When I judge art, I take my painting and put it next to a God made object like a tree or flower. If it clashes, it is not art. Paul Cezanne 
Under a blazing mid-afternoon summer sky, we see the Seine flooded with sunshine … people are strolling, others are sitting or stretched out lazily on the bluish grass. Georges Seurat
It seems a bit ironic that in 1884 blazing hot summers were a normal part of life but it seems as if they were. I like living where we can enjoy the sunshine most of the year. I could not imagine life any other way.
I’ve always had a soft spot for ballerinas. Maybe it’s because Miss Bethany was a dancer. I remember her twirling around the room for hours as a little girl saying “Watch me, Mommy.”
I feel in love with Edgar Degas many dance paintings. I know he has other paintings that are incredible as well but I am amazed at his beautiful ballerinas. If you get a free moment, sit down with a nice cup of tea and look at some of his paintings. You won’t be disappointed, especially if you are fond of little ballerinas.
We have studied many traditional artists so far this year so I decided to introduce a more contemporary artist in co-op. Grandmas Moses started her career late in life. Our lives are never over just because we think we’re too old.
“Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be.” Grandma Moses
Make the most of your life, no matter if your a child or a senior adult. You have the chance to impact your world. How will you make a change today?
Some people have been kind enough to call me a fine artist. I’ve always called myself an illustrator. I’m not sure what the difference is. All I know is whatever type of work I do, I try to give it my very best. Art has been my life. Norman Rockwell
In co-op we began learning about Norman Rockwell. His patriotism, small town values and love for a child’s point of view is obvious in his illustrations. When we began to discuss his work we noticed he was not afraid to stand for what he believed in.
We also noticed all the puppies in his work. After all, who doesn’t love puppies?
His Four Freedoms Series was something that seemed to strike a cord, even with our teenagers today.
Feeling safe, having enough (especially food), being able to worship freely and having the right to say what each of us individually believes in are freedoms that we can all still relate to today.
At the end of class one of the girls said that Norman Rockwell is her favorite artist that we have learned about so far which triggered a conversation about which artist was the favorite of each student. Putting into these kids will affect their lives. I hope to leave something positive to inspire their futures, just as Norman Rockwell helped to mold the future we live in now.
Since Halloween is nearly upon us I thought that it would be fun to learn about Edvard Munch for the next few weeks. With so much tragedy in his early life and a father that told him horror stories at bedtime do we really have to ask ourselves why he would create pieces like The Scream, Despair, or Anxiety.
It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.
Leonardo da Vinci
The first few weeks of co-op we studied Vincent Van Gogh. They were not very excited to hear that it was time to move on. I assured them there are other great artists out there. They loved Van Gogh and wanted to learn more about him. I totally sympathize. What’s not to love – Starry Night, Sunflowers, all the great paintings and all the great stories that go along with Van Gogh.
Leonardo da Vinci is the artist we’re looking at now. 
I had to give them somebody pretty great after beginning with Vincent. They knew that Leonardo painted the Mona Lisa but that was about it. I’ll have to see if I can get them excited to learn about some new paintings and a new man. For now I’ll leave you with a picture of the La Gioconda, roughly translated “My Lady Lisa”.
Badger, Party of 7 