Glorious Holidays......

So, this isn't exactly an art post....but, I thought I would share some photographs (another big passion of mine), that I took at this year's Fairbridge Folk Festival. For anyone living in Western Australia, it's definitely worth checking out!! Fairbridge Festival Website

Nicky Bomba's Bustamento

John Butler

Clay Knee Masks - 'Freaky Faces'

After learning how to make these knee masks at a teachers workshop, I have finally had a chance to let a group of students have a go. Although we started off following the knee mask pattern, we ended up mainly working on a flat surface as it was easier to add details this way. Some students went with a more traditional face while others explored more of a Freak show/Circus theme. I love them all!

Amy Y - Year 7

Harry - Year 7

Alora - Year 7

Anna-Poppy - Year 6

Brandon - Year 6/7

Jodie - Year 7

Nel - Year 7

Pheung - Year 6/7

Taehwan - Year 6/7

Wild Things

I have always been a HUGE fan of Maurice Sendak and I have done several projects based on his amazing illustrations and stories. This 'Wild Things' project is inspired by his book, 'Where the Wild Things Are'....
The kids created their creatures by joining together parts of several other creatures (we also created a new name for their creature by using some of the letters of the different animal names.....with some hilarious results!). I think their creations are absolutely stunning!!

Aiden - Year 3/4

Celine - Year 3/4

Humphrey - Year 3/4

Leila - Year 3/4

Lilly.B - Year 3/4

Netta - Year 3/4

Mathew - Year 3/4

Shiyi - Year 3/4

Surreal Landscapes

This was a multi-focus project that looked at Perspective, Surrealism and the use of multiple mediums. We first looked at a number of Surrealist artworks and spoke about associated artists, such as Dali, Magritte and Ernst.
We then all started our image in the same way - first drawing a horizon line and then creating a road  or river using one point perspective.
From there the students were able to create the landscape of their dreams and imaginations!

Annabel - Year 4

Lily.A - Year 4

Jennifer - Year 4

Soham - Year 4

Bird in a Birdcage

I have had a bit of a bird obsession over the last year or so, and this is the latest in a series of bird inspired projects!

1. We used some pictures of different birds to help us do a pencil drawing.

2. We then outlined and shaded our bird using a black wax crayon.

3. We used an overhead projector to trace our birdcage over our bird.

4. We went over the pencil lines of our birdcage with our black wax crayon (although this photo doesn't show it!)

5, Finally we painted an ink background over our entire background except for the bird. I will be uploading some student examples in the next few days!

Seasonal Trees with Marbled Leaves

This is a great project to do in between bigger and messier ones! Apart from some marbling, it's pretty easy and the finished artworks look great!

Lesson 1 - Draw the outlines and veins of 10-12 leaves, marble them and leave them to dry. Draw and colour a tree that touches the top and bottom of your piece of paper. To add a bit of texture, we also ripped up and glued on some strips of brown paper. 
                                                     

 Lesson 2: Use the tree to divide your paper into two halves. Colour one half as Summer/Spring and the other as Autumn/Winter. Finally, and this may need a third lesson, cut out and glue on your marbled leaves and mount the artwork onto a black background.

Calder Inspired Wire Portraits

I have wanted to do this project since seeing Calder's work at the 'Picasso to Warhol' exhibition in 2012 at the Art Gallery of Western Australia.
I am working with a very talented group of Year 6's and 7's and I am loving the results!

My sample

 Hannah - Year 7

 Anshu - Year 7

Jodie - Year 7

Harry - Year 7

Amy Y - Year 7

Taehwan

Pheung