Animal Groups....

Groups of animals are often known by a 'collective noun' - a pack of dogs, a murder of crows, a litter of kittens, a swarm of bees, a herd of reindeer.

According to the Australian Koala Foundation there is no collective noun for Koalas because they are quite solitary creatures that don't move around as a group. But we can do better than that!

My favourite is A Cuddle of Koalas... what do you think?

A 'Cuddle' of Koalas?

Our pictures this week are of animal groups, with a focus on repetition, tone and value, using 4B pencil and colour sticks. Our finished pictures include koalas, reindeer, elves (and even flowers!) We made up our own collective names if we didn't know the correct ones (because we are creative and we can), and I love them all!

Do the Haka

'Kapa haka is the term for Maori performing arts and literally means to form a line (kapa) and dance (haka). Kapa haka is an avenue for Maori people to express and showcase their heritage and cultural Polynesian identity through song and dance.

Battle haka were originally performed by warriors to proclaim their strength with much vigorous movement, foot stamping and facial expression.

Haka are also performed for many other reasons including welcoming distinguished guests, acknowledging great achievements, and special occasions such as weddings and funerals. Kapa haka performance groups are very common in schools.' (Wikipedia)

After watching a short video clip and looking at some traditional polynesian face tattooing and tiki masks, we created our version of the fantastical facial expressions that often accompanies the haka with a focus on line, symmetry and balance. 

Eli

Ritzy Rizzi Cityscapes

James Rizzi was a New York City pop artist. His zany, animated cartoon style, featuring animated buildings, rich detail and bright colours has a huge following. He became known for creating his art on any 3D surface he could find including an airplane, buildings and cars.

'The Happy Rizzi House', Braunschweig, Germany

We've created our Ritzy Rizzi inspired cityscapes with bright liquid watercolours. Enjoy!!

Zara

Hand Sculptures

We all 'talk' with our hands, some more than others!

This week we looked at messages we commonly send without words, using our hands to communicate by gesture. After looking at a number of widely recognised hand gestures (with a brief discussion about what might or might not be appropriate, and what accidents might sadly befall an inappropriate sculpture on it's journey to the kiln!) we created our clay hand sculptures.

Can you read our messages?

Ruby

Tetrahedron Sculptures-In-The-Round

We started this project with a discussion about sculpture-in-the-round, looking at the way it can be viewed from multiple viewpoints, and should therefore be interesting from every possible angle.

Marbled Moons

Some fabulously detailed drawings have emerged during this project, I am so impressed!!

Julianna

Thinking Outside The Box

A short activity to round out the last 15 minutes, and this fun little exercise in creative thinking fits the bill perfectly. I love doing these quick, challenging activities with the children - you can almost see their brains ticking over ....

Midnight Owls on a Marbled Moon

Did anyone see the recent 'blood moon' lunar eclipse?

A blood moon can only occur when the sun, Earth
and moon are perfectly aligned, with the Earth in the middle.

There is something quite beautiful about the red moon, isn't there?

We've created our 'blood moons' from paper we first marbled with shaving cream and watercolour.

Some of the children chose red, yellow and orange, to recreate the blood moon colours, while others went with turquoise, blue and purple for an eerily different 'blue moon' effect.

Shae

We finished with black marker line drawings using fine and ultra-fine permanent markers. With lots of detail, pattern and variation in line, they provide a beautiful counter-balance to the softly swirling colours of our moons.