Claude Monet and Andy Warhol

Here was today's art history lesson: Claude Monet -1840 to 1946 -Paris, France -Impressionist -Water Lilies

Andy Warhol -1928 to 1987 -American -Hypochondriac -Pop Art -Silk Screen -Soup Cans -"In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes."

I had Luke, Ben, Luke and Isabel look at this painting and collectively write a poem.  They each added a line.

They then colored their own lily pads and lilies and painted over with a watery blue paint.  They loved how the blue made the white crayon show.  This one is Isabel's...

Luke's...

Sylvia's...

I couldn't think of an art project to go along with Andy Warhol, but he is one of my favorite crazy artists so I have to add this pic!

Ashing

This first picture I had to take so that I will never forget how stylin' Isabel has to be when we go to the pool. That is her pool outfit. The sundress, shawl, glasses, kerchief, towel/backpack and snorkel. Sheesh. Wednesday we had our art history class. As you can see I am getting lazy with the hand out, but they are still learning a lot. They have learned about nine artists and can tell the difference between their styles.

Pablo Picasso -his full name: Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso -1881 to 1973 -Spain -abstract and cubism -Guernica inspired by Spanish Civil War

Afterward they worked on a picture mimicking Picasso's "blue period" by using blue (of course) and making it look sad. Luke's is a sad alien and Isabel's a sad girl. Today I took Luke to a desert insect class at the Springs Preserve. It was great, he asked a lot of questions and I learned more about insects than I ever wanted to know. Have you ever thought about how insects breathe? Pretty interesting. Luke got to watch as the zoologist let a grasshopper go.

Lately Sylvia will make up a word and then ask me what it means.  Today Sylvia asked me what "ashing" means.  I said I don't know.  She said, "Well, maybe it means you want to take a shower and your family bees mean to you."  Me: "oh."  (what do I say to that?)

Lemonade for Sale...I mean, Cicada Shells for Sale!

Yesterday we visited the Nature Exchange at the Springs Preserve.  Luke had a dragon fly that our cat had caught.  I encouraged Luke to write a report about dragonflies, to get extra points, but he didn't want to and I wasn't about to force him...especially while we are on "summer break."  He did get extra points for answering all of the questions she asked him about dragonflies, compound eyes, exoskeletons, etc.  Once again the Nature Exchange was a great experience.  She even suggested some insect classes for Luke that are coming up.  He will love it.  Luke traded in the dragonfly for a grasshopper "shell" (I guess they shed their skin/shells?)  and a cicada shell.  The cicada shells were only five points each so we asked her if they are very easy to find.  She said that they are all over the trees.  Sure enough, right when we walked out of the Nature Exchange, we found that not only do the cicadas make that lovely buzzing sound in the trees, but they also leave behind their shells all over the trees as well. Luke now wants to collect hundreds of cicada shells, set up a bench in our front yard and have a sign, "Cicada shells, $1 each!"  Uh, some kids sell lemonade, not my boy.  I really didn't know if I should encourage this idea or help lead him to a new idea with his cicada shells.  I couldn't think of anything else to suggest, so I told him that he could sell them if he is the one to figure it all out and do all of it.  Here he is looking for cicada shells.

Isabel didn't want to bring anything to the Nature Exchange so while we were there I looked at a book with her about desert flowers and tried to encourage her to press more flowers and then maybe she could arrange them on a piece of paper and we could laminate them.  I really think that is just the kind of pretty craft she would like.