The Art of Inspiration
The Arcimboldo exhibit entitled Nature and Fantasy is on display at The National Gallery of Art. Last week I led a Kindergarten class (Ms. Rick’s) on an exploration of his surreal paintings. For those not familiar, this is a painter from the 1500’s who made portraits out of things such as fruits, flowers, books, poultry, mammals. It’s fantastic stuff for any age.
I chose to not tell the kids that the paintings of fruits, flowers & vegetables became distinctive faces. I wanted them to experience the element of surprise and excitement. With the teachers, we prepared them for the trip, by talking about being observant, noticing details, using color thoughtfully, as well as the idea of inspiration.
What does it mean to be inspired?
The museum does not allow photography in this exhibit, so of the many tasks I gave the children, an important one was to choose one of their favorite paintings, and draw it in their sketchbook as a “memory” of the exhibit.
Henry gathered a lot of information, using both notes and representations, with the help of a chaperon:
Lia, used a different approach for her “memory.” She used expressive marks, creating a representation with great feeling:
Camille, I noticed sitting in the middle of the floor in one of the gallery rooms, intently sketching. The exhibit is popular and I noticed that patrons were walking in front of her and blocking her view.
“Camille, it’s getting crowded. You are welcome to get close to the painting.”
She replied, “No, I see it better from back here.”
This surprised me, because in general, kids often go so close to displays, they are craning their necks. She was serious and in fact, correct. To get perspective, one does have to step back.
She chose the painting “The Librarian.”
Her dedication to representing this painting was intense. You have to picture the scores of adults walking around and in front of this small body, hunched over on the floor space, gazing in between the bodies to create her memory.
Before the trip was over, she showed me her sketch. “Can you make me a copy today? I want my Mom to paint my picture.”
When we returned to school, we all discussed what we saw. Camille raised her hand, “Did you make the copy?”
I immediately did, and added a post-it note to inform mom of Camille’s plan.
It was a Friday, and Camille’s mom, Susan was to be out of town. On Tuesday morning I received an email.
I got in Camille’s folder a copy of her sketch from her field trip (dated 10/15/2010… this must be in her sketch journal that is kept at school), and a Post It note from you that Camille would like me to paint a painting based on her picture, so I stayed up way too late tonight and painted her a painting… I liked Camille’s composition and so I tried to stay true to her picture… The painting is attached. What a fun thing to do! I named the painting “It’s Time to Cook.” Medium is oil on canvas. 🙂
What a cool story about the drawing & the mom’s painting and the chain of inspiration. Aso I like the mom’ style. I think I want to go on that field trip . (wait, i always say that, don’t I?)
Marla,
I found your blog through reading Maureen’s blog. I love this story and think you could write a book about this experience –
good stuff!
Thank you! I’m inspired.
Great post, Marla! You’ve shown (again) that with the right preparation and carefully worded questions a teacher can set the stage for critical thinking and creativity. When teachers plan to pull themselves out of the process as much as possible real innovation can occur. Keep up the good work!
Marla-This is from a proud grandmother–Camille’s–She’s such a wonderful little girl–and talented!! Nana
Nana-your daughter or daughter-in-law is pretty special too. Glad you could be a part of this experience!
I’m inspired by the idea of a 5-year-old girl sitting in the middle of the floor, in the middle of all those people, in the middle of her impressions and thoughts and putting her pen to paper.
As I read this, I was reminded of taking my own daughter to the Seattle Art Museum when she was 2 and 3. We once went every day for almost two weeks, just to sit in front of the same painting and tell the stories it evoked for us. Today, her art forms of choice are music and Shakespeare. You’ve made me connect those days in the art museum with the kind of artist she has become and made me wonder about how that single painting that inspired us at the time to spill so many words, continues to inspire my daughter today.
Each of your blog entries is so breathtaking, so inspiring. You are providing a real mirror on children’s creativity. I am so excited for little Camille, that her teacher gives her time and space to work, that her family and friends respect and treasure her work! I admire how your teaching encourages children to be contemplative…to be immersed in thought, to consider things at length. Sadly, this is not something I see in most early childhood classrooms…your blog spreads hope and possibility!
We need more teachers like you. I’m glad my niece Camille is in your class. My art gene has yet to be activated 🙂 My sister’s got it!
I heard Ollie talking about Arcimboldo on the playground recently. That experience has really stayed with them and it was great to see both their drawings and the heads they created.