After studying the art of the Aboriginal artist Albert Namatjira, we have allowed his style and subject matter to inspire our work this term.

Albert was the first indigenous Australian to paint in watercolours in a realistic manner. He would go out of his back door, walk down the bush track, sit down and paint what he saw! He saw the gum trees and the amazing country of Western Aranda, near Alice Springs.

We did the same. We walked to Kaan’s Winya, sat on the oval and sketched the gum tree that is part of the installation.

Each artist interpreted the image in their own style, with each Area Level having a different focus.

• Foundation – worked with pastels with a watercolour resist.
• Grade1/2 – used watercolours, decorating the background with dots.
• Grade 3/4 – experimented with watercolour pencils, pastels and water.
• Grade5/6 – painted with watercolours, detailing the tree with intricate patterning.

These remarkable works will be on exhibition at our Art Show, Art4All (9 –11 September.) Look for them in The Children’s Gallery.