Our Art Study.

10th of September 2014

Over the last few weeks we have been engaging in an art study. We have been looking closely at four key artists; Claude Monet (France), Pablo Picasso (Spain), Vincent van Gogh (The Netherlands) and our very own Dick Frizzell. We have been amazed at the enthusiasm that the children have shown for this study and are so impressed that many of the children now carry loads of new knowledge about these artists, their famous works, styles of artwork and countries of origin. Many of the children can also say the three primary colours in four different languages; French, Spanish, Dutch, and Maori.

We have also been blown away by the many rich contributions that our children and families have made to this study. Whether it be sharing a book, a piece of art or emailing through a photo of your child alongside a print that you have at home, we are so grateful for what you have all offered. When children have ownership over certain items it gives them a deep sense of connectedness to the study, and enhances their learning.

The art room at Big Lumsden has been a hive of excitement as the children have worked to create their own representations of famous artworks and explored many different art mediums. We also created some fancy hats for the up-coming Spring Carnival at the Hawkes Bay Races. Our Van Gogh ‘Sunflower’ inspired piece was featured in the local Hawkes Bay news papers. Millie’s Mum Amanda is an artist, and she kindly brought four of her artworks in to share with us all. Amanda shared with us a sculpture, landscape painting, portrait and photograph. She is very talented! The babies have had fun mixing primary colours and making some pretty cool purples, greens, oranges and pinks! In the art room at little Lumsden a lot of creativity with mixing colours also went on. The children made up powder paints using only the primary colours. They then mixed these together to see what colour it turned into. To conclude this study Gemma took a small group of Big Lumsden children to the Hastings Art Gallery to attend an exhibition which has been put together with children in mind. It is called ‘Who am I’ and it is fantastic!

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up!”

– Pablo Picasso