Aboriginal Inspired Art

This last week has been NAIDOC week here in Australia. NAIDOC week celebrates the culture, tradition and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.

We have had various visitors to the school to share local Aboriginal art and information with the children and we have endeavoured to do some artwork with the children that reflects elements of Aboriginal art.   There are lots of different stories and styles around Australia - my three year olds love bars and dots.

Today I thought I would share some of these projects with you.

Painting on Bark

I found these beautiful sheets of Paperbark on the road on a windy afternoon and thought it was a great opportunity for some bark painting.

Everyone in this area knows the story of the Rainbow Serpent (Wagyl) - the story of the local rivers and lakes.

Snake Geoboard

I painted a snake with patterns and designs that are similar to some Aboriginal art and turned it into a Geoboard. The children absolutely love making patterns and designs with the elastic bands and watching the picture change and evolve.

Outdoor Mosaic Mural

This was a whole school project that took a few stages to complete. I begun with making the little square and round tiles first. The young children printed their fingerprints on the round tiles ( like dot painting ) and the older children painted symbols that represented the school on the square tiles. Once fired, we glued them to the board and filled in the background with mosaic tiles.

Class Cross

We recently moved into our new classroom and I though it would be meaningful to make a class cross to hang on the wall. The children used earthy coloured paints to paint dots, patterns or designs on the cross. It is a lovely addition to our classroom.

See you next week!!

Niccola