Visual Arts at Aveley Primary School
My name is Shaaron Cullen. My current role is the Specialist Teacher of Visual Arts at Aveley Primary School. I have worked at Aveley since 2014, where I began as a classroom teacher, teaching Year 1/2, 3, 4 and 5 during that time. I have been teaching Visual Art since 2019. While I am qualified to teach art in the primary school setting, it has given me a personal opportunity to explore and indulge a personal love of The Arts.
I believe that I have a unique approach to building skills in Visual Art. My goal is to help each student to explore becoming the artist they are meant to be. I believe that right near the heart is a precious pocket or pouch that contains a person’s individual artist. Every time a student explores new art and can identify what they love in that art, they take a piece of that loved art piece and store it into their precious container. After we have explored one hundred different pieces of art and explored aspects of the art elements, every student will have a unique mix in their pouch that is now the foundation of the unique artist that they have become. Examples of this could be Albert Namatjira’s use of space on his canvas or van Gogh’s longer distinct brush strokes or Erin Hanson’s bold and vibrant palette. They will continue to build and grow this collection throughout their life ensuring they grow in skill, complexity and expression. My goal is to ensure that every student has a firm foundation to build a life rich in building and creating art.
The main ways that I work on this growth for all students is firstly, expose them to masters and lead discussions about what we are seeing. I want them to understand the people that have become artists and the impact they have had. Next, we explore the use of various media. I teach the students what they are using and how to use it properly. That includes coloured pencils, crayons, oil pastels, acrylic paint, water colour palettes, water colour pencils and tempera powder paint to name but a few. This exploration includes how to use the various tools too. For example, how to use paint brushes correctly and how to select size and composition to fit their art piece. Lastly, I focus on the fundamental art elements of line, shape, form, space, colour, value, and texture.
I am careful to give guidance/instruction that does not stifle their personal growth. It should allow for students to build very different art pieces while working to the same parameters as a class.
I hope this has given you a good view of what is going on in W17.
