5/6 ~ Scrapbooking

Our 5/6 students have been busy creating scrapbook pages about their year(s) at Marlborough Primary School. The Grade 6 pages were on display at the Valedictory evening last night and for both the Grade 5 and Grade 6 students, this is a wonderful keepsake to look back on.

Some students decided to use a pocket-style format for their pages this year, while others stayed with a traditional 12x12 page.  Again this year, we had a huge supply of scrapbooking resources for the students to use, including: washi tape, stickers, wooden embellishments, ribbons, rubber stamps, our cuttlebug machine (for embossing and die cutting), craft punches, pre-printed pocket page cards, decorative papers, alphas, journalling cards and plenty of double-sided tape!

In years to come, I am sure you will look back on these pages fondly and be grateful for having documented your time here at Marlborough. Best of luck to all our graduating Grade 6 students with all the wonderful opportunities that lay ahead of you. Maybe one day I will see your talents on display at an art gallery or exhibition around town!

Whole School Sustainable Artwork ~ Tyre Weaving

Last term, we found some old tyres in the sports room that were headed for the dumpster, so we salvaged them (of course!) and turned them into some works of art to brighten up our chook shed!

All grades contributed to these colourful tyres by weaving pieces of coloured ribbon straw into the loom we created. Although it took a long time, it was quite a calming activity and was really satisfying to turn our junk into art!

And they may just be the inspiration needed for our 'girls' to start laying some more eggs!!

Grade 5/6 ~ Sock Monsters

This term, the Grade 5/6 students have been studying a unit of work on Threads and Textiles. In particular, we have explored the wonderful world of Sock Monsters! We drew most of our inspiration from the handiwork of John Murphy and his book called 'Stupid Sock Creatures'.

Thank you to all the students and families for bringing in their odd, cast-off and unwanted socks so we were able to complete this project. Our sewing skills were certainly put to the test and all the students were very patient when it came to threading needles and de-tangling thread!!

We cut our socks according to how many ears/horns/legs we wanted our monster to have, formed a mouth with the heel of the sock (and sewed into place) and added buttons for eyes as well as felt and an assortment of other materials for other details (arms, tails, legs, moustaches, hair etc).  As you will see, each monster has his/her own unique characteristics and personality (and of course a name)!

I will continue to post photos of the Sock Monsters as the students finish them off, but in the meantime, here are some of the crazy little critters already completed.

Grade 5/6 ~ Even more Steampunk!!!

Here are some more amazing pieces created by our 5/6 students in the Steampunk genre. Jewellery pieces were very popular, but sculptures were also a big hit. I just loved seeing all their ideas come to fruition. Well done guys :)

Grade 5/6 ~ More Steampunk jewellery

Grade 5/6 ~ Steampunk

The 5/6 students have started tinkering away with all the metal goodies that have been kindly donated and they are transforming them, or 'upcycling' them into statement jewellery pieces and metal sculptures - (even some windchimes) in the style of Steampunk. I have also been visiting some local craft outlets to stock up on some metal charms, chain, clasps, jump rings and jewellery findings.

 

Click here to view some information about Steampunk and some inspiration ideas that I showed the students to get their creative minds flowing!

 

Here are a couple of photos of the students' designs so far...

 

 

Aren't they amazing! I think we may need to open an Etsy shop!! Stay tuned for some more photos of their awesome designs as we continue to work on them.

5/6 ~ Tree of Life

To link in with their studies of 'Gold', the 5/6 students have been learning about the artist Gustav Klimt, who often used gold leaf in his elaborate paintings. We studied some of his famous works and then looked in detail at his painting called 'The Tree of Life'.

We talked about Klimt's use of organic and geometric shapes and the fine details he added to his elegant artwork. Students were able to practise drawing their tree with pencil or could have a go at painting their tree straight onto their paper with gold and metallic paints.

They added details with oil pastels, metallic pens, and paints and outlined their tree with permanent marker or black paint. Plastic bottle caps and lids were used to stamp painted geometric circles. Well done Grade 5/6 - I love how creative and unique each of your artworks are!

Grade 5/6 ~ Code Red mixed media artworks

During Term 1, the Grade 5/6 students completed an integrated unit on 'Code Red', investigating a range of natural disasters and artists' impressions of these disasters. They explored the elements of line and shape to create their own mixed media artwork of a chosen natural disaster. Form, colour and texture were also explored when creating and modelling their artwork.

To begin, we shared the book called 'The Great Wave' and discussed Hokusai's famous wood block print (also linking in with the students' Asia Literacy topic of Japan).

We then discussed the many different types of natural disasters (tsunami, flood, bushfire, cyclone, avalanche, storm, volcanic eruption, hurricane etc) and we explored some artwork by a variety of artists, portraying natural disasters. In particular, we looked at some Indigenous artists and their interpretations of natural disasters ('Big Cyclone Story' by Mercy Fredericks and 'Bushfire Dreaming' by Ronnie Tjampitjinpa).

Students then chose a natural disaster to represent in a mixed media artwork and began sketching their ideas and experimenting with the variety of media available for this project (magiclay, sculpt-it, papier mache, modroc, paint).

Then it was time to build up their designs and give their artwork some form and texture. Magiclay proved to be a popular material, as did the modroc. The sculpt-it was quite heavy on the background card, but once dry, produced an interesting effect.

The final touches were added with paint and a sprinkling of other materials (tissue paper, cellophane, corrugated card, sand, foil etc).

As you can see, the finished artworks look so eye-catching and when you see them up close, you will notice the contrasting textures of the materials used in each one. Well done Grade 5/6 ~ you worked really hard on these!