Kids Cafe Art Lectures: Dale Chihuly

I have been fascinated by Dale Chihuly ever since I saw his chandelier at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. My last roommate in undergrad took a glass blowing class so I know how hot it can get in there and how easy it is to shatter the glass (as I tried it out once). I never got to see his exhibition at the Desert Botanical Gardens, though he's been there twice. So getting to research him for this Kids Cafe presentation was pretty amazing, and I learned a lot. The kids had a lot of fun with activity (which is one of my favorites we have done so far), though it took way longer and they weren't nearly dry enough by the end of the session, so if I did it again, I would definitely start earlier. 

Kid’s Café: Dale Chihuly

·         Today we’re going to learn a little about the artist himself

o   Born September 20, 1941 in Tacoma, Washington.

o   1965 - First melted glass and blew a bubble using glass melted in his ceramics kiln and a metal pipe

o   1968 - First American glassblower to work in the Venini factory on the island of Murano.

o   Has founded many glass studios.

o   Lost the sight in his left eye due to a car accident in 1976.  At this time, he had to give up full control of his glass making due to loss of depth perception (the visual ability to perceive the world in three dimensions - 3D -and the distance of an object).

o   In 1979, suffered a dislocated shoulder due to a body surfing accident, and lost the ability to gaffer his work – others must blow the glass for him now and he makes drawings to show what he would like them to create

• Taken from: http://chihulyelementaryartlessons.weebly.com/unit-plan.htm

• How Chihuly creates an actual glass-blown work of art


• His art is created by blowing your breath down a metal tube, forming a bubble inside a molten blob of glass
• He uses fire, gravity, heat and centrifugal force as his main tools to  shape glass
• Produces artwork in series
• Vibrant colors
• Influences: Organic forms, Native American Art

• Show glass blowing video on Dale Chihuly [wasn't working, so had to use intro portion from Chihuly at the V&A on glassblowing and how he got started]
• Show examples of his work
• Sea forms
• Amparo Purple Seaform Set with Jonquil Lip Wraps (2000)

• Pink and Opal Seaform Set, 1981

•  Towers
• Fireworks of Glass, 2005-06

• Chandeliers


• Otto Stelle Chandeliers (2007)  and V&A Chandelier (2001)

• Niijima floats
• Look like lava bubbles
• The Sun and Black Niijima Floats (2010) and Float Boat (2007)

• Macchias 
• Italian for "spots", Chihuly created the spotted colors by rolling the molten glass in small shards of colored glass
• Divine Blue Black Macchia with Marigold Lip Wrap, 2007

Thames Gray Macchia with Kingfisher Blue Lip Wrap, 1982

Spanish Orange Black Macchia with Sable Lip Wrap, 2006

• Chihuly's advice for aspiring artists: "Surround yourself with artists and see as much art as possible. Go with your gut and creat something that nobody has ever seen before ." 

·         Activities: Creating Our Own Chihuly-Inspired Macchia

o   Supplies: white coffee filters, markers, liquid spray starch, plastic cups to hold macchia, rubber bands, posterboard circles

o   Students thought about their color plan, putting lighter colors down first and making the spots on top of that layer of color. This actually follows the way the Chihuly team applies the colored spots (or jimmies) after the main part of the piece has been formed. We used regular Crayola watercolor markers and a coffee filter.
Next, students wrapped their coffee filter around a cup and fastened it with a rubber band. This is a step where neighbors can help neighbors. The last step is to spray starch the whole thing and let it dry. 

              Taken from: http://kids-finelines.blogspot.com/2012/02/chihuly-inspired-macchia.html

My art examples: The red/yellow one I did first, but I prefer the blue/purple/pink one.  I added the posterboard circles as a way to hold them up after they finished drying; also easier to transport this way. They can write their names on the circles instead of inside cups. 

Kids Cafe Art Lectures: Shapes and Henri Matisse

So last week was another crazy week at work, and Summer Reading program starts in about two weeks. We're already registering kids for the program and it looks to be easier to use than last year, so hopefully that will help with a lot of problems later on. The tagline for this year's theme, Superheroes, is pictured above. This will be my 3rd summer reading program I've helped with, and the second at this library. As the ALA says on their fact sheet about summer reading, "Summer reading began in the 1890s as a way to encourage school children, particularly those not needed for farm work, to read during their summer vacation, use the library and develop the habit of reading." Teachers use this time to get their students to read required books before school starts, and sadly I think that has taken a lot of the fun out of reading what you want during the summer. 

On to Kids Cafe. For my third week, we looked at Geometric vs Biomorphic Shapes and then talked about how Henri Matisse created his art and how he primarily used Biomorphic Shapes. I never really knew anything about Matisse before researching him for this lecture, so it was interesting getting to know his works and pick which ones I wanted to use for the discussion. Polinesia, The Sky was my favorite piece. The cut paper illustrations were a lot harder to make than you would think. I did have a parent remember this one a couple months later though, so at least the geometric/biomorphic shapes part stuck in her head. All of the lecture can be found at the source. 

Kid’s Café: Shapes and Henri Matisse – Jan 20

Introduction: Welcome to Kid’s Café. My name is Miss Rachel and we’re going to learn a little about art. Today we’re going to be talking about Shapes and Henri Matisse.  

 There are two basic kinds of shapes that artists use: Geometric and Biomorphic

Geometric shapes are precise and regular, like squares, rectangles, and triangles. They are often human-made things, like building and machines while biomorphic shapes are found in nature. These shapes may look like leaves, flowers, clouds--things that grow, flow, and move. The term biomorphic means life-form (bio = life and morph = form). Biomorphic shapes are often rounded and irregular, unlike most geometric shapes. 

• An artist that loved to explore the possibilities of mixing geometric and biomorphic shapes was Henri Matisse. In the last few decades of his artistic career, he developed a new form of art-making: the paper cut-out. Still immersed in the power of color, he devoted himself to cutting colored papers and arranging them in designs. Matisse was drawing with scissors!

Matisse - The Sheaf, 1953

Matisse - Polinesia, The Sky, 1947

 La Betes de la Mer (The Beasts of the Sea), 1950 is a memory of his visit to the South Seas. In this work of art, Matisse first mixed paint to get all the brilliant colors of the ocean. Then he cut this paper into shapes that reminded him of a tropical sea. Lastly, he arranged these biomorphic shapes vertically over rectanglees of yellows, greens, and purples to suggest the watery depths of the undersea world. 

Matisse - The Beasts of the Sea, 1950

·         Compare and Contrast: Geometric vs Biomorphic

• Piet Mondrian - Tableau No. IV; Lozengge Composition with Red, Gray, Blue, Yellow, and Black, c. 1924-25

• Geometric?
• Yes, triangles, a square, and rectangles.
• From nature/biomorphic?
• None.

o   Edward Steichen, Le Tournesol (The Sunflower), c. 1920

• Geometric?
• The artist used mostly geometric shapes.)
• From nature/biomorphic?
• The big green shape—the vase—in the middle of the painting seems more like something found in nature with its rounded edges.  

o   Vincent van Gogh, Roses, 1890

• Geometric?
• No hard-edged shapes here.
• From nature/biomorphic?
• Yes, it makes sense that a painting of flowers uses biomorphic shapes—things "from life."

o   Henri Matisse, Woman Seated in an Armchair, 1940

• Point out that this is the same artist as the one that created Beasts of the Sea, however, this one uses paint instead of cut paper.
• Did he mix kinds of shapes in this painting too?
• Yes, the artist used shapes from nature and geometric shapes here.

·         Activities: Creating Our Own Cut Paper Collages

o   Supplies: Construction paper (use white and black for backgrounds, and then use blue, red, yellow, orange and green to create collage), scissors, glue sticks

o   Create underwater collages or one of your choosing based off Matisse cut paper examples

Underwater Collage Examples I found on the web: 

Here are my personal examples of Matisse-style collages (my favorite one is the top one): 

Picture Books and Why They're Awesome

Last week's post was all about National Library Week. I talked about the fill-in-the-blank photos that my library system was displaying in celebration, and I wanted to add that if I was going to do one my would say "Hello, my name is Rachel and I read way more Children and Young Adults books than Adult ones." I have been teased by this fact, but the truth is that I love reading them, and would still do so even if I wasn't a Children's Librarian. I'm a sucker for good illustrations, as my book reviews can attest. I know a lot of people like to poo poo this kind of art, especially if it's for children, but some of the best art I've seen lately has been from these sources. The majority of my children's book collection at home is picture books. A lot of times I can't think about a certain author without thinking about the artwork included in their children's books, like William Joyce,  Mo Willems, Peter Brown, or even Tony DiTerlizzi. I've been sharing picture books with my son since he was a baby, and sometimes I check them out just for me to read. It honestly surprises me to see which picture books my son likes, especially if they are ones I got for me because I didn't think he would like the subject matter or understand what it is about. Case in point, I brought home a haiku poetry book called Won Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku by Lee Wardlaw, which is right now one of his favorite books for me to read to him. 

So when I saw this post today from Nerdy Book Club, I knew I had to include it in a post. In it, 5th grade students made up a list of why they love picture books, all of which I agree with especially number 8, 7, 5 and 1. So I guess the moral of this post is pick up a picture book and enjoy one with your child, or just on your own. 

Our Top Ten Reasons We Love Picture Books

10. Picture books are amazing because they are short enough to teach us something in one class period. 

9. Picture books are amazing because they bring us laughter and make us remember when we were younger. 

8. Picture books are amaing becauase they help us to be creative. 

7. Picture books are amazing becuase they give us a break and chance to relax from reading chapter books. 

6. Picture books are amaing because they are entertaining and don't have as many rules to follow as chapter books. 

5. Picture books are amazing because they allow all of us to feel the joy of reading. 

4. Picture books are amazing because they teach us. Just because they're short doesn't mean they can't teach us a lesson. 

3. Picture books are amazing because they help us learn lessons through them and then we can turn and apply them to our own reading. 

2. Picture books are amazing because they open up the whole world to us in a short text that we can gather around and share together. 

1. Picture books have no age limits. (This one is supposed to be said with enthusiasm. 

Kids Cafe and The Kraken

We have a program that the library is co-sponsoring with a local food bank and the USDA called Kids Cafe. Basically we give a wholesome snack to children 0-18 with an enrichment program. I doesn't have to be fancy, just has to be vaguely educational. I like to make an effort with my programs and have been using them as an opportunity to expose kids to art. My undergraduate degree was in Art History and I love to be able to use it when I can, plus I like to teach people about art. In addition, I know a lot of schools have cut art programs because of all the budget cuts, so I figure that they will be predominantly learning something new. Overall, I have really enjoyed the mini-lectures I have given, despite the time constraints, as I am limited to basically 10-15 minutes, and then we do a craft. I've gotten to research cool artist like Van Gogh, Kandinsky, Chihuly, Matisse, and even cool historical periods/cultures like the Ancient Egyptians. 

Dale Chihuly's The Sun and Black Nijima Floats

This month I'm am attempting to do some programs around poetry as it is National Poetry Month. Last year, I blogged every day with a different poem. I don't have as much time this year. Today's programs was on "Haikus and Origami". Needless to say the origami was more popular, even though I was super excited about the haikus as they are one of my favorite poetical forms. Anyways, I have decided to post this poem today because I recently found it while reading a children's nonfiction book with my son on the Kraken entitled Here There Be Monsters: The Kraken and the Giant Squid by H.P. Newquist. I highly recommend the book. 

The Kraken

by Lord Alfred Tennyson

Below the thunders of the upper deep, 

Far, far beneath in the abysmal sea, 

His ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep

The Kraken sleepeth: faintest sunlights flee

About his shadowy sides; above him swell

Huge sponges of millenial growth and height; 

And far away from the sickly light, 

From many a wonderous grot and secret cell

Unnumbered and enormous polypi

Winnow with giant arms the slumbering green.

There hath he lain for ages, and will lie

Battening upon huge sea worms in his sleep, 

Until the latter fire shall heat the deep; 

Then once by man and angels be seen, 

In roaring he shall rise and on the surface die.