Farewell Tribute to Avie
Our wonderful caretaker and resident poet, Avie, is leaving Island Bay School at the end of the term. He has been part of our school for a long while now and he will be missed very much. Caitlin (one of our Deputy Head Teachers) asked if we could do some art based on Avie’s poems for a wall display as a way of saying good bye.
Sally’s Year 4/5/6 class were the eager group of artists that created poetry inspired artworks today. The students were allocated one of Avie’s poems prior to joining me in the art room. Each poem was one that Avie had written ispired by life at Island Bay School. The students came to the art room ready with a bunch of gret ideas for their artworks.
We spent a good chunk of the morning deciding on content, exploring composition and planning out the artworks. I introduced the students to the style of Fauvism and the works of Henri Matisse and André Derain. I thought that the wild colour palettes and bold, loose painting techniques of the Fauves would work well when interpreting poetry.
Before painting their artworks the students outline their images in black and blue pastel. If you look closely at Fauvist paintings they will often have dark lines emphasising shape, such as The Seine at Chatou by Maurice de Vlaminck.
The next step was for the students to get stuck in and explore painting techniques. I showed them how to blend paint on the page, how to under paint and then use a dry brush over top, and also how to use dabs like neo-impressionism (pointillism).
It was a huge day of learning! I am so proud of how well the students integrated all the different skills they learnt to create gorgeous artworks. Avie is very pleased with the art display and commented on how gret the artworks are. We will miss you Avie!
