Tuesday 7 February 2012

An Arty Post

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

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Thought I'd cobble together some recent art moments from around here. It is not easy to weild a camera while juggling art materiels and a baby so sadly, a lot of our work in progress remains unrecorded.
Once the works are complete I often forget to post about them altogether which is a shame because art and craft are a staple of our homeschool life.
The kids have inherited from me the idea that life is often best understood and processed through an artful lens :)


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Emmy and Boo have been learning about Abstract Geometric Art... Boo's work is the one in the middle... Emmy's is nearest and in the frame.

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An Abstract Geometric Feline... Emmy is working on four paintings of cats at the moment, each cat will be painted in the style of a different art movements. She just started working on an impressionist style cat, for which our very own Florence, modelled obliviously in her sleep.
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Setting up our space for the "dreaded" home school inspection day :)


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The girls have also been enjoying their pastels recently. 

Clockwise from top left Matilda, Seraphina, Bujana and Emmy' s peacock feathers.

It is really an amazing thing to look at a peacock feather for any length of time. They are so incredibly detailed and beautiful.


 Capturing their iridescence on paper is another matter all together...

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Emmy's made a willow dream catcher made using these instructions...

The origin of the Dream catcher... quoted from this source

"It was traditional to put a feather in the center of the dream catcher; it means breath, or air. It is essential for life. A baby watching the air playing with the feather on her cradleboard was entertained while also being given a lesson on the importance of good air."......"Dream catchers made of willow and sinew are for children, and they are not meant to last. Eventually the willow dries out and the tension of the sinew collapses the dream catcher. That's supposed to happen. It belies the temporary-ness of youth."
 
homemade willow branch dream catcher
Boo made this little boatmobile last week from instructions found in this wonderful little science book for under 10's...

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Big sis carrying baby sis around.


One of the joys of having the girls at home is watching them bond. 

They spend so much time in each other's company, time that they would have spent apart if they were at school. 

Nola has brought such a warm energy into our family. 

This little babe gets an awful lot of attention you know :)

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15 comments:

  1. You have so much talent in your home! I love seeing all the art work so please keep it coming.
    Isn't it nice that your girls are so close? While I only have two children still living at home all five of my children talk with each other everyday and try to get together often. It makes me feel so happy that they will have each other for life.

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  2. Wow, you are thriving in the arts. The pastel feathers and the abstract feline are priceless. Only those who don't have siblings cannot appreciate how important the bond is. Most of the times, our siblings teach us the major lessons in life. Your girls are lovely.

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  3. love the art,love your girls. beautiful suzy.

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  4. you are all very talented. i love all the colour and textures of the artworks and also the light and sensitivity of your photography.
    my big grown up children (in their thirties) still have their willow dreamcatchers, i think they have retained some of their youthful spirit ;o) we used to have a lovely willow in our garden, it was a most kind and welcoming tree (it's trunk really did radiate warmth and was always warm to touch even in winter) i do miss that tree and hope it's new family appreiate it as much as we did. we only have a tiny garden with small trees now, but we do back onto lovely meadows surounded by many wonderful plants and trees. one tree in particular is quite magical (an ash, i think) we have sometimes seen little lights in it out of the corners of our eyes.

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  5. This post makes me happy. I love to see young people thriving creatively, especially in our electronically/technologically driven culture. So good that you can be a muse to your daughters...

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  6. beautiful art from your beautiful girls! all with such beautiful names i might add. you bring beauty into the world ! how wonderful. : )

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  7. Such beautiful work from your children. While I did not homeschool my girls art/poetry/music making has always been a priority in our home. Even as teenagers in High School this is ongoing. For most families we know sports are the focus other than regular academics and I am not judging this, it is a choice. This makes my kids a little "different" than their peers, but my husband and I feel that we have offered our daughters something truly special... encouragement to express their inner beings and connect with the world in their own unique ways.

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  8. what amazingly vibrant colors. the women make beautiful art, that's clear. the dream catcher and peacock feathers are hefty symbols. what a lovely home you have.

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  9. wow... your children are incredibly talented! this made me want to get out the brushes and start painting!

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  11. I love the picture of the two girls, they look perfectly comfortable with each other. :) I also think that's one of the most amazing blessings about homeschooling, the time my girls get to spend together. They actually LIKE each other's company, and are happy to spend day after day together. I'm not sure what the 'homeschool inspection' is, but it does sound dreadful. ;) Love all the awesome artwork, years ago the girls and I made dreamcatchers... I still have mine. Must not have been made from willow... :)

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  12. Oh, I wish you lived next door or down the street - and I would send my little guy whose fingers itch art!

    I would like art projects with directions:) We could swap college prep writing projects for art projects with directions for an 11 year old:)

    When you homeschool, what kind of inspection do you have? Where we are, there is no inspection.

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  13. In the UK we have annual inspections :( Basically someone from the Local Education Department has to come and verify that all is well and the children are learning what they "nned" to learn :)

    Yes! We have lot's of itchy art fingers in this house :)

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  14. So very, very beautiful - your whole set-up seems like a work of art!

    (Thanks also for your kind comment on my blog, Suzy.)

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  15. Love all this art, such talent. We are loving real science 4 kids at our house!

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