When teaching Pointillism within the canon of Art History, it's common practice to focus on this painting: When I taught Post-Impressionism to college students, indeed, the Seurat painting above was discussed in depth -- as was color theory and the science behind it. But for my active preschoolers, who value doing more than looking, Pointillism… Continue reading Pointillism with Preschoolers: Fall Trees
Category: Empowering Art
Using art to empower (yourself, your environment)
Impressionism for Kids: Finger-painting with Monet
Last week, my Fine Art for Kids preschool class learned about Impressionism, looking at images by Monet and studying his Bridge over a Pond of Water Lilies. We talked about what an “impression” is, and how we all perceive the world differently. We discussed the Impressionists' tendency to paint in groups, depicting the same subject… Continue reading Impressionism for Kids: Finger-painting with Monet
Resist Painting inspired by Peter Reynolds’ “The Dot”
My first lesson for the Preschool Fine Art enrichment course was a success! The class introduces young artists to art historical movements, techniques and concepts, while demonstrating art's expressive capacity. The students and I had so much fun creating together, and I wanted to share their work and process here. For our first session, I… Continue reading Resist Painting inspired by Peter Reynolds’ “The Dot”
Art is Important — And Our Children Need It
Making and viewing art enhances one’s ability to excel -- socially, professionally and academically. So why is it that today, in the United States, the extinction of art in schools is spreading like wild fire? It seems to be treated like the flowery and trivial cousin of math and science, despite the fact that there… Continue reading Art is Important — And Our Children Need It
Words, Pictures, You (*Empowering Art Series)
We’re all familiar with the saying, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Today, in an age predicated on technology and social media, this may be more true than ever. We are witness to thousands of images everyday -- many of which are advertisements, some of which are pictures posted by “friends” on a variety… Continue reading Words, Pictures, You (*Empowering Art Series)
Seeing Sound (*Empowering Art Series)
Have you ever smelled something that instantly brought you back to a particular memory? Do you associate a day of the week with a color, or a feel? If so, you’re at least loosely familiar with synesthesia -- a term derived from the Greek words “together” and “sensation” (syn and aisthesis). Psychologists understand synesthesia as… Continue reading Seeing Sound (*Empowering Art Series)
Connected
A confrontation with something unexpected can make you pause, look up, and examine yourself and your world. Outdoor, monumental sculptures often provide such an encounter. Maman, a 30-foot sculpture of a spider by the late French artist Louis Bourgeoius, can not be ignored. And it is impossible for a viewer to just look at… Continue reading Connected
A Tale of Two Selves (Enriching your Life through Art)
Engaging with art inevitably sheds light on who we are -- what we’re feeling, what we’re attracted to, what enlivens us. The act of looking deeply at art generates such reflection, and the act of making it engenders a more primal type of self-observation, as the artwork itself produces a tangible, visible documentation. When young… Continue reading A Tale of Two Selves (Enriching your Life through Art)
Learning to Look
It may be impossible to find a work of art that is globally regarded as beautiful. Aesthetic beauty is as hard to define -- and certainly as subjective -- as physical beauty. Museum-goers generally spend less than 30 seconds looking at a work of art before moving onto a new image. Surely it takes more… Continue reading Learning to Look
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