Sunday, March 25, 2012

An Ode to Mindful Drawing...


Paula Kuitenbrouwer is an amazing artist and blogger! 
If you have not checked out her blog, Mindful Drawing, or her lovely art, you should. 
Her art, her blog, Mindful Drawing, and her Etsy shop, Mindful Drawing,  are very inspiring. 
Paula is also on Pinterest if you would like to follow her neat boards. She pins awesome stuff! 

For anyone who aspires to be a naturalist, you have to check out her work! In addition to her art, Paula has compiled an amazing list of art books for children. Had pinned her art books list to my Pinterest board.
Recently, Paula left two nice comments for me on Pinterest…
The first comment was "Repin and copy the list with (art) books to your own blog..." So, with that being said, at the bottom of this post, there is a list taken directly from Paula’s list of art books suggestions. Am so excited that she is willing to share this list with my readers! Thanks a million, Paula! Really respect and admire her not only for her art work, but also for her artist’s eye and keen insight as to what would make good resources for teaching art to children, so to be able to share this list of her suggestions directly on my blog is pretty awesome!
Her second comment was "Colleen, what a wonderful pins you have. May I post your Pinterest address in a Dutch Home Education discussion group? Your pins are a wealth of information. Well done."

Thanks for the compliment, Paula. Hope that you and other homeschool families will find my boards to be helpful. Am happy that you view my Pinterest boards as a wealth of information for your Dutch home education group, as my goal for pinning is to dream - plan - organize - create - make a reality…for my family, as well as for others…

Essentially, I hope that by creating, organizing, pinning, and repining to be able to highlight loads of wonderful, family friendly ideas related to living, loving, and learning. By pinning arts & crafts, ideas for outdoor learning, family travel, educational research / theory / materials, and such, Pinterest is a tool for my family to try to give our sons a better understanding of the world and its people.
Have tried very hard to be good about giving credit where credit is due, as there is still some gray area when it comes to Pinterest. Tried to read different discussions related to Pinterest and the issue of Copyright and so that is why on the description section of my boards, I have included a statement such as the following:
To comply with the US Copyright Office, section 107, all of my Pinterest boards and pins are for "criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research" as well as for “nonprofit, educational purposes"... I am not a lawyer, but tried to make sense of this: http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html

It gets a little complicated when you repin from someone else, as far as where things originate, but as I have learned more about how repining is supposed to work, have done my very best to try to be an appreciative, conscientious pinner. Excited that Pinterest is starting to make some tweaks to their format so that all individuals, namely artisans, as well as companies will view Pinterest as a wonderful tool that people can use to help promote their work, not a way for someone to work the creators of the idea, image, art, or concept out of getting recognition for their talents and abilities. 

Sincerely hope that if I ever inadvertently or accidentally pin something without giving the appropriate credit for the pin, that the artisan, photographer, or company would kindly let me know and I will gladly fix the pin immediately.
Well, hope that all of you enjoy Pinterest as much as I have been enjoying it! 
It has been such a huge help for me to create boards and to pin and repin while dealing with my medical issues over the last few months. Pinterest has given me a way to be able to stay positive and strong through some of the darker moments of testing, blood work, and the general anxiety of waiting to have surgery and to get test results back each week. To be able to visualize something that made me feel happy, calm, confident, and optimistic has truly been a Godsend!

Well, here is the list of art book suggestions directly copied from Paula’s Mindful Drawing blog:
Please note: This art books list is taken directly, with express written permission from Paula Kuitenbrouwer. 
The only thing that I have added to her list are links within the post so that you can see the book covers and find out about ordering information. 
Please contact Paula directly if you have comments or want to re-post her list for yourself or your own readers. 
This list is verbatim, other than the addition of links to be able to review more info. about the books,  from Paula's blog, Mindful Drawing, with Paula's permission...


For home schooling my daughter and teaching art-class to children and young students, I work with the following books…..(see list below)……
I’ve listed my books age/grade-wise but your child or student may function better in another age/grade group. Some children understand art with an amazing and wonderful spontaneity but are shocked by -for instance- Picasso’s ‘Guernica’ or Baroque paintings of biblical scene’s. Please understand that art-loving and eager children can be smart about art but are very sensitive to cruelty. For young students art is mainly about enchantment and enriching their lives with dreams and colours.
Paula
  HANDS-ON BOOKS:
Joan Miro (6 sheets of re-usable stickers). ISBN 978-1-84507-808-9
Colouring Book Kandinsky ISBN 978-3-7913-3712-8
Paul Klee (6 sheets of re-usable stickers) ISBN 1-84507-677-X
Monet, My Sticker Art Gallery, by Carola Armstrong, 20 Re-usable stickers. A biography with stickers.
Colour and Art Famous Masterpieces ISBN 0-7105-1400-X
Colour and Art The Impressionists ISBN 0-7105-1400-X
Colour Your Own Cezanne Paintings, rendered by Marty Noble.
Harvesting Dreams: Hundertwasser for Kids by Barbara Stieff . In Dutch available at Pantharei Publishers, like Van Gogh voor Kinderen & Paul Klee voor Kinderen.
Van Gogh for Kids by Margaret E. Hyde.
Not real books, but small booklet with stickers:
-Kandinsky, 16 art stickers. Dover Fine Art Stickers.
-Six Kandinsky Cards, Dover Publications.
-Japanese Prints, 16 Art Stickers, Dover Fine Art Stickers.

For the young children / students: (Grade 1 and up / age 4 and up):
The series ‘Smart About Art’, for instance
‘Frida Kalho, The Artist Who Painted Herself’, by Margaret Frith.
‘Pierre Auguste Renoir, Paintings that Smile’, by True Kelley.
‘Henry Matisse, Drawing with Scissors’ by Keesia Johnson and Jane O’Connor.
The Katie Series:
Katie and the Mona Lisa, by James Mayhew.
Katie’s Picture Show, by James Mayhew.
Katie Meets the Impressionists, by James Mayhew.
Katie and the Sunflowers’, by James Mayhew.
Bijou, Bonbon & Beau, The Kittens Who Danced for Degas, by Joan Sweeney.
Camille and the Sunflowers, a Story about Vincent van Gogh by Laurence Anholt.
.
For the students age 6-7+:
The Little Klimt, by Catherine de Duve.***
The Little Matisse, by Catherine de Duve.***
The Big Museum, by Catherine de Duve.***
(***Here is a link to Catherine de Duve author, for a list of her books)
The Great Rubens Workshop, Discover the Antwerp painter’s great workshop. (www.happymuseum.com)
Linnea in Monet’s Garden by Chistina Bjork.
Degas and the Little Dancer by Laurence Anholt.
The Life and Work of Wassily Kandinsky.
The Little Story of Picasso by Fina Duran i Riu. ISBN 84-85984-71-4.
Monet, My Sticker Art Gallery, by Carola Armstrong, 20 Re-usable stickers. A biography with stickers.
Breughel’s The Fair. Story by Ruth Craft. ISBN 0-397-31698-4.
The Boy Who Held Back the Sea, by Thomas Locker.
Come Look With Me, Exploring Landscape Art with Children.by Gladys Blizzard
Come Look With Me, World of Play. by Gladys Blizzard
The Art Book for Children, Phaidon.
.
For students age 8-10+:
All the artists books by Mike Venezia:
Salvadore Dali, by Mike Venezia.
Georgia O’Keeffe.
Da Vinci.
Johannes Vermeer.
Botticelli.
Titian.
Diego Rivera.
Georges Seurat.
Andy Warhol.
Rembrandt.
Michaelangelo.
Pierre Auguste Renoir.
Marc Chagall.
Raphael.
Edgar Degas.
Paul Dezanne.
There are more Venezia’s, please, check your online bookshop.
Antonio’s Apprenticeship, Painting a Fresco in Renaissance Italy, by Taylor Morrison.
The Renaissance and New World, Giovanni Caselli.
.
For young middle-high students, parents, grown-up, grandparents:
How To Draw Anything, by Mark Linley.
Lives of the Great Artists, by Charlie Ayres (Thames & Hudson).
.
Teachers Books well known and used among home schoolers:
Art in Story, Teaching Art History to Elementary School Children.
Discovering Great Artists, Hands On activities for Children in the Styles of the Great Masters, by MaryAnn F. Kohl.
The Annotated Mona Lisa, by Carol Strickland.
All My Own Work, Adventures in Art, www.franceslincolm.com ISBN 1-84507-353-3.

We can't wait to check out the various art books that Paula has recommended!

Here at Sunrise Learning Lab, we have used some of the books that she has listed, most notably
Discovering Great Artists, Hands On activities for Children in the Styles of the Great Masters, by MaryAnn F. Kohl. (We just love MaryAnn! We also have used some of her other titles, including Preschool Art and Science Art) but now, we look forward to exploring the other books Paula has suggested. 

Here is the list of the books we have used here at Sunrise Learning Lab. Since Big Bro and Little Bro are younger than Paula's daughter, the books we have used are geared more for preschool through about third grade...

Well, for starters, we love, love, love Colleen Carroll's How Artists See series!

We have some of the series, but not the entire series. Have found some of these at consignment stores and used book stores, but ideally, would like to have the entire set as well as the teacher's guide that goes with the set. These books are great for young ones! Would say these are best for ages 4-10.
How Artists See America
How Artists See Animals
How Artists See Artists
How Artists See Families
How Artists See Feelings
How Artists See People 
How Artists See Play 
How Artists See The Weather

Here are two books we use that tie in both art and math:

Math Masterpieces: The Art of Problem Solving by Greg Paprocki.
This book is great for those who like the concepts behind Living Math.
You can explore both the art and math concepts while reading this book...fun!


Teaching Mathematics Through Children's Art by Doug Williams is a nice resource for adults who are working with children and would like to integrate both art and math.


Here are two books that combine art and literacy:

I Spy: An Alphabet in Art Devised and Selected by Lucy Micklethwait
This picture book is so nice, in that it lends itself well to all ages for them to  make their own art alphabet books. Can be a more advanced task, as older children could choose to create art alphabet books for different time periods. They could find art pictures from the Internet and then, they could try to create their own work inspired by each of the pieces of art they have featured in their art alphabet books. For younger children who wish to make an art alphabet book, the adult could have pre-printed copies of art for each letter of the alphabet or the children could potentially work collaboratively on a group book where every child would work on a particular letter for the book...

Teaching Art with Books Kids Love: Art Elements, Appreciation, and Design with Award-winning Books by Darcie Clark Frohardt

Do you have additional resources that you use for art with children?

Please be sure to share your links here in the comments section of this post.
Would love to hear from my readers as far as the resources that they use for art books.

1 comment:

Paula Kuitenbrouwer said...

Dearest Colleen,
Many, many thanks. 'My' list can be copied without my permission. I love the thought of making it parents and teachers easy to find delightful art books for children. Hurrah to art-books and to you for your lovely post!

Paula

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