It is my absolute pleasure to introduce Bob, the sock monkey. He was carefully stitched by a talented Grade 3 student, Erin and her Mum during our recent School Holidays. They used the How to Make a Sock Monkey video on YouTube as a guide and two old socks. Congratulations Erin. We are very proud of you, your mum and Bob. I hope he has lots of great monkey adventures with you and your family.

In Term 3 our Grade 6 students were given the freedom to create stuffed toys or cushions, make sculptures using balsa wood or  to decorate skateboards. Many threw themselves into the task and made up to four toys whilst others enjoyed experimenting with ideas and materials. We found great YouTube videos to help us and our two new sewing machines received lots of attention. Many students had never had the opportunity to use a machine let alone how to thread it from the start or wind a bobbin. I thoroughly enjoyed the project based nature of the work and see it as a great idea, especially for older elementary students.

Our Grade 6 students were given some ideas for Project based Art this Term. Three students completed their characters and cushions at home. Congratulations go to Sandy, Kristy and Yamandu for their great work. The monkey was made from two socks using the instructions from the YouTube video “How to make a Sock Monkey”. We chose the Quick Guide ( 4 minutes 51 seconds).

Our Grade 5 and 6 students have been using a variety of collected objects as the subjects for Still Life Drawing. Some antique objects such as brass bells, china, candlesticks etc. were drawn and shaded using 2B  and water colour pencils. We also looked at the great interactive program provided on the National Gallery of Art Kid’s site.

 

Visitors to our school, replacement teachers and parents of our students often comment about the calm atmosphere in our school. There is a quiet confidence about our students and there is very little trouble in our schoolyard. How can that have be achieved in a Western suburban school in Melbourne? My theory, as a teacher who was there on Day One when the school opened in 1989 with 169 students, is that our whole school community combines to help students be their best and we do it quietly. Teachers stay at our school providing stability and experience and families are loyal to Taylors Lakes Primary. We are now enrolling  a second generation of students. We have a rich cultural mix of students and teachers who get on well together. We provide students and families with caring principals and teachers, excellent resources, attractive surroundings, great specialist programs and camping, incursion and excursion programs which help enrich their lives. The puppet above, one of thousands made during my over 25 years in Visual Arts, reminds me that an individual’s character is built with many contributing factors. I am proud to have been a part of the rich tapestry of “characters” constructed at our school over the past 25 years.
Happy Birthday to our wonderful Taylors Lakes Primary School.

Mrs. Ryan brought this stunning piece of weaving back from her trip to South America.   It might have been from Peru or, perhaps, Chile. Maybe you could find out. This Term our Grade 3 and 4 students tried weaving on a cardboard loom. They used a variety of donated wool to make the warp and weft threads and were also inspired by this wonderfully YouTube video. Congratulations to our students for their great work and for being eager to try this activity at home.

 

 

Our Grade 5 and 6 students have been painting this Term. Using Student Acrylic paints they mixed a myriad of colours and using Georgia O’Keeffe’s premise that they liked to see where the paint took them, they set of to paint flowers and other objects.
Congratulations to all our fabulous artists in Grade 5 and 6.
Next stop – Andy Warhol.

 

Our Prep students  enjoyed making their paper plate clowns during Term 3 in 2013. Pictured are just a few of the happy clowns who left the Art Room, bouncing along on their concertina-folded legs. These students are beginning Grade 1 this week. It will be great to catch up with them in Art classes during 2014 and watch their physical and artistic growth.  We hope you have a great year in Art  in 2014 everyone.

 

 

 

Our Grade 6 students used the Zart Calico Bear Blanks to dye, decorate and dress their own bear in an original style. They used food dyes to colour them and sprinkled salt onto the fabric while wet to obtain interesting effects. Each bear was unique and  will be a lasting reminder of Primary School Art classes. I thank the Class of 2013 for their great creativity and hard work and wish them all the very best for the future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have just returned from three weeks of travel in the USA. My husband ran the New York Marathon which is a “marathon effort” for him, having run the 42 kilometres (or 26.2 miles) five times now.  After leaving New York we spent over a week in Washington DC visiting the Smithsonian Museums and the Library of Congress. We thoroughly enjoyed spending time viewing the priceless art collections. I particularly liked standing in front of the portraits in the  National Portrait Gallery and wondering about the lives the people led so long ago. The photo of the three bears sculpture is a special gift for our Prep students. Which picture is your favourite?