term, the students in Grade 5/6 investigated the artwork of Gustav Klimt. Here are their interpretations of Klimt's Tree of Life.

Students also experimented with jewellery making - manipulating wire, beads, watch parts, jewellery findings, jump rings, cabouchons, leather thong, chains and keys to sculpt Steampunk-inspired pieces.

3/4 ~ Music and Art

'Creative Composers' linked perfectly with Art this term for the Grade 3/4s. Students learned about Cubism and Picassso's Three Musicians painting.

 

They also investigated Picasso's painting called 'Violin and Grapes' and made their own cubist-style guitar collages.

To finish off our unit, students explored the work of Paul Klee and how music influenced a lot of his artwork. Here are their paintings, inspired by Klee's Castle and Sun artwork.

P-2 ~ The Art of Eric Carle

Eric Carle was the perfect artist/author/illustrator to explore while the Foundation students were learning about Minibeasts and the Grade 1/2s were learning about zoo/rainforest animals.

Our Grade 1/2 students also learned about the artist Franz Marc, who inspired Eric Carle's fabulous book called 'The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse'. Franz Marc painted animals in bright and unusual colours and his modern, expressionistic art was banned in his country. Eric Carle hopes this book shows his young readers that in art, there is no wrong colour.

So we made lots of bright painted papers (just like Eric Carle) and created our very own unusually colourful animals (just like Franz Marc). Aren't they amazing!!!

Foundation students spent time looking at the wonderful artwork of Eric Carle in his classic book 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'. They then experimented with balloon printing to make the circle shapes of their caterpillar's body. Their background was decorated with coloured crayons and a mixture of collaged images from the book.

They also enjoyed reading The Very Busy Spider as well as the Bad Tempered Ladybird. Students made painted papers to create their own spiders, with a white oil pastel web background. To create their ladybirds, students painted and cut a paper plate, added a split pin and some eyes and pipecleaner antennae. They look fantastic! Well done everyone. I hope Eric Carle and Franz Marc have inspired you with your art making.