I can almost feel the mist on my face and hear the crash of waves when I look at the artwork Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog. We discussed what they might see, hear, smell, taste and touch when they imagine themselves in the artwork. Then they started to create their own Sea of Fog Mixed Media art with textured rock paper, a sense of space in the depth of their seascape and by drawing a lone figure watching it all.
​
ABOUT THE ARTWORK
Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog is considered one of the masterpieces of the Romanticism art movement. The emphasis on nature and emotion make this piece a classic example of Romanticism. The artist who painted it is
Caspar David Friedrich, who was a German artist. His is best known for his dramatic landscapes that typically feature a lone figure.

Medieval Knights were mounted warriors who went to battle and fought for their Lords. Knights came from wealthy families and it was considered a high honor to be a knight. To become a Knight, training began as young as 7-years old. A boy would become a PAGE, a Page would become a SQUIRE and a Squire would become a KNIGHT.

Knights in the 12th and 13th century wore shiny armor when they went to battle. At first they rode with chainmail but this evolved to plates of metal for better protection.

I asked one of my brave kiddos to share a bit of research on just how one can become a knight... so they got to hear from a classmate instead of from me 😁

Take a look as they draw and paint a jousting knight set against a medieval backdrop!

This year we took a look at how we prepare our homes for Diwali. The children drew and painted a house decorated for the occasion complete with fireworks in the sky!

ABOUT THE MONA LISA
Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa using soft outlines and heavy shading, which is a hallmark of Renaissance portraits. No one knows for sure who the Mona Lisa is a portrait of. The best guess is that she was an Italian noblewoman named Lisa Gherardini. This painting is so
valuable, that it is displayed in Paris under bulletproof glass!

Our version of the Mona Lisa focuses on creating value using charcoal pencils. So the kids are asked to think of areas of light and areas of shadow. We’ve also used a bright contemporary landscape as the backdrop to make it lively and more appealing for the age group.

ABOUT MEDUSA
Medusa is a monster from ancient Greek mythology. Instead of hair, her head is covered with living venomous snakes. According to legend, Medusa was a beautiful mortal who flaunted her good looks even in the face of the great Roman goddess Athena. As punishment for her brazenness Athena plagued Medusa with a hideous appearance and venomous snakes for hair! 😳 The myth was that anyone who looked at Medusa would turn into stone. Medusa was killed by the Greek hero Perseus. Many of my little artists were familiar with her and the legend so they really got into creating her likeness today!

This year in recognition of Republic Day the Picassos painted a beautiful scene of our national birds in their natural habitat... the Caroni Swamp and they got to choose how they wanted to compose the scene and practiced drawing the birds in different positions. They also created colorful sunset skies since these birds come out in the evening to show off their bright plumes!

The Hall of the Bulls is a large hall inside Lascaux Cave. Massive drawings of bulls, some 18 feet long, stampede along the walls.

​ABOUT LASCAUX CAVE
In 1940 a cave was discovered by teenage boys in southwest France. When they entered the cave, they were surrounded by paintings on the walls and ceilings.

The paintings are estimated to be 17,000 years old. Most of these prehistoric paintings are of large animals, such as horses, cattle and bison, and were painted with black, red and yellow mineral pigments.

The Stone Age people were able to see in the cave with the use of lamps made out of stone. Over 100 prehistoric lamps have been found in Lascaux Cave.

We recreated the look of these stone walls by creating texture and using tones that may have been found on its surface.

​

ABOUT STONEHENGE
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in England that was likely built between 3000 and 1520 BC. It is made of stones that are each about 13 feet hight and 7 feet wide. The stones are arranged in an inner and outer circle.
Each stone weighs around 25 tons, which is as much as two school buses! No one knows how the Neolithic people moved the huge stones to the area or how they were able to arrange them in the post-and-lintel construction.

Another mystery is why Stonehenge was built. Some theories are that it was a burial ground, religious place or used for predicting when the seasons would change. What do you think?

Our art piece today is smaller than our typical size and this means the kids had to adjust the scale of their drawings accordingly. They used watercolours to complete this simple but striking rendition of one of history’s great wonders!