Art

Monday June 1

On the left is a painting by Hilma af Klint an artist who lived during a time when woman's creative exppression was often disreguarded and disrespected. Hilma's did not feel able to share her keep her 1,200 wonderful, enormous, colorful paintings and so they were not seen during her lifetime. In the left is a recreation of Hilma made by Shea and Shine.

Wednesday May 13

Monday May 11

Today is Salvador Dali's Birthday.

"Have no fear of perfection - you'll never reach it."

Salvador Dali

Friday May 8

Tuesday May 5

Artists get ideas about what to work on from the things that the see, feel and remember. Vincent Van Gogh's paintings of sunflowers tell us something about the way that he saw, how he though and what was interesting to him.

What can you learn about Van Gogh just by looking at his painting of a vase of cut sunflowers?

Does the painting tell you anything about how sunflowers grow? Anything about their shape, texture and size?

Does this painting tell you anything about how these flowers would feel or how they would smell?

Does it help to to remember a time when you looked closely at a sunflower, held it by its prickly stalk? Do you remember how a sunflower smells?

Monday May 4

In honor of the birthday of Eugenie Clark (please see the Culture page), you can take a look photographs, a print and watercolor painting below. Be sure to look closely to see which is an images taken with a camera, which was made by scratching lines and dots into a sheet of metal and which was made with pigment and a brush. Do you know what all of these things are? If not, how can you find out? Could you describe the shapes, colors and textures captured in these images to someone else? Artists and scientists learn a great deal by observing the things that they are interested very closely. What interests you? Can you use photography, drawing, painting or printmaking to learn more about something that you love?

Friday May 1

If you seen that it is sunny, look around and find an interesting shadow. You can draw draw an outline around the shadowed shapes that you see with chalk, or bring a piece of paper and pencil and make a drawing.

Thursday April 30

I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way - things I had no words for.

-Georgia O'Keeffe

Wednesday April 29

Rainy Day Drawing Exercise:

Step One: Find a smooth hard surface that is about 12" square. This can be a tabletop, or an area of the floor that you have marked off into a 12"x12" square. You could use tape to make a square, or lay yarn in a square shape, or just hold that square space in your imagination.

Step Two: Gather these things from around your house and put each of them near to your square space:

1. An object that is made of metal and very small

2. An object that is red and about the size of your hand

3. An object that is brown and very soft

4. An object from your kitchen that you use everyday

5. An object that green and about the size of your foot

Step Three: Place these five objects within your square space in a way that looks good to you. Be sure to try out a few arrangements, and then choose which you like the best.

Step Four : Once you have everything placed, get out some tools for drawing and/or painting. You will want to have at least five pieces of paper ready, sharpened pencils, and if you want to use markers or paint, it would be helpful to have colors that match the objects handy.

Step Five: Spend time looking at the objects that you have gathered. If someone else is nearby, ask if you can tell them something about the relationships between these things and why you choose them. Now, really focus on what you see and start to draw the gathered objects. Draw whatever you find to be interesting about these objects, one at a time, two by two, or all together. When you are done working on one drawing, turn the paper over and draw another on the back. You can change your point of view, moving to another side, or get closer or farther away. Be sure to make at least five drawings, taking your time with each one.

Tuesday April 28

I could tell you the name of this oil painting, completed by German artist Caspar David Friedrich in 1818.

However, it would be far more interesting if you gave it a name yourself, and even took some time to tell a story based on what you see. You might get an idea for a short story would have this image as a part of the action. This image could be the beginning of a story, could show a transition or middle of a story, or may be the last moment of a story.

Monday April 27

As we continue to gather ideas, images, questions, and virtual tools on this site, I hope that the adults and children of NNM will be able to generate much of the content ourselves. We will also gather useful resources from the wider world that can help to inspire and sustain our work and grant us one way to feel connected to each other.

Take a look at the link to the chart posted below. It may remind you of pages in books that you have seen before, but feels VERY different. When I saw it I knew right away that I would remember it for some time and that I would think about it often over the next few days.

What makes the experience of seeing this chart so different than from the seeing of this information in a book? Has the artist's work helped us to understand or at least to want to understand? What other art have you seen, made or thought about making that can have a similar effect?

Chart: Butterflies of North America

Friday April 24

Self Portrait

This drawing was made by Albrecht Durer in 1484. How old do you think that he was when he drew it? We know that it is one of probably hundreds that Durer made in his life. What was he looking at as he made this drawing? Was he working from a photograph? We are not seeing his face directly or in profile: was he looking into a mirror as he worked? What was a mirror like in 1484?

Making drawings of yourself can be a really good practice for many reasons, especially if you get in the habit of making a self portrait each day as you would write in a journal. Maybe you can start today, in whatever style you choose, as detailed, loose, real, or unreal as you like. Maybe you will choose to make a drawing of yourself everyday for the next seven days and then take a look at your drawings all together. You can keep making drawings of yourself and of your family, and encourage them to do the same.

Thursday April 23

The weather today reminded me of this painting created by Gustave Caillebotte in 1877. It hangs in one of the interior galleries on a second floor of the older part of the Chicago Art Institute. I have a strong memory of the first time that I saw it, hanging near the middle of the room, lit by a sky light that seemed to reflect off of the umbrellas within the painting.

Spend some time with this picture of the painting. Remember (if you have the memory of) standing in front of the actual canvas. Standing at a distance, probably moving from side to side, trying to see around other people. Remember what it was like to get close to its surface.

Do you remember, or can you imagine the look of the brush strokes?

Can you imagine walking into this gigantic painting and moving around in this place among these people?

What would the air feel like, the ground?

If you were standing on this street and closed your eyes, what would you hear?

What would you be wearing? What would you look like? How might you feel?

Wednesday April 22

Choose three of the following drawing prompts, or repeat the same prompt three times:

Draw a complex maze and invite someone to follow it

Make a drawing of something that you can see

Make a drawing of something that you cannot see

Draw an animal that lives with you in your house and write a short story of how they came to live with you

Make a drawing of a favorite animal and write a short list of things that you know about this animal

Make a drawing of yourself eating your favorite food

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