Blog #3: Interpreting a Work of Art

The word of the week is composition!
On Tuesday, January 25^th when we attended the Art Gallery of Ontario the art that I chose to interpret was an oil painting. The piece was called Interesting Story by Laura Muntz Lyall.

What is going on in the art work?

Immediately, I really liked this artwork. The artwork made me feel comfortable, warm and safe. This picture reminded me of when my sister and I were young. My sister has always loved to read and I always enjoy listening to stories. In this picture the older girl is reading and the younger girl is looking and listening to the story intently. This reminded me of how my older sister would read me stories and I would listen and love spending time with her. The girls in the artwork look comfortable, warm and they were thoroughly enjoying the book and the time spent together.

When I look at the artwork I recognize two symbols. The first symbol is love. I see love demonstrated through this artwork because it looks like it is two sisters together. They are spending time together because they love each other’s company. The older sister is showing her love for the younger sister by reading to her before bedtime. The younger sister is demonstrating her love by listening and sitting close to her older sister. The other symbol that I feel the artwork portrays is peacefulness. When looking at the artwork it looks as though the sisters feel safe beside each other. They look as though they are happy at home in a quiet, warm and loving home. Love and peace definitely are main themes in our day to day lives. Love is a word that is commonly used everyday. Love can be demonstrated verbally, through body language and thought. People can love one another, love their job or love sports. Art is not the only way to show love, I feel that the way I act on a daily basis as happy, friendly and kind demonstrates how I love enjoying life. Peace is a large theme in the world because where there is hope there will be peace. Each day people hope there will be no war, no murders, no car accidents and that the world will be safe. Peace is portrayed in this house because it looks like the girls feel safe in their home, that they are comfortable and they are involved in the book they are reading. Many people try to ensure their home is a peaceful place to live. My family creates a safe, loving and peaceful environment to live in.

What do you see that makes you say that?

This painting was made with oil on canvas. I have always found paintings to be fascinating. The main reason that I have been interested in paintings is because my Nanny is a very talented artist. I love looking at her paintings that are in her house and my house. Paintings have always interested me and I find them beautiful. She does watercolour and oil paintings. I do know a little about oil painting because I like comparing the differences between her watercolour pictures and oil pictures. I find that when I look at oil paintings, they are beautiful; I love the detail. I find the original oil pictures have more texture and have a rougher look to them. Paintings are very fascinating because everyone could have a different interpretation about the picture. People may see different symbols and different meanings toward the artwork that is personal to them. I believe that the attraction to the observer is often the different colours and textures that can be used in oil paintings.  

The picture, Interesting Story really made my senses open up. When looking at the picture I could really see the different colours that were used. Once you look closely at the picture you can see that there are many lines of one colour. I find the effect of lines and clumps of one colour actually causes the picture to look less realistic. When I first saw the picture I thought it looked realistic but once I examined it more I feel it looks less realistic. The detail of the picture is well done; the girls faces, the detail on the pillows and the buildings outside the window. This detail made my senses react more. If I was able to touch the oil painting it would feel rough, thick and hard. If there was a smell to the artwork I would smell the inside of the house. I think the picture would smell like burning firewood and freshly baked cookies. To me the home has a country style which makes me think of a fireplace and a mother making cookies for her children before bedtime. I also imagine that the house where the two girls are reading is quiet. The picture has a darker tinge which allows me to feel that it is evening. This artwork demonstrated the use of composition because "line, shape, color, texture, and form blend together as a unified whole" (Schirrmacher & Fox, 2009, p. 142). The focal point of the picture is the two girls reading a book together. Attention is drawn toward the focal point, which allows the admirer of the painting to remember this piece and want to view the piece again because of its peaceful and inspiring message that is displayed (Schirrmacher & Fox, 2009, p. 142). Design and composition was successfully displayed in this artwork since it has "a sense of overall order, coherence, equilibrium, and organization" because of the use of colour, detail and the ability for people to relate to the scene in the artwork (Schirrmacher & Fox, 2009, p. 142).  

When thinking of how the artist thought to draw two girls on a couch reading a book together I believe she had a connection from her personal experience. I feel that maybe she had two girls and she was drawing them or it could be her and her sister together when they were younger. I think this picture had meaning to the artist and that is how she came up with the idea for the painting. The artist wanted the girls to look focused on the book they were reading. She had them close together on the couch which reflected her childhood or feelings of comfort that she experienced at some point of her life. This artwork is crafted by hand and is very detailed. This very time consuming piece of work must have taken hours and months to create this beautiful painting.

What more can we find?

The painting, Interesting Story was created by Laura Muntz Lyall, she was born in Radford, England in 1860. She died in Toronto, Ontario in 1930. Interesting Story is an oil on canvas painting created in 1898. At this time, in 1898 women were responsible for the home and taking care of their children. The children did not have many toys so reading a book was a special time. Siblings would share time together reading. The older daughter probably was responsible for caring for the younger child while their mother finished her chores and household tasks in the early evening. Even in current time society is encouraging families and children to spend time reading together. Although today electronics have replaced books, it is still felt that reading is an important part of leisure time and family life.

When looking at all the artwork that was at the AGO, in the same room as the painting, Interesting Story. I feel the major theme of all the artwork was children, home and nature. All the art that was in this room was oil on canvas and was created by Canadian artists. I thoroughly enjoyed looking at all the different artwork because my favourite artwork is nature, children, family and home scenes.

My initial reaction to this painting has not changed. When I first saw the painting I really like the painting. Even after taking a closer look at the details and reading into the meaning of the picture I still feel the same about the painting.

When I discussed the artwork with my other classmates, they had similar feelings when looking at the painting. They agreed with my interpretation that it was probably a picture of two sisters together reading a book. They also felt comfort and warmth when looking at the picture. Many of my friends chose other art from the same room. This shows that we were all getting similar feelings from the collection of artwork. This artwork has a personal meaning to me because I loved having my sister read stories to me. Since my sister and I are older now and are both attending university this causes me to remember many memories of our childhood together.

Teaching Component 
I think that professional artwork should be used as a tool for teaching children. Whether teachers bring artwork into the classroom or go on a field trip to the AGO, interpreting a piece of artwork can be fascinating. Children can learn, be creative and explore new surroundings that they have never had the chance to discover. Artwork can be observed in different ways by each individual. Children can be inspired when seeing professional art and recognize how art can be displayed in a variety of different areas. Art also helps the child develop and will benefit them in the future with knowledge on history, techniques and famous pieces of artwork.   



Schirrmacher, R., & Fox, J.E. (2009). Art and creative development for young children (6th Ed.). Belmont,           
          CA: Delmar.

Blog #2: Instant Sculpture, Stanley Sculpture

The word of the week is shape!

When the assignment was described to use anything around your house to build something I sat down at first and was thinking what I could do. I have always loved being in the kitchen since I was very little. I would do anything from helping my dad make pancakes to helping my mom cook a meal. I then thought, I love being creative in the kitchen so I am going to begin forming a sculpture there. I began looking around the kitchen and saw the top of the pineapple. I thought immediately that would be hilarious hair! That’s when the idea struck me to create a creature and a new friend. The next thing I began to think about was the body of the creature. I thought a potato would work well but it didn’t look right. My mom had an extra sponge and she was about to throw it in the garbage and I realized that the sponge would be a perfect body. I thought it would be easy to use tooth picks to hold everything in place if I used the sponge. With all of the materials I chose, I used many toothpicks to keep everything secure. I began looking in the fridge and used broccoli as legs and cauliflower as arms. Then I found pieces of green pepper and thought that would be a cute smiling face. There were strawberries in the fridge so I wanted to use strawberries as a body part. I cut the end of the strawberry so that it would be a point, for the nose. I really began to get on a role and kept thinking of ideas. Now I had the hair, arms, legs, mouth and nose. I then went to the cupboard and looked to see if I could find material for the eyes and eye brows. I used marshmallows for the eyes and melted chocolate chips to make pupils for the eyes. Then, for the eyebrows, I heated macaroni noodles to make them soft so the toothpicks would go through. This is the combination of different materials that I used to create my unique creature. Finally, after describing all about my creature and his features I would like to introduce you to the one and only.......Stanley Sculpture!!!!! 

When I decided to make Stanley, I wanted to use the artistic element: shape. The different materials I used were hard and soft objects, big and large objects, small and little objects, and most definitely realistic objects. By using vegetables, fruits, marshmallows, toothpicks and a sponge I could let Stanley have a great figure! Stanley's body parts are non-geometrical because they have an irregular shape. They are natural objects that are not standard triangles, circles or squares (Schirrmacher & Fox, 2009, p.140). This allowed Stanley to have a unique appearance.    

I feel this creature represents the unique creativity that I have. I wanted to make something that would make people smile when they looked at the creature. I find it looks silly but very cute. Every part of this creature was thought out carefully and I took my time to build a fun sculpture in the kitchen. I really enjoyed making my sculpture and hope to make another sculpture in the future to experiment with other materials that could create something unique as well. (maybe a friend for Stanley!) 
Children would love creating a creature out of fruits and vegetables. If I had an activity like this in my classroom, I would bring materials for children to use to make a healthy friend. I would probably bring potatoes for the children to use as the body for their creature. When making their creature I would teach them the different components that relate to shape, healthy eating and body parts. Each child would discuss and explain their creature to the class focusing on the appearance of their character and why they used the specific materials selected for the body parts. I think the children would thoroughly enjoy this activity and develop the concept of shape.


Schirrmacher, R., & Fox, J.E. (2009). Art and creative development for
         young children (6th Ed.). Belmont, CA: Delmar.

Blog #1: The Mystery of Creativity

The word of the week is creativity! 
There are so many ways that people can look at the definition of creativity. A person is creative if they have a positive attitude, they are flexible, original and love having fun! A creative person is curious so they want to use many different ideas and materials when they are making something that they have not made before. When you have confidence in yourself to be creative while doing all of these things you can remain true to yourself.



 I feel creativity actually makes me the person that I am today. Every situation that I am in I naturally try to make it a happy, positive and beautiful environment. Whatever tools and materials that I have available I use them in a 
creative way. Through every day encounters I enjoy being myself and expressing who I am in a creative manner. I feel that being confident shows who I am and demonstrates my uniqueness. Whenever it comes to problem solving I look for new, fun, positive and silly ways to accomplish the goal. I incorporate my musical talent, theatrical experience, sports and ability to communicate with people into my day to day life. All these factors define who I am and my creativity whether I am working as a summer camp counsellor, lifeguarding, working in a classroom during placement or socializing with my friends.  

 

     

        

Creativity is a large part of my life. The more I look into the definition that I describe about creativity the more I realize that I am a creative person. Many things have inspired me to be creative and allow me to show my creativity. Camp is very important to me, I have been going to a camp for 11 years first as a camper and then as a counselor. It has had a large impact on who I am today. Camp allows me to be in situations that I naturally think of creative ideas that will help the campers to have the best time at camp. This can be playing games, skits, making up songs and making friendship bracelets. One time at camp I altered an entire song to sing to my group of campers. I was able to create a special song using my vocal music talents. I have been studying vocal music for the past 5 years with a vocal coach. I sing a variety of music which includes Country, Pop, Classical, Gospel, and Theatrical pieces. Music inspires me to be creative whether I am at camp, placement or on a daily basis. 
   Another area that I am creative in is sports. I participate in running, swimming, skating, skiing, volleyball and my passion is competitive fastball. This is where I shine in a creative way because I will do almost anything to complete a play in baseball. I play second base and will dive anywhere to catch the ball. When I am at bat I focused and determined to hit the ball. When running the bases I am known for running fast, diving and sliding into home to score the run. 
   As a teacher, it is important to show your creativity in the classroom. I want to ensure that I show my students my abilities that I have to offer because I am confident that I am a creative person. Children need to see the importance in expressing your creativity on a daily basis. Teachers are the role models in the classroom and need to encourage children to show their own creativity. Every single person is creative in their own way. It is essential that each child in the classroom knows how to show and use their creativity. 

                                        Safe at Home Plate!!                                                                                                                                                                             

Schirrmacher, R., & Fox, J.E. (2009). Art and creative development for young       
        children (6th Ed.). Belmont, CA: Delmar.