Category Archives: Artists and their works

Thomas Moran, Landscape Artist of the American West

Did you know Yellowstone was America’s first National Park? The watercolors of Thomas Moran helped convince Congress that the area surrounding the Yellowstone River was unique and needed protection. And in 1872 Congress passed the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act, which President Ulysses S. Grant signed into law.

Let’s Learn about Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone takes up 2.2 million acres in Wyoming, Montana, and eastern Utah. Millions visit to see grizzly bears, herds of bison and elk, wolves, and smaller creatures like beaver and river otters. The park has hot springs, mudpots, and over 500 geysers.

Minerva Terrace, Yellowstone, Thomas Moran, 1872, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., public domain

Reports of such phenomena reached the early explorers, Lewis and Clark, but they couldn’t investigate. Later, mountain men who trapped beaver in the Rockies, told of the wonders. But for many years people back east thought these were just tall tales.

Then in 1871 Thomas Moran borrowed money to travel west to join an expedition headed by F.V. Hayden to investigate the rumors. Moran’s watercolors and the photographs of William Henry Jackson provided pictorial documentation for the wonders of Yellowstone. These watercolors and photos were passed around Congress and helped lead to Yellowstone’s becoming America’s first national park.

Let’s Learn about the Artist

Moran photo by Napoleon Sarony, 1890-96, Library of congress, Washington, D.C.

Thomas Moran was born in 1837 near Manchester, England. His family were handloom weavers until the invention of power looms changed that industry. In 1844, to gain better opportunities for his children, Thomas’ father moved the family to America, settling near Philadelphia.

While still a teenager, Thomas apprenticed to an engraving firm. After 3 years he left to work in the art studio of his older brother, Edward, an up-and-coming marine artist. The brothers were drawn to the work of British artist J.M.W. Turner, and in 1861 traveled to England to study his paintings in the National Gallery. Moran’s art shows the influence of Turner’s coloring and style.

Sketches and watercolors made on the Yellowstone expedition brought Thomas many new commissions. His career really took off after he sold his huge (7X12 feet) oil painting, Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, to Congress not long after they created the park. In 1873, Moran joined another expedition down the Colorado River and through the Grand Canyon. A year later, Chasm of the Colorado, (also 7X12 feet) was also bought by Congress.

Grand Canyon of the Colorado River by Thomas Moran, Smithsonian American Art Museum, public domain

Moran continued to travel all his life. He visited Europe several more times. He further explored the Grand Canyon and other areas of the West. He especially loved the Green River area of Wyoming, and a painting from there is in the White House’s collection. He produced large numbers of etchings, watercolors, and oils right into his 80s. He died in California in 1926, but his influence on American landscape art lives on.

Let’s Learn about the Painting

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone by Thomas Moran, Smithsonian American Art Museum, public domain

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone that Congress bought is now in the Smithsonian, and I couldn’t find a good copy, but Moran made other paintings of the canyon, and this one gives you a good idea of his style. Moran was a 2^nd generation Hudson School artist, early landscape artist who desired to accurately show the beauty of nature and inspire viewers to see the hand of God in its grandeur.

Heart of the Andes by Frederick Edwin Church, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC, public domain

Like earlier Hudson River artists, Moran depicted nature with great detail and accuracy.

But Moran differed from them in seldom showing the presence of man, or if he did show them, they are dwarfed by the landscape. You can also see the influence of Turner on Moran’s landscapes.

Norham Castle, Sunrise, by J.M.W. Turner, 1845, Tate, Britain, public domain

Turner used watercolor techniques with oil paints, using thin washes to create light and changing atmospheric conditions. In this painting Moran uses Turner’s techniques to make it look like the water fall is pulling clouds right down out of the sky.

Unlike Turner, Moran painted details clearly and with scientific accuracy.

Let’s Enjoy the Painting Together

Before telling children too much about the painting, ask them to tell what they think is going on in it and what tells them that.

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone by Thomas Moran, Smithsonian American Art Museum, public domain

1.Then you might like to ask them these questions for further exploration:

How do you think the explorers who first saw this place felt?
Would you like to visit this place?
What sounds would you hear if you visited here?
What colors do you see in the painting?
What are the lightest parts of the painting? The darkest?
Do you think Moran had to do some climbing to paint this scene? (he did)

2.In landscapes, it’s fun to find the horizon and the three distances—foreground, middle ground, and background. How does the artist show these 3 sections?

3.Ask children to follow the river as it falls from the cliff and winks in and out between rocks as it flows into the foreground.

A Little Inspiration from God’s Word

Moran continued to travel the West painting its sights. When he saw a photo by his friend William Henry Jackson of this mountain in the Sawatch Range of what is now Colorado, he knew he had to paint it.

photo of the Mountain of the Holy Cross, U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, public domain

The 14,011-foot Mountain of the Holy Cross is part of the Holy Cross Wilderness area near Vail, Colorado. Moran made a difficult climb to a neighboring mountain to paint the mountain. The mountain’s northeast face has deep crevices in the shape of a cross. When the mountain snows begin to melt, snow lasts longer in these crevices, making the cross very prominent.

Mountain of the Holy Cross by Thomas Moran, 1875, public domain

How amazing that this cross towers over scenes Moran painted that also show the wonder and majesty of our God.

Picture of Molly the Artsy Corgi

Ready for Spring

Before You Go

If you’d like more activity ideas for art, history, and nature, curriculum connections, and links to more resources, be sure to sign up for my newsletter and receive a free guide, 5 Ways Art Benefits Children’s Cognitive, Physical, Spiritual, and Social Development, You’ll also get a Few Fun and Easy Activities for each Benefit.

Visit Molly’s and my website where you’ll find free downloadable puzzles, how-to-draw pages and coloring pages for kids and an updated list of my hands-on workshops, chapels, and presentations for all ages.

Maria Sibylla Merian, Artist and Naturalist

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Maria Sibylla Merian and her daughter traveled to northern South America to study the insects, plants, and creatures of the rain forest. We probably wouldn’t think it that strange today, but it was the 1600s, and it took 2 rough months by ship just to get there from the Netherlands. Few women braved such travels by themselves. But Maria had always been adventurous and curious.

Let’s Learn about the Artist

Engraving of Maria Sibylla Merian from portrait by Georg Gsell, c. 1700, public domain

Maria (1647-1717), grew up in Frankfurt, Germany. Her family ran an art studio, producing flower still lifes, engravings, and publishing books. Her stepfather taught her to draw and paint.

In the mid-1600s many people still believed in spontaneous generation—the idea that living creatures came from non-living things such as mud and rotting foods. But Maria Sibylla Merian had learned early to closely observe nature. At just 13, she raised silkworms to observe and draw each stage of their life cycle. She collected caterpillars of all colors and shapes to see what kind of moth or butterfly they’d become.

In 1679 Maria published the first of 2 volumes called, Caterpillars, Their Wondrous Transformation and Peculiar Nourishment from Flowers. Eventually just called the Caterpillar Books, these showed her innovations in portraying insects. On each page Maria showed each stage of an insect’s life and the plants they preferred.

Maria was 52 when she set out on the greatest adventure of her life. She packed up her art supplies and braved the dangerous sea voyage to South America.

Maria and her daughter Dorothea traveled on foot and by canoe to study insects there, discovering ants that formed rafts to float across water and tarantulas that ate humming birds. After 2 years they returned home, and Maria used her study book and specimens to publish in Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium, again available. Use Amazon’s “Look Inside” feature to see more of Maria’s illustrations.

In 1717, just after Maria died, Peter the Great, Czar of Russia, bought hundreds of Maria’s watercolors and her study book for his palace in St. Petersburg. Dorothea and her husband were hired to advise and arrange Peter’s growing collection, which became the Imperial, then Soviet, and finally the Russian Academy of Sciences. Other museums collected her works, too, but in the 1800s, many scientists dismissed the work of earlier naturalists like Maria. They didn’t think amateurs could have collected accurate data.

Then in the 1970s, the Soviet Academy of Sciences published many of her watercolors and her study book. Other museums searched their collections and exhibited her works. Entomologists found they could identify most of the insects in her paintings. Publishers printed new editions of her books. Maria Sibylla Merian is again being appreciated for her scientific and artistic work.

Let’s Learn about the Paintings

Maria used her observational skills to portray butterflies and other insects accurately. She was one of the first to show these in their own habitats, with host plants and their full life cycle from egg to caterpillar, pupa, and adult.

Maria’s artistic skills enabled her to paint the butterflies and other insects in vibrant color and pleasing compositions. Because of the purpose of showing the insects accurately, there is little depth in these illustrations, but the artist has made good use of the up-close space, not crowding things together.

Maria’s illustrations can be very dramatic, with half eaten fruits and leaves and ants battling spiders. Maria was definitely part of the Netherlandish vanitas painting tradition, (beautiful still lifes with partly-eaten food, insects, lizards, or other jarring elements to remind viewers of the shortness of life).

Tarantulas eating ants and a hummingbird, public domain

Let’s Enjoy the Paintings Together

Before telling children too much about the paintings, ask them to tell what they think is going on in the paintings and what tells them that.

Explain that before Maria, most illustrators showed specimens in long rows and only showed the adult stage.

Ask them how Maria’s paintings are different.
Ask them why it would be important to show all the stages of an insect’s life.

The illustrations are full of different types of line and shape, color and texture, and pattern—all provided by the Lord!

Ask children to find colors and patterns they like.
Which of these paintings do they like best?

A Little Inspiration from God’s Word

engraving of Jonathan Edwards, public domain

Jonathan Edwards(1703-1758) the great New England preacher who helped begin the First Great Awakening lived about the same time as Maria Sibylla. Like her Edwards enjoyed observing insects. In 1723 he wrote to the Royal Society of London about flying spiders he had observed. He even included sketches to illustrate his observations.

Edwards believed studying nature showed the wisdom and care of God

Maria Sibylla would have agreed. She once wrote, “The metamorphosis of caterpillars has happened so many times one is full of praise at God’s mysterious powers and the wonderful attention he pays to such insignificant little creatures.”

Picture of Molly the Artsy Corgi

Molly investigating a painted lady butterfly

Before You Go

You can read a recent post I wrote for Write2Ignite, a group of Christian children’s writers. The post is “Find Some Ivory Tower Time to Create.”

Visit Molly’s and my website where you’ll find free downloadable puzzles, how-to-draw pages and coloring pages for kids and an updated list of my hands-on workshops, chapels, and presentations for all ages.

What’s So Special about the Mona Lisa?

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What’s so special about the Mona Lisa–a portrait of a woman who lived in Florence in the early 1500s? Lisa Gherardini wasn’t famous; she was the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, a wealthy silk merchant of Florence. Francesco was a friend of Leonardo’s father, but not famous either. And the portrait isn’t large—only about 30 inches by 21 inches.

So why, in 1963, did millions of Americans at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and at the National Gallery in Washington D.C. line up to get a 20 second view of this portrait?
President and Mrs.John F. Kennedy and VP Lyndon Johnson at the National Gallery, Wash. D.C., public domain
Why did millions more view her in Tokyo and Moscow in 1974.
Why do most of the millions who visit the Louvre in Paris each year mostly just want to see the Mona Lisa?
Why is she valued at over $700 million?
Why have songs, like Nat King Cole’s Mona Lisa been written about her?
Why can you find her image on everything from t-shirts to umbrellas?

Let’s look at some of the reasons Mona Lisa become a super star

Some of it is because of the Artist

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was born near Vinci, just west of Florence. Contemporaries said he was handsome, charming, and a talented singer. He loved animals, mountain climbing, and art.

At 15 his father apprenticed him to the Florentine artist Andrea del Verrocchio. There he learned painting, sculpture, and mechanical skills. Apprentices eventually began painting parts of their master’s works, and the angel closest to the viewer in Verrocchio’s Baptism of Christ, was painted by Leonardo when he was still in his 20s. Compared to Verrocchio’s figures, Leonardo’s angel is far superior in color and realism.

Baptism of Christ by Andrea del Verrocchio, 1472-1475, Uffizi Gallery, public domain

Leonardo was interested in everything from nature and anatomy to flying. In Milan, where he worked a number of years for the duke, he’s listed as the duke’s painter and engineer. As such he designed sets for court festivals, as well as working on architectural, military, and engineering projects.

While in Milan Leonardo painted The Last Supper for the dining hall of a monastery. But he was always experimenting with materials, and the paint of The Last Supper, began flaking off while the artist was still alive.

Despite his great talent Leonardo found it hard to settle and finish works. Though there are many notebooks with 1000s of drawing,

Study of a horse by Leonardo da Vinci, public domain

we have fewer than 20 works completed by him. But the masterful paintings, the drawings of inventive ideas, and accounts of his curiosity and brilliance in many fields, have all led to his being an icon of the multi-talented genius.

When Leonardo was an old man, France’s King Francis I invited him to live and paint at the French court. Leonardo died in France, which helped lead to the monarchy owning the Mona Lisa. Since the French Revolution, she has been owned by the French Republic and has her very own wall in the Louvre.

Some of it is because of the painting

Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci 1503, The Louvre, public domain

Here’s are 11 special things about the painting:

It’s one of the first easel paintings, meant to be framed and hung on a wall.
It uses the new oil paints, (developed by northern European artists) whose long drying time allows artists to work longer and make changes.
Mona Lisa’s face, hands and body are made up of many layers of thin, almost transparent paint (scientists have found 30 layers on her face). So instead of hard outlines, Leonardo used his knowledge of anatomy; used lights and darks (called chiaroscuro) to create depth; and softly blended colors (called sfumato) to make her one of the most realistic portraits painted at that time.
Mona Lisa’s pose is relaxed. Instead of the usual profile portrait, she sits in a chair and is turned toward the viewer. This became the norm for later portraits. Because she’s looking right at the artist, her eyes appear to follow the viewer.
Leonardo used a pyramid or triangular composition to focus our attention on Mona Lisa’s face.
Leonardo was one of the first to put a realistic landscape behind the sitter, using one point perspective that has all the receding lines end in a vanishing point behind the sitter’s eyes. This also helps focus our attention on Mona Lisa’s face.
Leonardo used aerial perspective, showing distant objects as blue and blurry. (another innovation from northern European artists).
There’s still some mystery about who the sitter is. Most experts agree that she is Lisa Gherardini, but a few hold out for others, including Leonardo’s mother.
Of course Mona Lisa’s enigmatic smile intrigues viewers. Early accounts say that Leonardo hired musicians and jesters to entertain her while he did studies and painted.
Then there’s also the theft. An Italian worker at the Louvre stole the Mona Lisa in 1911. He hid in a closet until the museum closed and walked out with the painting under his coat. He took the portrait to his apartment in Rome, and it wasn’t discovered there for 2 years. The their claimed it belonged in Italy.
Then there’s its estimated worth. Some say billions, others just say priceless. Today the French have spent their money on preserving and protecting her. She is in a bullet-proof glass case that has a controlled humidity and temperature all its own.

Let’s Enjoy the Painting Together

1. With this portrait, it might be fun to talk about the sitter and what she’s thinking. Do children think she’s smiling?

2. Many good copies have been made of the Mona Lisa, some by his students—all believed to be made after Leonardo’s death. But around 2010, conservators at the Prado Museum in Madrid, Spain discovered that their copy of the Mona Lisa, done by one of Leonardo’s assistants, was done at the time Leonardo was actually working on the original. It shows some of the same changes Leonardo made. They cleaned their copy of layers of varnish and found bright colors on Mona Lisa’s clothing and in the background.

The original Mona Lisa has also become darkened over the years by layers of varnish. So it’s probable that the original was also much brighter.

So it might be fun to compare the original and the Prado copy to see similarities and differences and encourage children to wonder what the original may have looked like. Here they are together.

Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci 1503, The Louvre, public domain

La Gioconda, Prado Museum copy, public domain

Two Takeaways

Art Activity Suggestion Try drawing or taking photos of each other in the same pose as Mona Lisa and with that enigmatic smile.

A Little Inspiration from God’s Word

Students in one of my art classes are learning to draw their portrait. We start off with the ways all human faces are similar, and make some light marks to show where we’ll draw eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. But then we begin to look even more carefully at all the details that make each individual unique. We are each wonderfully made by our loving heavenly Father. Psalm 139:14.

Picture of Molly the Artsy Corgi

Molly has given her spot to a special visitor today, The Mona Lisa Duck!

Before You Go

Whistlejacket, Life Size Portrait of a Horse by George Stubbs

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I’ve always loved horseback riding, and as a child, I read every horse book I could find. One of my favorites was King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry. So, when I stepped into gallery 34 in London’s National Gallery of Art and saw the life size portrait of Whistlejacket, I stood there, amazed by such a beautiful animal.

Let’s Learn about the Horse

Born in 1749, Whistlejacket was an Arabian stallion and a grandson of the Godolphin Arabian—the King of the Wind of Ms. Henry’s book. Her story was based on several legends about the Godolphin, but one thing is certain. He was one of 3 Arabian stallions British breeders imported between 1690 and 1730 to become foundation sires for the thoroughbred breed. All thoroughbreds are said to be descended from these three stallions: the Godolphin Arabian, the Byerley Turk, and the Darley Arabian. Whistlejacket did fairly well as a race horse, but was retired early to sire more thoroughbreds.

Let’s Learn about the Artist

George Stubbs, self portrait, public domain

George Stubbs was born in Liverpool in 1724. He loved to draw and was interested in anatomy. He may have been briefly apprenticed to a painter, but was mostly self-taught. George later moved to York and painted portraits and taught drawing.

After returning from a short visit to Rome, Stubbs decided he needed to learn from nature, not classical sculptures. So, he moved to a rural area and for 18 months dissected horses and studied their anatomy. He made detailed drawings that he published in a book in 1766. The Anatomy of the Horse became a reference for artists and naturalists, but only a few pages survive.

His reputation as a painter of horses grew, and in the early 1760s the Marquess of Rockingham, one of the wealthiest men in Britain, commissioned Stubbs to paint several of his horses, including his prize stallion, Whistlejacket. During his career, Stubbs studied and painted other animals, too, but is still best known for his horse paintings

Let’s Learn about the Painting

Whistlejacket, c. 1762 by George Stubbs, National Gallery, London, public domain

This painting is huge—about 9 feet tall and 8 feet wide. Whistlejacket is life size, and is just as much a portrait as Renoir’s portrait of Julie Manet and her Cat, because it’s a particular horse. Whistlejacket was a chestnut horse with a flaxen mane and tail. He also had a white star and one white sock. Apparently, he was named for a popular cold medicine that was about his color. We can also glimpse a little of his character from his pose and his face turned towards us.

Although, Stubbs has painted Whistlejacket very realistically, he’s used loose brushwork on the horse’s flank. Closeups also show the edges as being a little blurry. No one knows if Stubbs did this on purpose, but it does make Whistlejacket look more active.

It was once thought that Stubbs left the painting unfinished, because there’s no background and no rider in the tradition of grand equestrian paintings like Napoleon Crossing the Alps by French artist Jacque-Louis David.

Napoleon Crossing the Alps, 1801-1805 by Jacques-Louis David, public domain

Most experts now believe Stubbs left it plain and with no rider on purpose to show off the beauty and spirit of Whistlejacket. Whistlejacket is also shown doing a levade, one of the “airs above ground,” practiced in the classical dressage of the Spanish Riding School in Vienna or by the Cadre Noir of Saumur, France. Only the most powerful and best-trained horses can do these movements.

Whistlejacket, c. 1762 by George Stubbs, National Gallery, London, public domain

Let’s Enjoy the Painting Together

Before telling children too much about the painting, ask them to tell what they think is going on in the painting and what tells them that.

Ask them if the painting is of a real horse or not. And why they think that.
Do they like the horse’s color?
Do they think the horse is tame or wild?
Is the horse painted realistically or not?
If you haven’t told them the name, ask what they’d name the horse

Use their observations and the information about the horse, the artist, and the painting to help them further enjoy it.

2 Takeaways for More Fun

Art Activity Suggestion

If you have a child who loves horses, they might enjoy learning to draw them. There are many tutorials online for drawing horses, as well as drawing books available at bookstores or libraries.

A Little Inspiration from God’s Word

Horses are prey for many animals, such as wolves, and the best way for horses to protect themselves from predators is to run away quickly. So, God has given them an amazing feature that helps save precious seconds when a predator approaches. They have a special combination of tendons and ligaments called the stay apparatus that locks the major joints in their legs so they can stand while they sleep. That way horses can grab some shut eye and still be ready to run at a moment’s notice. God, in His wisdom, knew just what each creature needed to survive and thrive! Genesis 1:24-25.

Picture of Molly the Artsy Corgi

Horses may be able to sleep while standing, but not dogs! Molly fell asleep under the tree after a busy Christmas morning.

Before You Go

Visit Molly’s and my website where you’ll find free downloadable puzzles, how-to-draw pages, coloring pages for kids, and an updated list of my hands-on workshops, chapels, and presentations for all ages.

Come Let Us Adore Him, a Christmas Painting

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Molly and I hope this Christmas painting will bring color and beauty to the beginning of advent for you and your family.

May we all, like the Magi, come and adore Him!

Adoration of the Magi by Albrecht Durer, 1504, the Uffizi, Florence, Italy, public domain

Albrecht Durer painted Adoration of the Magi in 1504. Today it hangs in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence Italy.

Molly and I wish you a blessed Christmas while we take some time off to enjoy Christmas. We plan to be back in January with lots more great art, activities, and devotions.

If you’re one of our newsletter subscribers, though, watch for a special thank you gift from us coming next week. We’ve put together some Christmas art ideas you and your children will love. These fun and easy projects will provide shared moments of calm and invite Jesus into your busy holidays. Don’t miss out. Sign up for our newsletter today!

Endearing Portrait of Julie Manet and her Cat by Auguste Renoir

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Auguste Renoir enjoyed painting people, and his painting of Julie Manet and her cat is an endearing portrait of the daughter of another Impressionist, Berthe Morisot. Many people choose cats as pets, but farmers need cats to keep rodents out of the livestock feed. Not many cats can be both friendly pets and pest controllers, but Maine coon cats often do both!

Fluffy, a Maine coon cat, ruled the barn on my grandparents’ Maine farm when I was a child. At nearly 25 lbs. and with long hair, a bushy tail like a racoon, and ear tufts like a wild lynx, she terrorized the mice population. But this black and gray tabby had a softer side and loved to come in and socialize with her family. She seemed as big as a dog to me, and her silky coat crackled with static when I stroked her.

Several legends surround the origin of Maine coon cats, now a popular cat breed everywhere. Old-timers claimed they were mixed with a raccoon, which is biologically impossible. Another old legend said France’s doomed queen, Marie Antoinette, planned an escape by a ship whose home port was Wiscasset, Maine. Although Marie missed the boat, her long-haired cats sailed to Maine and bred with local short-haired cats.

Most likely, sailors brought long-haired cats back from their sea voyages to places like Norway. But the legends are fun, and the Marie Antoinette tale leads nicely into this post about the French Impressionist, Renoir. Enjoy his painting of Julie Manet and the happy little cat snuggling in her arms.

What’s in this post?

A little about Auguste Renoir and his painting of Julie Manet
Helpful vocabulary
Understanding the painting
Activities to help you and your children explore and enjoy the painting of Julie Manet and her cat
Don’t tell Molly, but this week’s cute picture is of my brother and me with Fluffy, the Maine coon cat! Molly will return next week!

Let’s Learn about the Artist

Pierre Auguste Renoir, self portrait, 1876, public domain

Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) was born in the French city of Limoges, a center for the porcelain industry. At 13, he apprenticed as a painter in a porcelain factory and became skilled at florals. When he later studied art in Paris, he joined a group of art students who rebelled against the traditional art of their day.

The Impressionists, as they came to be called, wanted to paint landscapes and scenes of everyday life en plein air, or in the open air. They saw how light changed colors and used short brush strokes to capture those fleeting effects. Their small brushstrokes of pure colors make their paintings shimmer and leave edges looking blurry.

Renoir liked to paint people enjoying life at outdoor gatherings. His Luncheon of the Boating Party is a famous example of his happy gatherings. It also shows how the Impressionists used each other and friends and family members as their models. Almost everyone in this painting can be identified, and the woman in the left foreground with the little dog is Renoir’s future wife.

Luncheon of the Boating Party by Auguste Renoir,1880-1881, public domain

Renoir painted many single and family portraits, and Julie Manet modeled for him other times, too. Julie was used to posing for her mom and knew all the Impressionists. A few years ago her diary about growing up among these artists was published.

The Artist’s Daughter, Julie with her Nanny by Berthe Morisot,1884, Minneapolis Institute of Art, public domain

Helpful Vocabulary

These words will be in bold green the first time they come up and will help you and your children talk more easily about different parts of the painting.

Portrait: a painting, drawing, photograph, etc. of a person, often done quite close up. The person may be looking straight forward or shown from the side–a profile. The painting Berthe Morisot and Her Daughter Julie shows both.
Berthe Morisot and her Daughter Julie Manet by August Renoir, 1894, Musee d’Orsay, public domain
Texture: how a surface would feel if touched
Pattern: a repetition of a design, such as a plaid
French Impressionists: a group of artists who became friends while studying art in Paris in the 1860s. They rebelled against the Paris art establishment, preferring to paint modern life and to paint outdoors. The group included 2 women, Mary Cassatt and Berthe Morisot. Many artists in other countries adopted the style.

Understanding the Painting, A Captured Moment in Time

Julie Manet with her cat, by Auguste Renoir,1887, public domain

Portraits can be very formal, with the sitter in their best clothes, like The Mona Lisa, which the Impressionist would have seen in the Louvre.

In this painting, everything—Julie’s dress with gold embroidery and the pretty pastel sofa and wallpaper—point to a formal drawing room. So . . . you might expect a formal portrait.

Instead the painting has captured a moment in time. It’s as if Renoir has just entered the room where Julie is cuddling her pet cat. And as she turns toward the artist, he takes a snapshot. The Impressionists loved to show these moments in time. Photography was still new, but it had a big effect on the Impressionists, who liked the sense of immediacy it gave to pictures.

Renoir’s subjects may be wearing their best clothes, but he usually shows them interacting with other people at a restaurant or with things that provide extra interest or tell a little about them—a musical instrument, a toy, a pet, etc.

Activities to Help You and Your Children Explore this Painting

Before doing any other activities, ask children to tell what’s going on in the painting and what tells them that. Enhance their observational and verbal skills by rephrasing words and adding new vocabulary.

This is a great painting to learn about portraits and what they tell us about the sitter.

What sort of things can you tell about Julie?
Do you think she’s wearing her best dress? Remember that at this time girls always wore dresses.
Do you think she is in her own home or the artist’s studio?
Does she look happy?
Is this a quiet or noisy painting?
Do you think these are good colors for this portrait? Why or why not?
What sort of things do you think Julie would like to do?

How would you like a portrait of you to look? Have some fun choosing clothes and other things you’d like to have in your own portrait. Tell why you’ve chosen the clothes and items. Then have some one take a photo of you and print it.

You might also find and list all the different textures and patterns in this painting. Next to each write one or two descriptive words

Before You Go

Visit my website where you’ll find free downloadable puzzles, how-to-draw pages and coloring pages for kids and an updated list of my hands-on workshops, chapels, and presentations for all ages.

Molly hopes you enjoyed learning about Renoir and will join us next week. We’ll be doing an art project based on his happy painting of Julie Manet and her cat. The following week will be the devotion.

Photo of Fluffy the Main Coon Cat

Shipwrecks and Lighthouses

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It was nighttime, August 11, 1897, and a thick fog had closed in around the Howard W. Middleton, a 3-masted schooner carrying 894 tons of coal from Philadelphia to Portland, Maine. The schooner had just passed rocky Black Point, made famous by the stormy seascapes painted by American artist, Winslow Homer.

Rather than risk sailing farther, Captain Shaw decided to put into a harbor on nearby Richmond Island, but in the swirling fog he missed the island and wrecked his ship on a rock just off a mainland beach.

sunset over Higgins Beach, photo by author

The Middleton’s crew made it to shore, and eventually tugboats from Portland retrieved much of the coal. A lot of coal also washed up on the beach, and people came from miles around to gather it for the coming winter. But with a huge hole in her hull, the Middleton was declared a loss and left on the rock. That winter a storm broke up the ship and carried it onto the beach, where today,125 years later, its seaweed-draped keel and ribs still lie half buried in the sand. I’ve walked around it many times at low tide.

Howard W. Middleton shipwreck, photo by author

If the Middleton had been able to round the next headland,

headland at Two Lights, photo by author

rocks and waves at Two Lights, photo by author

Several lighthouses, including Two Lights

Two Lights, photo by author

and the iconic Portland Head Lighthouse, both often painted by Edward Hopper, could have guided her into Portland’s safe harbor.

Since ancient times ships have depended on lighthouses to help them navigate dangerous waters. After independence, in 1789, the new American Congress passed a law to provide for the maintenance of existing lighthouses and for the building of new ones. Edward Hopper is famous for his paintings of lighthouses.

In this post you’ll:

Learn a little about Edward Hopper and his paintings of lighthouses
Find helpful vocabulary
Discover 3 activities to help you and your children explore and enjoy Hopper’s work
See a cute photo of Molly, the Artsy Corgi

The Artist

Edward Hopper,photo in public domain

Edward Hopper (1882-1967) was born in a small town on the Hudson River north of New York City. By the time he was 12, Hopper was already 6 feet tall, making him feel out of place and lonely. After high school he studied at the New York School of Art,

Soon after graduation from art school, Hopper traveled to Europe. He wasn’t interested in the modern art movements such as cubism. Instead he was drawn to the work of the French Impressionists. Over the next few years he made 2 more trips to Paris, studying the Impressionist’s emphasis on light and nature, their lighter colors, the cropped compositions, and the buildings many painted.

For a while Hopper struggled. His art didn’t fit either type of art that was prominent in America in the early 1900s–gritty, city scenes or idealized paintings of rural America. By the 1930s, with the help of his wife, Josephine Nivison (also an artist), people began to appreciate his work. His landscapes, and paintings of houses, lighthouses, diners, and storefronts all have a similar style that has greatly influenced American art. Hopper painted in both oil and watercolor. His most famous painting, The Nighthawks, was painted during WWII and seems to show the darkness and anxiety many people felt during those war years.

The Nighthawks by Edward Hopper, 1942, Art Institute of Chicago, public domain

Vocabulary

These words, which will be in bold green the first time they come up, will help you and your children talk more easily about different parts of the painting.

Impressionists: artists who wanted to show the effects of changing light in their paintings. They also painted scenes of everyday life. Claude Monet was a leader of the French Impressionists.
Geometric: when used in art–simple shapes showing squares, circles, triangles
Mood: the way an artist uses color, shadow, and other aspects of composition to makes us feel a certain way.
Composition: how colors, shapes, lines, etc. are arranged in a paintign to create a balanced work.

The Paintings

Hopper’s lighthouse paintings aren’t in the public domain, so I’ll use The Nighthawks and The House by the Railroad to explain his style and then give you links to see his lighthouses.

The House by the Railroad by Edward Hopper,1925, Museum of Modern Art, public domain

Like the Impressionists, Hopper liked to show the effects of light on objects and their colors. Part of this house is in bright sunlight, while the angles of the roof and windows produce sharp shadows—some of them very deep. Unlike the Impressionists, Hopper didn’t blur the edges of objects. He used a definite line and used lots of geometric shapes.

Hopper’s compositions are spare, with just enough detail to tell you the setting of the painting. Notice that in Nighthawks, the counter is almost bare, as are the walls and the windows across the dark street. Many of his paintings look like snapshots.

Most of Hopper’s paintings have few, if any, people, and there is often a mood of silence and even loneliness in them. The diner lights in Nighthawks are harsh. Fluorescent lights were still new, and Hopper seems to have enjoyed the eerie mood they produced.

Here are links to 2 of Hopper’s lighthouse paintings:

The Lighthouse at Two Lights

Lighthouse and Buildings, Portland Head, Cape Elizabeth, Maine

Activities to Help You and Your Children further Explore Hopper’s Paintings

Ask children to tell what’s going on in the paintings, (at least with Nighthawks. The others don’t have much action!) and what tells them that. Enhance their observational and verbal skills by rephrasing words and adding new vocabulary.
Talk about mood, and what colors placement and actions of people, etc., give them the mood of Nighthawks and why the other paintings seem to be so quiet and lonely.
In the other paintings, ask children to find different geometric shapes. How many ovals, squares, rectangles, etc. and of what colors, can they find.

Before You Go

If you’d like more activity ideas for art, history, and nature, curriculum connections, and links to more resources, be sure to sign up for my newsletter and receive a free guide to 5 Ways Art Benefits Children’s Cognitive, Physical, Spiritual, and Social Development, with a Few Fun and Easy Activities for each Benefit

Here’s a photo of Molly with the canvas bag I always use to carry things back and forth to school. It has a picture of Hopper’s painting, Lighthouse and Buildings, Portland Head, Cape Elizabeth, Maine. Molly hopes you enjoyed learning about Edward Hopper and will join us next week for a devotion based on his lighthouse paintings.

“Preaching with his brush,” Henry Ossawa Tanner Painted Warm Scenes of Christ and His Mother.

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Henry Ossawa Tanner once said he, “preached with his brush.” He won awards with his religious works and was one of the first African American artists to win international fame. He took several long trips to study and paint in the Middle East, because he wanted to show real people in authentic settings.

Many children will be heading back to their studies this month so Molly and I are back to our school year schedule, too. Here’s what you can expect most months:

Fun ways to learn about famous artists and their artworks.
Kid-friendly devotion based on the artwork
Art activity based on the artwork
Newsletter with curriculum connections to the artwork and reviews of related children’s fiction and nonfiction books. And freebies!
We also frequently do interviews with children’s authors. In fact, be sure to look at our Special Announcement at the end of this first school year blog.

On to our post about Henry Ossawa Tanner and his 2 beautiful paintings about Christ and his mother.

In this post you’ll:

Learn a little about Henry Ossawa Tanner and his 2 paintings of Christ and His Mother
Find helpful vocabulary
Discover activities to help you and your children explore and enjoy the painting
Be sure to check out a Special Announcement at the end about September’s blog that also has a cute photo of Molly, the Artsy Corgi

The Artist

Henry Ossawa Tanner by Thomas Eakins, public domain

Tanner grew up in Philadelphia, the son of a bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. His mother, a teacher, had escaped from slavery on the Underground Railway.

When he was 13, Henry saw a landscape artist painting in a city park and decided to become an artist. He spent hours painting in the city zoo, but after high school went to work in a flour mill. The work made him so sick, he had to quit.

Tanner spent his recovery time painting, and in 1879 enrolled in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, studying under Thomas Eakins. He was the only African American student. When Henry went out on his own, though, he found it difficult to succeed because of prejudice against African American artists.

Eventually, Tanner traveled to study in Paris as so many Americans did in the late 1800s. He loved Paris and its art and found more opportunity and less discrimination. He married and made Paris his home, only returning to America for visits.

Vocabulary

These words, which will be in bold green the first time they come up, will help you and your children talk more easily about different parts of the painting.

Genre art art that shows everyday events and people
Portrait a painting that focuses on one or just a few people. These may contain background landscape as in the Mona Lisa or a still life containing things that tell a little about the sitter

Tanner came to love the art of Rembrandt. He shared the Dutch artist’s faith and appreciated his portraits of Jesus and other biblical subjects. Tanner loved how Rembrandt used light and shadow to create drama, and how he showed the character of his subjects, giving dignity to everyday people and their work. Tanner continued to experiment with how to use light to create atmosphere and heighten a painting’s message.

There are 2 versions of this painting. One titled Christ and His Mother Reading the Scriptures (1909). The other called Christ Learning to Read (1910-1914). In these warm genre paintings, Mary and Jesus lean together as they both hold the scroll. Mary has her arm around her son, holding him close. Jesus is intent on his reading as his mother looks on with encouragement. From photographs, we know that Tanner’s wife and son were the models for both paintings.

Christ and His Mother Reading the Scriptures bu Henry O. Tanner, 1909, Dallas Museum of Art, public domain

Christ Learning to Read by Henry O. Tanner, 1910-1914, Des Moines Art Center, public domain

Both paintings also show the influences of Tanner’s studies in France, which led him to use lighter colors—cool blues and warm yellows and reds—and looser and more expressive brush strokes. We see the cool blues of her robes contrasted with the warm golds and tans of Jesus’ robes.

Though both paintings contrast light and shadow, the Learning to Read painting has more brilliant lights. It was painted after a trip to North Africa, where perhaps Tanner learned how to better show that bright Middle Eastern sunlight. In each painting, Christ stands out against the blue of Mary’s robes.

Activities to Help You and Your Children further Explore these 2 Beautiful Paintings

Before doing other activities, ask children to tell what’s going on in the painting and what tells them that. Ask children how Mary and Jesus feel about each other. What tells them that? Ask how they feel when they’re involved in activities with those they love. Enhance their observational and verbal skills by rephrasing words and adding new vocabulary.

Having 2 similar paintings by the same artist lends itself to a comparing and contrasting activity:

Encourage children to compare and contrast colors, shadows, items in the paintings, clothing, expressions, brightness, etc.

Ask them which painting they like better and why.

Before You Go

If you’d like more activity ideas for art, history, and nature, curriculum connections, and links to more resources, be sure to sign up for my newsletter and receive a free guide to 5 Ways Art Benefits Children’s Cognitive, Physical, Spiritual, and Social Development, with a Few Fun and Easy Activities for each Benefit

Molly hopes you enjoyed learning about these two paintings of Christ and His mother and will join us next week for a devotion based on the paintings.

Special Announcement

Look what’s coming to Kathy the Picture Lady blog in late August through September!

Many wonderful new children’s books are releasing, so starting with the last post of August, I’ll be interviewing 6 children’s authors, and Molly will talk to some of the main characters in each of their new releases of picture books and board books!

Molly hopes you’ll join us to learn more about such fun characters as a mole, a rocking chair, frogs, animal daddys, pugs, and all the people and creatures that came to the manger when Jesus was born!

Here’s Molly with her special stash of books that she hopes to add to very soon!

Devotion Based on 2 Artworks by Mary Cassatt

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In Mary Cassatt’s painting, A Young Mother Sewing, a little girl is leaning on her mother’s lap. Do you think her mother is working on a dress for her? We can imagine though, that she’d really like her mother to stop and come play.

Have you ever had to wait for an adult to finish something before helping you or playing a game? It’s hard to be patient at those times.

A second artwork by Mary Cassatt, called The Fitting, reminds me of a time like that for me.

The Fitting by Mary Cassatt, The Brooklyn Museum, public domain

When I was young one of the hardest times for me to be patient was when my mother hemmed my dresses. She began by measuring up from the floor with a wooden yardstick. I had to stand straight, with no drooping to the right or left as she placed pins at the right place. As she went round and round, checking, re-pinning, and checking again, Soon I’d start feeling wiggly, because I wanted to go play.

Have you ever had to be fitted for or shopped for clothes for a special event and thought the adults took too long? Did you feel wiggly and want to play?

Now I’m grown up, I know my mother was being careful because she loved me and wanted me to look my best. And when I look at The Fitting, I’m reminded of these verses from Psalm 139

O Lord, you have searched me and you know me.You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord. You hem me in – behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. (Psalm 139:1-5 NIV)

We are God’s children, and He uses the Bible as His yardstick to show us how to become more like Him, our loving heavenly Father.

Can you think of a time when the Bible helped you see a change you needed to make in how you treated friends or family?

Pinning is only part of the hemming process. In A Young Mother Sewing we see that hemming is done by hand and takes time and skill. It’s important not to get the stitches so tight they cause the cloth to pucker or so loose they fall out.

A Young Mother Sewing by Mary Cassatt,1900, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC, public domain

In the painting, I can imagine the mother laying her hand on her daughter’s head, encouraging her to be patient so the dress will turn out beautiful.

God has laid His hand upon us and encourages us to learn from Him. He knows us and doesn’t push us so hard that we get frustrated, but He also loves us enough to keep helping us make our lives more beautiful to glorify Him in the world.

Think of one lesson from your Bible that you can put into practice this week. Do you need to use kinder words? Do you need to be less impatient and wiggly when you have to wait for Mom or Dad to come play?

Let’s pray: Thank you, Heavenly Father, for knowing and loving me. You are always with me. Please help me become more like Jesus. In His name, amen.

Before You Go

Go here to learn about the painting, A Young Mother Sewing and how to enjoy it with your children. Go here if you’d like directions for a children’s art project based on Mary Cassatt’s paintings.

And be sure to visit my website where you’ll find free downloadable puzzles, how-to-draw pages and coloring pages for kids, and an updated list of my hands-on workshops, chapels, and presentations for all ages.

Molly and I hope you enjoyed this devotion based on art by Mary Cassatt. If you’ve signed up for my newsletter, you’ll soon receive our May newsletter with more fun things to do.

in this photo Molly is learning to sit inside a hula hoop and wait patiently for me to say she can get up.

Let’s Look at Mary Cassatt’s Painting of A Young Mother Sewing

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Although Mother’s Day is over, Molly and I hope you’ll join us this month as we look at one of Mary Cassatt’s beautiful and timeless paintings of mothers and children engaged in everyday activities.

In this post you’ll:

Find helpful vocabulary
Learn a little about Mary Cassatt and her paintings of mothers and children
Discover activities to help you and your children explore and enjoy her paintings
See a cute photo of Molly, the Artsy Corgi

Helpful Vocabulary

These words, shown in bold green the first time, will help you and your children talk more easily about different parts of the painting.

Impressionists: a group of mostly French artists, who in the late 1800s, began painting outside so they could catch the way colors changed in different lights. They worked quickly with dabs and dashes, (creating an impression of their subject) so their paintings looked strange and unfinished to viewers. The Impressionists held their own annual exhibits in Paris. The style also spread to other countries.
Genre art: art showing everyday events and people
Composition: the way an artist arranges all the parts to create a painting
The Renaissance: the rebirth or revival of classical (Greek and Roman) influences in art and literature, refers especially to the 14^th -16^th centuries in Italy when such greats as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael worked.

The Artist

Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) who grew up in Philadelphia, always wanted to become an artist. Despite her father’s objections, she entered the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts when she was 15. But women had separate classes from men, which frustrated Mary, and there were few museums in which to study great art. So, like many American artists, Mary traveled to Europe to study.

Even in Paris, Mary couldn’t attend the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, (France’s most prestigious art school), but she could study privately with Ecole masters and copy masterpieces at the Louvre. Many artists studied in this way.

Mary joined the French Impressionists just 5 years after their first exhibition in 1874. The only American and one of only three women, Mary continued exhibiting with the Impressionists until 1886

The men in the Impressionist group could go to cafes and travel around Paris and the surrounding countryside to find subjects to paint. Mary Cassatt and the other women couldn’t go to these places unless accompanied by a man. So they painted the domestic life of women and children, using their family members as models. Mary Cassatt is loved today for her beautiful paintings, pastels, and prints of mothers and children. In her Genre art we see the love between mothers and children in ordinary daily moments.

Though Cassatt lived the rest of her life in France, she never forgot the need for art in American museums. She helped Americans buy artworks to eventually go into these. Her own works are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Art Institute of Chicago, and many other big and small museums.

The Painting

A Young Mother Sewing by Mary Cassatt,1900, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC, public domain

Let’s look at a painting called A Young Mother Sewing. Cassatt has captured a quiet moment in time—the mother is intent on her sewing, while the child is staring at the viewer.

Though it is a genre painting, Cassatt has used a Composition in which the mother and child form a triangular shape, drawing our eyes up to the mother’s face. That triangle, together with the background horizontal and vertical lines, makes a stable, balanced composition.

This kind of composition was very common with portraits of the Madonna and Child in The Renaissance. So, though the woman is just an ordinary mom doing some sewing, Cassatt has given her great dignity and importance. To compare, here’s a Madonna and Child painting by Leonardo da Vinci.

The Virgin and Child with St. Anne and St. John the Baptist by Leonardo da Vinci,1499-1508, National Gallery, London, public domain

While using classical composition, Cassatt also employs impressionistic techniques:

She fills the painting with light. Where the sun hits, we see yellow highlights, and instead of black for shadows on the child’s dress, we see light blues and greens.
She dissolves the outlines of faces, hands, and fabrics, which is characteristic of much Impressionist art. If we look closely at the vase on the table, we see the pattern is barely indicated, and the flowers are just orange blobs.
Instead of a detailed landscape behind the woman, which we would see in a Renaissance portrait, we see just patches of paint to indicate lawn and trees receding into a shadowy blue distance. Compare that to the detailed background in the Mona Lisa, also by da Vinci.
Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, 1503-1516, Louvre, Paris, public domain

Activities to Help You and Your Children further Explore A Young Mother Sewing

Before doing any other activities, ask your children to tell what’s going on in the painting and what tells them that. Enhance their observational and verbal skills by rephrasing words and ideas. According to your children’s ages, work in a little of the new vocabulary, but keep it short and simple.

Ask what colors and patterns they see. Mention how the striped pattern on the mother’s dress helps show their close relationship.
Ask children in what ways this painting resembles a modern photograph.
What do they think the little girl is thinking as she looks at the viewer?
Is she asking her mother a question or maybe asking her mother to come and play?
Ask children if they’ve ever come to you or another adult to ask a question or to come and play? What happened? How should we behave at such times?
What do they think will happen next?
Other things you can do is to have children find all the blues, all the greens, and so on.

Before You Go

If you’d like more activity ideas for art, history, and nature, curriculum connections, and links to more resources, be sure to sign up for my newsletter and receive a free guide to 5 Ways Art Benefits Children’s Cognitive, Physical, Spiritual, and Social Development, with a Few Fun and Easy Activities for each Benefit

Cute picture of Molly. In one of our everyday moments we’re reading a special book by Nancy Sanders about animal babies and their mommies. Here’s a link to my post interviewing Nancy about her adorable board book, Bedtime with Mommy.

Molly and I hope you enjoy learning about this special painting of a mother and child and will join us next week for a devotion based on another of Mary Cassatt’s artworks, The Fitting.