Studying Vincent Van Gogh

Today we studied the life and works of Vincent Van Gogh (from this book) and finished up our Art Week, which began week after school ended (does anybody else feel summer may be busier than the school year?)  My kids wanted to know why he cut off his ear.  As an adult, reading about his life, I would venture to guess the guy was manic depressive.  Sad, sad life; however he was a brilliant artist, and I hope my kids got a sense of that as we tried to imitate his art form. 

With some inspiration from this book:

we tried to recreate this:

and this:

(sorry for the poor pictures!)

I used Crayola kids' washable paints and mixed them with about a tablespoon of flour, and thinned them with water until it was thicker than normal consistency, but not a paste.  We then applied the paint to black paper with popsicle sticks.  It allowed the kids to explore art differently, and I think they had fun with it, especially Irelynd, my hands-on, creative, art-loving child.  I had to get them out of the thinking of trying to spread it so it wasn't gloppy on the page.  I stressed how Vincent would sometimes use paint right out of the tube, without mixing his colors first.  He painted with a lot of emotion and vibrancy, and there is a lot of movement and life to his paintings.  I tried to encourage my kids to be free and enjoy the process, even if it wasn't "perfect."  I didn't get any pictures of the process, with the kids, but here is Savannah's attempt at Starry Night:

The hole occured during the drying process.

And here is mine of the same thing:

Painting with popsicle sticks is not easy!

And here is Irelynd's attempt at Sunflowers (ok, I pitched in to help her, since after everyone else was almost done, she was still sitting there staring at her paper!) 

I thought hers was the best though.  I found it interesting to observe her perception and astuteness while we were studying different artists.  She picked up on more things than I did, and had interesting observations to make about the various artists' works.  I think the kids had fun with this unit; I know we are all excited to start our "Around the World" unit this week.  We plan on studying India, France, China, Italy, Australia, and maybe one more.

Summer Fun: Art Week

During the summer this year I decided to do theme weeks instead of the ABC's of Summer, like last year.  I was inspired by this site, which got me all excited to spend the summer with my kids.  The first few days of summer vacation were rough, with the change in routine for all of us, and the extra activity around the house, with kids coming and going, especially during my quiet time.  But, thankfully, we've got some fun activities planned, with some educational material sneaked in.  Sshh!

The first week was Art Week, mostly because it co-incided with Springville's Art City Days Children's Art Festival.  We kicked off the week with shaving cream pictures. 

First step is to spread shaving cream over a large surface.  We used cookie sheets.  Then you drop some food coloring in sporadically.

Next steip is to mix it ever so gently with a popsicle stick.  Ok, some of us didn't get the concept and used our hands...

When you're satisfied with the mixing, gently place your white paper over the top and pat down.  Next, scrape off the shaving cream...

and only the color will remain, making a lovely marbled paper!

Activity #2 was water gun painting.  Ok, this one sounded cool, but totally didn't work.  Here are the instructions anyway.  Maybe someone else will have better luck with it. 

Make colored water in separate bowls.

Tape butcher paper to a large, outdoor surface, like a fence.  White is best, but we used what we had, hence the yellow.  Next, fill up your guns with the chosen color.  Doesn't this gang look dangerous?

Next, you squirt your picture onto the paper.  This is the part that didn't work.  After a short time, a water fight broke out instead.  Scott got in on the action with his extra big water gun.

Irelynd took cover under her towell...

...which didn't help her evade the drenching.

On Friday we took our field trip to the Art Festival.  It was a rainy, cold day, but the drizzle kept the crowds at bay.  We made kites, Father's day cards, glue paintings, string art, sun visors, etc.

The babies were excited about the "ba-boots".  With both babies fighting over Waverly's flower, they lasted about 23 minutes.

We also had our faces painted.

a dog...

peace signs...

and Brighton sits down and, when asked what he wanted on his face, goes "a cup."  Everyone said "a cup?'  Yep, a cup.  He changed his mind and went with a tractor instead.

Art week was supposed to be over on Friday, but we had more to do.  On Monday and Tuesday we studied the great artists: Picasso, Raphael, Seurat, Renoir and Monet.  We first studied their art form and life, then tried to duplicate their artistic style.  Scott thought it was cute to look out and see us reading under the tree, so he snuck a few shots.

For Monet and Renoir we used water colors and I told the kids to just look out the window and paint what they saw.  For Seurat, we did dot painting with the end of an eraser and washable paints.

The only one I got a picture of was cubism.  I had the kids cut facial features out of a magazine and piece them together to make a cubist face.  Savannah' probably came closest, with her eyes being uneven, like Picasso paints his faces.

Tomorrow we will end Art Week with a study of Van Gogh.  We're going to paint with thickened paint to simulate the texture his paintings all appear to have.  That will end this week, and next week we are going to do Around the World week, studying different countries with food, music, and activities.  We'll visit the Krishna Temple for India, and go to Spanish Fork's Iceland Day on Friday.

Teacher Appreciation Week

Savannah and I decorated her teacher's door for Teacher Appreciation week last month.

Baby shower for Kristen

My book club friend Kristen is having her first baby so we had a baby shower for her and her baby girl last Saturday.  I tried Martha's pom poms again and yeah! they finally worked.  Well, at least they didn't look like an oversized squashed flower this time.  {Personally, I think it's a conspiracy, and I think there's some details they don't tell so you're forced to buy their kits!}  Here's the overview.

Yummy Chinese salad and fruit plate by Jen.

Veggie tray and dip by Lisa

I found this cast-off boa in my girls' stuff; I liked the added glitz it provided to the decor.

Favor boxes by Lisa; I filled them with salt water taffy and chocolate-dipped pretzels.

And, of course, cupcakes by moi.  The filigrees didn't turn out to how they looked on Kara's Cupcakes, my favorite cupcake blog.

Strawberry lemonade cupcakes, courtesy again of Kara's Cupakes.  Love it!

After everyone went through the food line, someone said, "did you not make your marshmallow pops?"  Oops.  Glad she mentioned it.  So here they are anyways.

This is the mama-to-be.  Isn't she lovely?

I love the basketball belly!  Maybe because I never had one.  I was the basketball.

Thanks for allowing us the honor of throwing you a baby shower, Kristen!

Baby shower cupcakes

I made these cupcakes for a shower my sister-in-law and her mom were hosting.  They are raspberry-filled chocolate cupcakes with buttercream frosting, and cookies & cream with cream cheese frosting.

Finally some Summer fun!

We were starting to wonder if Spring was ever going to end and Summer arrive.  It's been so rainy and cold for so many days; it was nice to finally get some hot summer-like days!  I love that the kids think washing the car is fun.  We pulled the van onto the front lawn and filled up the kiddie pool for the younger ones and let them at it.  The girls decided the top of the car needed to be buffed by bum.

Oh my goodness, I love babies in swimsuits!  Is there anything more adorable?

Keaton