Monica Ros School

Red Room News - January 22, 2007

Arts Month has allowed us the opportunity to look at objects with new focus. As we consider flowers in a vase we focus on the lines and color before painting a still-life with watercolor. We study various types of Greek vases as we look at their shape and function then draw our own representation on paper before transferring our ideas to our gourd vases. We revisit the customs of the Ancient Greeks as we consider the gods and goddesses. We consider the stories of Midas, Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, and Pegasus and discuss whether they are fact or fantasy before creating wax paper Greek gods and goddesses in our own image. Arts Month provides a wonderful opportunity to express our creativity in so many forms, this month is a favorite each year. This week we will continue work on our gourd vases as we add dye and stain. Please send your child to school in “paint clothes” all week. Tuesday and Wednesday we will be using permanent dyes and stain. Thursday and Friday we will be painting Jackson Pollack style. We will do our best to wear gloves as well!

Arts Month culminates with a spectacular Art Show. Each student is represented with various works of art and it provides for a great backdrop as we celebrate Founder’s Day on January 31^st. Mrs. Ros would be delighted to see the work that continues on in her name. Watch your mailbox for a special Founder’s Day invitation to see your child’s work, to hear each class perform at a brief ceremony honoring Mrs. Ros and a chance to visit the Kindergarten as well.

Tonight is the final workshop in this series of Love and Logic presentations. If you haven’t attended to date it’s not too late to take home some important concepts and tips. Please try attending tonight, you will not be sorry. Meyer Hall 5:30 – 7:30, call the office for childcare 646-8184.

Tomorrow we celebrate Zoe’s 5^th birthday, Happy Birthday Zoe.

The History behind Greek Vases
The Greeks made vases in many different shapes and sizes. Some were made of metal, but most of the ones that have survived were made of clay. A lot of the shapes are considered particularly beautiful, but it is the decoration of these clay vases that is most admired. The Greeks usually decorated their vases by covering them with a very thin layer of a special type of clay mixture. Sometimes, they would paint people, animals and patterns with this mixture, leaving the rest of the pot blank. When the pot was fired, the mixture turned black, but the rest of the pot turned red/orange; this is called black-figure. Sometimes, they left the space for the people, animals and patterns blank and painted all around them, so that the figures would stay red/orange and the background turn black; this is called red-figure. The artists also sometimes added white or purple paint as well.

Many scenes on the vases depict events from Greek myth. We can learn a lot about how the Greeks saw their gods and heroes from these vases. Other Greek vases show scenes from daily life. These are also an important source of information for us today about how the Greeks lived.

Fondly, Nancy_Klimbal and Kathy_Smith

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 24th, 2007 at 11:31 am and is in the Red Room (Preschool).