Harriet Tubman in Art

I came across a very pleasant surprise today, in preparation for our art lesson.

We have been using Meet the Masters, and this week's artist is Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000).  Lawrence chooses some very interesting subjects reflecting his life.  His parents were from southern America and moved north during WWI to New York.  It was here that Lawrence was born.

His work in general uses many bold colours to reflect mood, and often with a method of overlapping.  He also uses his art as a way to communicate his life as a black American.  He was commissioned make a poster for the Munich Olympic Games (1972), and was one of many artists invited to capture his impression of President Carter's Inauguration in 1977.  However, how he chose to capture the event wasn't what was expected.  He'd rather capture the cheering crowd on the outskirts and sitting amongst tree branches.  President Carter wasn't literally represented at all! (To see his piece of art, The Swearing In, go here.)

I was delighted to find Lawrence had created a very interesting piece of art showing Harriet Tubman leading the people in the Underground Railroad.

Harriet is shown with her large hand leading the people, 

whilst pointing to the North Star with the other hand.

His technique of layering is quite obvious here, giving the piece a sense of depth.  The project we're supposed to be working on at the end of the lesson is a citiscape using the layering technique with tissue paper.  I may put the option to the children to do a similar piece of art as a landscape, or even attempt to imitate this piece.  I'll share the results when we're done!!

More Harriet Tubman artwork can be found by Lawrence and other artists.  Here is a small selection if you'd like to follow up:

• Lawrence: Daybreak - A Time to Rest (1967)
• Lawrence: The Life of Harriet Tubman No. 7
• Bryson: Harriet Tubman as Moses
• Johnson: Harriet Tubman in Patriotic Colors

and finally, a picture book telling the story of Harriet Tubman, illustrations by Jacob Lawrence. (It's available at Amazon and Book Depository, but I'll put the You Tube link here.)




Until next time!

Catherine

The summer we painted (2)

I don't have anything much to show by way of an update, because we've still got some final touches to do. However, the painting is now completed in the kitchen, except for a final coat on the wall tiles.

It took 3 coats of paint, with a brush, to get all the pine panelling done properly.  However, the effect is a much brighter kitchen now all the brown has gone.

For the first time ever, we decided to paint over the beige tiles.  It took 2 coats of primer, and so far we've only got 1 coat of the colour on.  It's just a pale blue, but gives the room a bit of a lift.  Hopefully once everything is back in it's place and the room is properly dressed, it'll all blend in together nicely.

Still to be done, replace these old taps/faucet.  We're having trouble sourcing some economical ones that are suitable for wall mounting.  Papa has found a kitchen recycling centre near his workplace, so is hoping to find something there tonight.

The good news is that the dining table is back where it belongs, and I'm working out of the kitchen again rather than camping out of the rumpus room.  We still have a few things to complete before saying this is completely done:
- kitchen taps/faucet
- drawer slides to suit the style drawers we have (central top mounted, not side rollers) .. may have to figure a way to hand make these from plywood.
- skirting boards to be added to dining room
- flooring needs updating .. Papa's thinking lino, but we haven't shopped for options yet.

This job has been huge, but we knew it would be.  It's still cheaper than getting a whole new kitchen built.

And finally, a new picture Mariposa drew which I've put up on the fridge to brighten us all up:

Thank you for dropping by!

Australian working song - Click go the Shears

Maestro has his violin exam this weekend; it's only days away now. The extra times spent practicing with the accompanist are very exciting, as the music just comes to life.

One of his pieces this year is the Australian working song "Click Go the Shears". Learning about how this song came about and what some of the lyrics mean has been part of the necessary preparation.

Years ago, I had a recording of this sung by the Play School group, and the singer used to pause before each verse to explain the slang. I wish I still had that recording, as it was excellent. (The album was called "There's a Bear in There" (1987).)

picture from here

Click Go the Shears

Out on the board the old shearer stands,

Grasping his shears in his long, bony hands,

Fixed is his gaze on a bare-bellied 'joe'

Glory if he gets her, won't he make the ringer go.

Chorus: Click go the shears, boys, click, click, click,

Wide is his blow and his hands move quick,

The ringer looks around and is beaten by a blow,

And curses the old snagger with the blue-bellied 'joe'

In the middle of the floor in his cane bottomed chair

Is the boss of the board, with eyes everywhere;

Notes well each fleece as it comes to the screen,

Paying strict attention if it's taken off clean.

The tarboy is there, awaiting in demand,

With his blackened tar pot, and his tarry hand;

Sees one old sheep with a cut upon its back,

Hears what he's waiting for, 'Tar here Jack!'

I found a page where the terms are explained here.

This has been a lovely way to tie in violin lessons, music/songs, poetry, Australian history and art (see painting) into an impromptu lesson.

Recent artwork: Real Life with water-colours

We've gotten back into using "Artistic Pursuits" for our artwork. I really like the informative narration at the beginning of each lesson and how we can discuss other artists' work before starting our own.

For our first lessons this year, we're looking at the Impressionists, and "Real Life" pictures in particular. We had a chance to try out some new water-colour paints I'd bought at Aldi, and some proper water-colour paper. Using the right paper made such a difference. Our first attempts were in sketch books, and the paper just got too wet.

Learning to use the right amount of water, the better size brushes, and light strokes took some practice.  I'm very pleased that we all had some fun doing these, though.  We all need to experiment with a bit more art in our homeschooling.

Here are our recent offerings of "Real Life" pictures using water-colours, as done over the last couple of weeks.

To summarise the past week's happenings:

Oh dear, it's been so busy here! It's been action stations every day since we got back into our regular routine.

I need to share some news, though. Last week my parents became grandparents again, twice over. My youngest brother and his wife had their firstborn son arrive on Tuesday, then two days later, my sister had her second child which was a girl. This little girl also arrived on Maestro's birthday, so we've had lots of celebrating, and long phonecalls interstate. These are the 15th and 16th grandchildren for my parents.

Let's see now, we've also had the dressmaking starting up again. I have another 5 little ballet dresses to make, just like those I made in July. So, imagine my learning room full of fabric, my sewing machines out, etc. ... yes it's a mess (and no, I'm not going to take a photo of it. I'll leave it to your imagination!)

Last Wednesday was also the first meet-up for our newly formed Homeschoolers Book Club with our library. The librarian was keen for me to faciliate the meeting, so we gathered in a nice big room, were served morning tea and a book each. It was very refreshing to meet other local homeschoolers who have a similar interest, none of whom I'd actually met before. The children were certainly very enthusiastic, so I'll enjoy watching the friendships develop in this little group of 16. We're starting with Matilda by Roald Dahl, and will meet the second Wednesday of each month, hopefully with lunch at the park if it's a nice day.

Maestro has been ploughing through his Core 5, trying to get two days worth of work done in one. He's actually doing really well, working the same routine for his Science.

Mariposa is very happy to keep at the steady pace we've established. Her corn and bean TOPS science project is coming along nicely.

I also set up my own little experiment alongside hers. My onions had begun to sprout, so rather than throw them out, I had read about an idea of putting the onions to sprout in little jars. You can then cut the greens off and use as spring onions.

Finally, I started watching the download from Tam's free online art course. The second week has already started, but I've still to complete the first project. So far all I've managed to do is draw a practice sketch. Today I finally managed to get myself to an art supply store and bought a small pack of watercolour pastels, so I'm hoping to work on the actual project, properly, soon. Mariposa is extra keen on learning too, and she's already having a few practices herself at drawing portrait faces. I'll post the final results when they're finished. I'm really looking forward to learning about watercolour pictures more!

This morning's priority: art in gumboots

Now, who wouldn't have a chuckle to themselves when they find their daughter already up, having made herself breakfast to eat out on the decking and then launched straight into artwork?

The sun is warmer today.  Even though we really appreciate the rain we've had, having some warmth in the morning and sunlight streaming into the house certainly lifts the mood.  Who can resist enjoying it,  beginning first thing in the morning?

And we have apricot blossoms! Yay!  Spring must definitely be very close.

Architecture in Melbourne

The last few times we've headed into the city, I've not taken my camera along for the ride.  This is always a disappointment as there is usually some image you wish you'd caught.  The children wanted to photograph the columns on buildings as they discovered them along the city streets (including just about everything else as well, lol!)  For some reason, these columns have become a fascination with Mariposa in particular.

Here we were, standing at our tram stop.  Our back is facing Flinders Street station, near Elizabeth Street, and this is what we saw when we looked up:

Ionic style columns with the ornamental 'femine' curls for its capital (top)

"Quick Mum, there's another building just down there!"  So there was, just a few doors down, but we didn't have enough platform to perch on, so this photo is taken from an angle.

More Ionic style columns

So far we've been successful in finding Ionic columns, then another squeal of excitment from Mariposa had a fellow tram passenger sitting opposite her raise his eyebrows in alarm.  Of course, curiosity was further aroused when we were taking photos of what looked like 'nothing'. (Yes, I did have to explain, then we got the 'ah!' nod.)

Doric style columns (blurry pic from tram window)
with the capital shaped like a saucer and square cover.
The 'man's style' ~ plain and strong-looking.

I'm glad the children get excited when they remember things they've learnt.  In my primary schooling years, I don't remember learning too much history.  Architecture was one of the most awful endurance tests in our high school art classes, with hours of slide shows unrelated to anything else we were studying.  Now I'M enjoying learning these fascinations with my children, properly, for the first time.  Albeit the history is quite brief on this occassion, but it opens up the world.

We've long since past reading about Greece's Golden age, but there are many points of interest that are still recalled from reading "A Child's History of the World" by Hillyer.  For example, there are occassions when Mariposa will start chanting "Cleisthenes. Cleisthenes. Go and kiss the knees!"  Hmmm - at least she remembers the name.

In the past we had gotten 1/2 way through the first book of Story of the World, but I had been too inconsistent.  Working through Sonlight's Core 1+2 has brought this book to our shelf and it's being enjoyed very much.

Maestro will be using Story of the World again as his spine for Core 6 next year, so nothing has been wasted.

Starting our nature journal drawings

I've been wanting to do this for a long time, but not really sure how to 'start'.  Also, I guess a lot of it was unnecessary nerves on my behalf as art and drawing has never been my strong point, so we're all diving in together for art sessions once a week.

Late last year I began reading a delightful book called Pocketful of Pinecones.  Karen tells of a very relaxed way of introducing her children to starting a nature journal, so I've taken her lead and started the same way.  We each have a clipboard, paper and pencils at the ready, then headed out to the garden to choose something to draw.  I gave no specifications at all, but did suggest that something with a simple pattern would be best.

Maestro chose a leaf from the rose geranium bush. 

Mariposa chose a single belladonna flower (as they grow in clusters).

Back at the table, we pulled out our pencils and began to draw the outlines.

Maestro started with a long straight line, with two other lines coming out from the sides.

Mariposa had some guidance from me with looking for a triangle, overlaid with another triangle.  Then drawing in the petals from each triangle point into the centre.

She got very discouraged (a bit of perfectionism) and I didn't want her to give up, so we then put that aside and she went out to choose something else.  She arrived back with a leaf from an umbrella tree.

Both of the children worked happily then, looking for the veins within the leaves and looking for more patterns.  I actually thought the geranium leaf was quite beautiful up close, and an amazingly organised pattern (as well as delicious scent).

Here are the children's results:

I finished off my belladonna too:

A surprising thing happened through this process.  Maestro, who doesn't usually draw, found this a lot of fun and didn't give up as I thought perhaps he may.  Mariposa, however, did get frustrated and in order to put the tears at bay, she had to change for something simpler.

I think we'll continue doing this sort of drawing for a while, using pencil, before venturing into other media.  I'll continue to post what we've done here on the blog.

Aboriginal inspired painting

We tried our hand at painting using some Aboriginal techniques.  We used acrylic paints, but tried to make up earthy tones for colours (except where Mariposa couldn't resist and splashed out the bright blues and greens).  Aboriginals used coloured clay and tree resin painted onto bark.

I showed the children an example by first painting a black silhouette, then filling in with coloured lines and finally filling in detail with dots and stripes using white.  We did the dots with either a cotton bud or end of a matchstick (depending on the size of the picture).

Maestro did this lovely landscape picture:

Mariposa did a koala and kookaburra in a gum tree:

and then created her colourful turtle:

Using a quilting technique for symmetry art

This was all my girlfriend's idea.  She'd subscribed to a quilting magazine and  used an idea to show her daughter's art teacher.  Then we all had fun creating these together.  It's a fun way of learning symmetry, some fraction concepts, positive and negative images .. and I'm all for the thought processes being engaged in creativity.

To start with, you need a white page for background, then a colour page, where colour is on both sides, preferably.

If the page is A4 (as mine is), then diagonally fold so you get a square and cut off the excess.   Then fold again to form quarters.

Open the page out.  In each triangle, freehand draw or rule 3 lines.  Yes, it needs to be 3, but it can be any shape you like.  Here I have done triangles.  You can do semicircles, 1/2 flowers, 1/2 hearts .. lots of ideas.

Cut out along each line.  The centre which is left is then pasted onto the background page diagonally.

Working on one of the cut-out areas at a time, take the largest piece and flip it over so it lines up on the corners to the area from which it was taken:

Now take the second piece and place that back inside the cut-out area, also lining up the corners.  Repeat with the smallest / final piece.

Continue with all sides and you'll get this lovely pattern:

Experiment and see what lovely patterns you can create:

If you do use this idea for quilting, you need to fix interfacing to the back of each shape and iron them into place.  Secure it all with crazy quilting.

Wordless Wednesday - whiteboard sketches