Art News
Another year rapidly coming to a close... and it's been a great year for Art!
Year 1 have just finished decorating beautiful terracotta pots to provide a home for the plants they have been growing in their classrooms. Their herb drawings are meandering and quite advanced for young students, and the boys have learnt first-hand how an artwork can be both functional and decorative.
Year 2 are putting finishing touches on decorating the large Good Sammy's bin that will be located on the school premises for the community to access. While they have been rotating on working on the mural, back in the Art Studio they have been creating wonderful collages inspired by Lucy Cousin. They make me smile every time I look at them.
Years 3 are embellishing their African mask totems, which are so simple and yet so effective. Sometimes the less you do with an artwork, the more dramatic the end result! It is fantastic to be able to learn from other cultures, and to explore the use of different media and tools to simulate an artwork from a different culture.
Years 4 are experimenting with different mark making techniques and combinations of materials to create collages of a fascinating bird. They have looked at the style of artist Karlee Rawkins to guide the development of their collage. The freedom to play and explore, within the structure of an art activity, allows the boys a chance to learn from others whilst expressing their own ideas at the same time.
Years 5 have finally pulled together our package to send to Africa. The boys have written an introductory letter, prepared a video clip that communicates aspects of life at Scotch and in Australia to share with the students in Ghana. The clip includes school grounds, boys at work, boys at play, Australian flag raising, interviews, musical excerpts, reflection of the artwork process, and more. After being inspired through a Youtube clip by Aba House students, we are now reciprocating sending calico bags that the boys have printed with their own symbol and then decorated; filling the bags with laminated posters of their specific Australian animal, marbles and other card games, as well as a few resources. It will hopefully be a wonderful exchange and surprise for the students of Aba House when they receive the package in the post! It feels good to be able to give and share in an educational yet fun way.
Enjoy the break. There will be plenty of arts opportunities to engage with over the holidays with many arts bazaars, festivals, music concerts, and puppet plays to name a few, so keep your eye on the news and papers to find out. I would love to hear from the boys after the break about their experiences.
All Art Folders are coming home this week and need to be emptied and returned before the end of year, ready to use for 2014 (except for the Year 5 boys). All visual diaries can now be kept and used by boys as sketchbooks at home.
Karen Sabitay
PYP Visual Arts
