Koru Art Beginnings in Ruma Kereru - Term 3 Week 3

Ruma Kereru children at Tirau Primary School are studying the work of Simon Richards and his students at Manurewa Intermediate in Auckland who developed designs based on the Koru motif.

We are working on recognizing New Zealand's heritage / Kiwiana cultural icons and having a go at using them in our art while developing new creative skills with oil pastels.

Success Criteria:

• I'm able to discuss where the 'Koru' shape is used in Maori Culture and in Kiwiana.

• I can recall that the 'Koru' is based on the pitau, the young shoot of a plant, especially the uncurling shoot of the fern.

• I have five or six large simplified 'Koru' shapes in my drawing.

• I've created a successful combination of contrasting colours.

• Blending techniques are used for transitions between colours e.g. smudging or brushing on turpentine.

• I go off at least three sides of the paper.

• I use small strokes when colouring in my drawing.

We started by looking at photos of plants that would help us work on drawing a 'Koru' shape.  Everyone practiced their 'Koru' shapes on A4 paper first, see the slideshow below for some of our work with stylized Koru shapes.

We also practised our blending of colours using smudging with our fingers at the point where two different colours meet. Below is a slideshow of some of our blending colours practice work.