Chapter Five
Feeling and Expressing Harmony through Art
Chapter Inspiration:
“The purpose of art is to transmit to others the highest and best feelings to which human beings have risen.” –Count Leo Tolstoy
“Art is man’s nature; nature is God’s art.” –Philip James Bailey
“If you want to remain always happy, always perfect and always fulfilled, then always keep inside your heart a pocketful of sweet dreams.” –Sri Chinmoy
Chapter Story:
Claude Monet (1840-1926) was an artist who lived in France. What Claude loved more than anything was to observe different kinds of light – morn ing light, regular daylight, evening light, moonlight, starlight and even foggy light. Claude would pay close attention to the way that the light changed the objects that it touched. He noticed that the light gave different feelings to objects– sometimes happy and bright, sometimes peaceful, sometimes sad, and some times even scary. Then Claude painted the different kinds of light touching all kinds of things, such as bridges, rivers, oceans, gardens, farms, meadows and people. One of his favorite things to paint was a flower. He didn’t paint these things the way they were ‘supposed’ to look. Instead, he painted the deep feelings that the things gave him – especially when the light touched them. Claude became famous for his painting. His style of painting was called Impressionism. When Claude was an old man, he became almost totally blind. Still he was able to paint the most beautiful paintings even though he could hardly see. Because he had painted the feelings of light for his whole life, he didn’t really need to see things anymore to be able to paint.
Chapter Overview:
Enjoying art can be one of the best ways for us to feel harmony and to express ourselves. There are many different kinds of art. When we make some thing with colors and shapes, it is called visual arts. The visual arts include things like drawing, painting, sculpture and mosaics. Every one of us sees the world in our own unique way, because we each have special feelings, ideas and dreams that nobody else has. When we practice art we have a chance to create pictures of the world the way we see the world, and at the same time to express the feelings that we have about different things in the world. Art is one way for us to connect to our inner world – who we are inside. When we have a chance to express our selves through art, we feel harmony and a sense of accomplishment inside us.
Chapter Lessons:
Lesson #1 – Clay
To create a special atmosphere, play some peaceful, reflective music. Dur ing this activity, it is best if we all stay silent, so that we can focus on our work with the clay. We will need to cover our tables with plastic or newspapers, and we will need a cup of water for each student. Take a piece of self-hardening clay and work with it for awhile. Clay comes directly from the earth. It is part of the earth that you are touching. What does it feel like? Our bodies are made of the same elements that are in the clay and in the earth. It is all the same substance. We are connected to the earth because we are made of the same stuff. So we are all con nected to each other. Now try to shape the clay into something special. What did you make? Share your sculpture with the class and share how you felt working with the clay.
Lesson #2 — Beeswax
Using colored beeswax, make a mini sculpture of yourself and of some body or something that is very close to you. It can be a person you love or a pet that is very special to you. It can be a stuffed animal or an object that is special to you. (Note that you will have to soften the beeswax first by making it warm in your hands and fingers.) When working with beeswax you can make very small parts and fine objects if you just have a little patience. It also helps to move your fingers gently and in small motions. Working with beeswax is very fine work! What is special about the thing you made into a sculpture? What kind of connec tion do you feel with that special person or object? Make a display of all the dif ferent sculptures. You can label the sculptures with a title and with your name. For example: ‘My Grandma and Me, by Andrea.’ You won’t need lots of space todisplay your beeswax sculptures. They are so tiny!
Lesson #3 — Watercolors (a). Paint with just one color
Choose one color you want to work with. First dip your paintbrush into the water. Then just move your paintbrush back and forth on the paper, and get a feeling for how the brush moves across the wet paper. You can make a beautiful painting without any color at all – just using the water! Now dip your brush into the color you want to use. You will use only one color for this lesson. Use the watercolor paint to gently put swatches of your color onto the paper. You will see that the paint will go onto the paper in dark and light shades. Pay attention to the different shades and to how one color can have so many different variations!
Lesson #4 — Watercolors (b). Paint your favorite time of day
For this activity you will use two or three colors. What is your favorite time of day? Choose the colors that will be best to paint the light at this time of day. Follow the instructions in Lesson #3 to prepare your paper and to begin painting. Try to paint the light at your favorite time of day. Pay special attention to the feelings that you get when you think of that time of day. Try to paint those feelings into your picture – just like Claude Monet did!
Lesson #5 – Using pastels
Go to visit some cherry or apple trees when they are in blossom, or go to visit some daffodils or lilacs nearby. You can also bring cherry blossoms, apple blossoms or other flowers into the classroom. Use the pastels on your art paper to try to express the feelings of the colors and fragrance of the flowers. Share or dis play your work – it doesn’t have to be ‘perfect.’
Discussion Questions:
a) Discuss the first quotation. What do you think Leo Tolstoy meant by the “highest and best feeling to which human beings have risen”? Can you give some examples?
b) Discuss what you think the first part of the second quotation means, when it says, “Art is man’s nature.” What about the second part?
c) Gather some prints of Impressionist paintings. Can you name some of the other Impressionist painters? What do their paintings have in common? Did all of the Impressionist painters see light in the same way? Were they expressing the same feelings?
Supplemental Activities:
Claude Monet saw the world and painted the world in his own unique way. What is special about the way you see the world? Close your eyes and visualize a place in nature. It could be a place you have visited that has stuck in your memo ry, or even a place that you have seen only in a picture. What is special about this place? Why do you remember it so vividly? What do you feel about this place? Now open your eyes and draw or paint this place the way you experienced it or remember it. Don’t draw or paint what it is supposed to look like. Draw or paint what you saw that nobody else could see. Draw or paint what you feel about this place.
Making a mask of yourself: Use papier mache, clay, or some other material to make a mask of yourself. Paint the mask according to how the best or happiest part of you looks. In other words, paint your face when you are your brightest self. What does the best part of you look like?