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Artist of the Week: Grandma Moses who's full name was Anna Mary Robertson
I think of American Folk Art when I look at her work. Grandma Moses was born in 1860 and lived during the time of the Civil War and 2 World Wars. Your probably wondering how she did that! She lived to the age of 101. She probably saw one of the first automobiles as well as the first airplanes since they were invented during her lifetime. You can tell by her paintings that she loved the countryside and did a lot of needlework. Many of the brushstrokes in her artworks resemble stitches that someone sewing would make. She did paintings with the titles of fairy tales like "Mary and Little Lamb" and "Little Boy Blue." She also did paintings that included a favorite seasonal theme like Christmas or Thanksgiving. Her landscapes probably show us much of what she saw from her farms in rural upstate New York. Through her paintings you can almost see the story she would tell you if she were still here. I have a favorite story about Grandma Moses that I read to my children out of a Highlights for Children magazine. It went something like this: Grandma was away from home when an art collector came to her home wanting to see her paintings. Remember she was already a Grandma and not famous yet. A female relative told Grandma that she told the gentleman that he could come back the next day and see Grandma's paintings! She also told him that Grandma had 10 paintings he could look at. Well, not wanting the man to think he had been lied to that night Grandma cut one of her paintings in half and framed both halves. This gave her the 10 paintings that he had been told she had rather than the 9 she actually had! After he saw Grandma's paintings she then went on to become the famous painter that we know today. Check out the sites below to learn more about Grandma Moses!
Site of the Week: Women Artists in History this great site has a timeline along with available sites to check out on Women Artists web pages!
Other Sites to Check Out: Grandma Moses - Reference Page
Moses, Grandma - Encarta Concise Encyclopedia
Creative Quotations from "Grandma" Moses
Grandma Moses: 2nd graders tell what they think of her art
"Our Stories About the Grandma Moses Picture" (another site by children:
Word of the Week: Blending: A soft, gradual transition from one color or tone to another.
Art Project: Holiday Fantasies
Supplies Needed: Today we are going to use "Sakura Oil Pastel Cray-Pas." Cray-Pas can usually be found in a box of 12 to 50 in your local art store or school supply store. This is just one brand you can ask for "oil pastels sets" in these stores also. They come in stick form and typically you can paint with the stick or use thinner and brushes. This is the most economical way for your children to have the opportunity to see how oils blend and look without actually buying oil paints and the supplies needed to go with oil painting.
Art Project: Holiday Fantasies! Grandma Moses would pick a theme like Thanksgiving or Christmas and paint a beautiful scene. Today we are going to pick one of her pictures to draw or make one up of our own and use our oil pastels. I think Easter would be a good theme. Easter lilies would be a wonderful flower to draw and blend the green of the stems and leaves with the white and yellowish/brown in the flower. A Christmas outdoor scene would be nice. Green fir trees with white tips for snow next to a covered bridge could be a beginning. Once you have decided what holiday scene you would like to do you need to draw the outline of your picture with your pencil. Put lines or spots of the cray-pas within the lines and using your finger blend (rub the area with your pointer finger in the direction you want the color to go) the areas to make soft gradual transitions between your colors. Once you start blending with your fingers you want to keep working with the cray-pas until they are all gone!
Optional Art Project: Multilayered Compositions Acrylic paint is wonderful for Multilayered Compositions if you have it. Today we are going to use our cray-pas and see what we can do. Let's take our paper and make a bright bold statement on it. Draw a pitcher to hold water and a cookie can on a table with a checkered table clothe. Now taking a blue or purple fill in the outer edges and streak the inside of your pitcher......within the white areas of the pitcher fill in with a darker pink or orange. Using your finger blend where the colors meet. So the same with the rest of your picture. Now go back and add additional color where you think it needs added or changed. Putting color on top of color. Typically multi-layering is just what it sounds like: adding layers upon layers as each one drys! Since our cray-pas do not have to dry we can layer and see what results we can get. If you have acrylics at home give it a try and see the difference!
Science Project: Currently at our house my 7 yr old Katie is reading "The Little House Books" by Laura Wilder. A site was shared with us to use in our "oldin days studies" that I thought you would enjoy! The Old Timer Page has a site your can click on to learn how to make "yeast cultures" for the old fashioned way of making bread. Give it a try and see how it goes! I'll bet Grandma Moses was a great bread maker.
History Project: Since Grandma Moses lived during the Civil War let's take a look at a few sites: The Civil War Tour grab a map and mark the places you can find! The Civil War Chronology is a great site to check out.
Writing Project: I thought that this week it would be fun to think about American Storytelling. This was probably a favorite pastime during Grandma Moses childhood. With no tv or other entertainment around the farm you had to make your own. I found a great site for us to use this week: Gifts of Story At this site you can read and act out stories just like Grandma might have done with your friends and family. Maybe you might even want to write one of your own after you finish the ones on this site!
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