Monday Memories - Impressionists

Since I've now been blogging for almost 5 years, I thought I'd start a new weekly post called "Monday Memories." I'll use these posts to highlight some of my favorite activities from earlier years. I hope you enjoy these memories, and maybe you'll find a "new" post and a new idea to use! (If you'd like to create a weekly "Monday Memories" post, too, please let me know! If we have enough interest, I'll look into creating a Mr. Linky or something.)

Three years ago, we did a co-op with a sweet family, Mrs. S and her two girls. One daugther is Alex's age and the other was a few years older. Mrs. S and I took turns teaching various subjects. We spent several months studying the Impressionists and it was one of my favorite studiest of all times. Since then, Alex and I have went to a lot of art museums - from Houston and Dallas to Chicago and NYC. And, we are always able to recognize a lot of the artists and pieces of art because of this study.

Mrs. S used to decorate cakes and she had an assortment of equipment. She came up with the wonderful idea of decorating brownies Impressionist-style. She taught the girls (and me) about decorating and how to use the bags.

Hopefully you can see that some used dots to make our artwork while others smeared the background.

Alex smeared her background and then painted a bridge and flowers. It looks like a Monet!

Mrs. S also taught us about Mary Cassatt and how she was greatly influenced by Japanese prints. She had bought a brayer and taught the girls to make prints using foam paper and a stylus.

 

Alex made a tooth print. She was about ready to loose both front teeth and was fascinated with teeth. 

This is another great idea from Mrs. S. She bought artificial water lilies and floated them in the pool. We took canvases and watercolors outside and painted.

Here is Alex with her watercolor of waterlilies.

I had never used chalk pastels before and we spent some time learning how to use them. This is my Degas-styled drawing of a ballerina.

And, Mrs. S taught us about oil painting. I did two paintings and this is my second. I was trying not to blend the colors too much and really was pleased with how this turned out.

I hope you enjoyed this first edition of "Monday Memories." Next week, I'll share with you another of my favorite homeschooling memories.