A Net in Time

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Art Series

Art Book: Meet Cindy Sherman

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Cindy Sherman, an chameleon of a person who is also an artist and a photographer… likes to do things in her own way, allowing people to interpret her art in their own way.   In this book children are invited to see her art and say what they think of it.    Today I invite you to bring YOUR students along to interpret her art in their own way as well.  Meet Cindy Sherman: Artist, Photographer, Chameleon.

I half expect Cindy and I might get along as I also like to let individuals do art in their own way.  Giving parameters and lessons and letting them live out their vision of how they think it can be worked out.   It’s what makes art fun.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading the comments from different children about her work, some of them making up stories to go behind what they see, others describing colours and attitudes, and still others describing their emotion at the image.   That mix in attitudes and emotion intrigue me when it comes to introducing children to art. 

We are introduced to Cindy Sherman in all her many forms, and her life as she explored art.   Starting a child playing dress up to an adult experienced in her craft. A child could easily read this book as the language is written at a good level for upper elementary and middle school students.  We read of the work she did and HOW she went about achieving her ends.. from scouring thrift stores, to covering the walls of her room with images from the past, getting friends to help her take pictures in different locations.   She explores what makes a person…can a person wearing a wig and beard dressed in men’s clothes really be the same as the lady wearing a lovely dress and done up all nice?

Now, all this said, I can’t say I really appreciate all of her work, but I do appreciate the sentiment behind her work and therefore, should I ever see her work it gives me a glimpse into her mindset and therefore helps me appreciate what her aim is.   People being people without worrying about the window-dressing.  🙂

Cindy is a persistent lady with a vision of what she wants to accomplish in her art.  This book is well worth giving any prospective art student as an encouragement to them to continue in their endeavors. 

  
Meet Cindy Sherman: Artist, Photographer, Chameleon
Jan Greenburg & Sandra Jordan
Roaring Book Press
64 pages, ages 7-12
art, softcover, opinion, artist, middle school

Reviewed for: Raincoast Books.

Art Book: Star Wars Build-A-Scene

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This Star Wars build-a-scene kit is perfect for the Star Wars fan in your life.   My lad is an avid paper crafter and was quite delighted when this kit made it’s way into our home. 

Three builds are included in this kit:

  • Episode III Revenge of the Sith
  • Episode IV A New Hope
  • Episode VII The Force Awakens

Each build in the book is predicated by a write up of what the build is about and how it was filmed.  Pictures from the movie are included, as well as concept scenes making this a well-rounded kit.  Not just a build but an informational kit.   Once this informational write up (about 5 pages) is completed you are given a list of supplies.  Common items like glue, paint brush, etc are listed, as well as instruction on how to do the build.  Mountain and valley folds, gluing and letting dry, and so forth.  The creators want you to be successful in doing the build, so take your time and read through all the instructions before starting. 

You will find that the sheets are perforated well on a thicker paper, but not board paper thick.  Just a nice quality paper for doing papercraft builds.  The individual pieces are well numbered.

Take your time, carefully build, read and re-read the instructions as needed, and you can complete these three scenes.   I’d say this kit is better for the older teen to adult builder as it is fiddly and you need the patience to take your time doing the build.My Thoughts:

Honestly.. we tried.. well.. my son tried!  I started, ran into problems, he tried hard to fix my oops, and well… he lost heart.  This is not a build for the inexperienced.  My son is an avid paper crafter and knows how to work with glue and paper really well .. but my mess up just brought him to a stall.  Unwilling he was to try another build, partially because he didn’t want to make me feel bad, but trying to fix my oops just disheartened him.   Adult builders.. take heart though.  if you are a good paper crafter and have the requisite patience, this kit will work really well for you.  It’s a great kit, and being able to build what you’ve seen on the big screen is wonderful. 

Star Wars Build-a-Scene.
Benjamin Harper
Claudio Dias
Three builds in one kit.Disney/Lucasfilms
48 page booklet, kit, 
Hands-on, papercraft, Star Wars, model

Reviewed for: Quarto Group

Where to find: Amazon.com

Review: Color Me Calm

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Check out what I have for you today!   It’s a colouring calendar!   How cool is that?    It’s one of those daily calendars that you rip off the pages for every day of the year.  365 days of colouring.  I LOVE IT! The name of this daily calendar: Color For Calm. 

Color For Calm is a rip-off page, all year long daily calendar.  Each day presents a new coloring challenge (one on weekends), a challenge that will give you few minutes to catch your second wind, to relax into the world that is colour.  I noted most days were on a white background, but shared weekend dates had a faint coloured back in blue, pinks, yellows etc.  Not over-whelming to affect the colour palate but just enough to show the difference.  I liked all the colourful designs that framed each page.

And guess what.. it even comes with it’s own colouring pencils!   Five double-coloured pencil, the only thing it’s missing is the pencil sharpener.   It even comes with a handy hole for hanging it on the wall.

I showed this calendar to my sister and she checked through to see if it was themed, I didn’t find it to remarkably be so.  In December there were Christmasy themes, but not overwhelming, October has some Hallowe’en but most fall oriented designs, similarly for the rest of the year. I would expect with any annual calendar to have something about any given holiday pertaining to that holiday. 

Color for Calm All Year Long 2018: 
Box Calendar with Colored Pencils attached to Base
Carrie Stephens
RockPoint
300 colour plates, 5 double-sided pencils
Coloring, Calm, Calendar
Reviewed for: Quarto Group

 

Where to buy it:

Color for Calm All Year Long 2018: Box Calendar with Colored Pencils attached to Base.

Art Book: How to Build Lego Cars

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Do you love building with Lego?   Do you see it for the art form that it is?  Yes, it’s STEM and building and engineering, but … it is also an art form.   You can really see it in these magnificantcars that Peter Blackert helps you design in How to Build Brick Cars.

Oh…these aren’t your standard lego cars…these are master builder cars that go on to inspire you to model your own creations.
15 different cars which work you up from basic to expert, teaching you the skills you need to design your own lego models of the sports, race, and muscle cars you see around you every day.

You get to build cars such as the Ford Raptor, Datsun Coupe, Ferrari 250, Porsche 911 and so many more.  15 cars all told.

You will find detailed parts lists as well as information about the car being built.  The parts list is in full colour with numbers written alongside.  I didn’t find those numbers worked well with the Lego Store, so they might be with another area?  I don’t know.  BUT I do know you could go into any Lego Store with this book and they could help you find any pieces that you need, with the picture is on the page along with colour.  Easy peasy!

After the opening section you get into the meat of the build.  Full colour illustrations walk you step by step through the build. As long as you are paying attention (and don’t skip steps) you can complete your build.

My thoughts:
This is a great book for any lego enthusiast.  Getting help to make the car of your dreams?  What more could you ask for.  The detailed instruction ensure that anyone who can follow lego instructions can complete these builds…just as long as you have all the lego parts at hand.    Go ahead, create some lego art!

How to Build Brick Cars: Detailed Lego Designs for Sports cars, race cars, and muscle cars.
Peter Blackert
MotorBooks
192 Pages
Paperback, oversized
Lego, creator, build, master builder, animals, design

Reviewed for: Quarto Group.

Where can I find it?

How to Build Brick Cars.    Amazon.ca   Or   Amazon.com.

This post may contain affiliate links – using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool – thank you! ©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time . We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites

That Mad, Monkish Architect!

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This is Gaudi  is a book I reviewed about Antoni Gaudi, people either loved him or hated him, and in this tome we learn why.  🙂  Author Mollie Claypool walks us through his life, his formation of ideas, and the work that he did. 

I found it a bit different that this biography had no table of contents, it dove right into telling us about Gaudi, and continued to just walk us through his life.

Filled with images that spoke to the life he led and the work that he did, this is not a dry boring read, but one that intrigues and teaches.

He wasn’t a healthy lad by any means, and a poor student, but he made friends, and he did learn!  We are introduced to his observations about life and his dreams for the future.   He and his friends made grand plans to restore the monastery of Santa Maria de Poblet.  This monastery remained a focus for the rest of their lives. “They would remain committed to it’s restoration throughout their lives”. 

That his faith was important to him remained evident throughout the book, and in how he did his architectural work.  He never married, but experienced deep love with a young lady, but for reasons unknown dropped the relationship. 

Part of his madness, was he didn’t do his work in an always conventional fashion. He could put up walls and tear them down the same day, only to put the wall somewhere else.   He invented the “parametric, adaptive model”, a model that inspired generations of architects.

Filled with images and illustrations showing Gaudi and the work he did, this book will give any student a thorough look into the life of Antoni Gaudi. His ethics and determination shone through the pages. 

My thoughts:
I thought Gaudi was a fascinating individual, and can’t say I agree with all his life decisions, but he had his ideas and worked with them to the fullest he could. His faith was important to him and he weaved it into his work to the best of his ability.   I found the font small, which just meant closer up reading for my tired, older eyes.  🙂   I don’t see it being an issue for younger students though.  It’s written at a level I’d say for middle school and up.  It would be a interesting book to give to a highschool student and ask the question “How do you think you could interpose your faith into your work life?  What do you think of how Gaudi did it?”

This is Gaudi
Mollie Claypool
Illustrator: Christina Christoforou
80 pages.
Hardcover
Art, Architecture, biography, history,

Reviewed for Raincoast Books. 

Where can you find it?

Amazon.ca: This is Gaudi.
Amazon.com: This is Gaudi.

This post may contain affiliate links – using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool – thank you!

©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time . We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites

Art Book: Fine Art Adventures

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What would you do if I told you that you could explore 18 different masterpieces with your student, using those 18 masterpieces as inspiration for doing 3 different art projects with students 6 years old and up?   Wouldn’t that just peak your interest?   It certainly did mine.   Today I would like to introduce Fine Art Adventures by Maja Pitamic and Jill Laidlaw.


First let me tell you about the authors.  Maja has written several art books and has over 20 years experience teaching art to children.   Jill has used her art history degree as she’s been writing and editing books since 1990.

Fine Art Adventures was written with the novice art teacher in mind.  Just assemble the needed supplies and open the book and teach your art class. 

The book is divided into sections: Colour, Black & White, Shape, Animals, Portraits, Landscape, Myths & Legends and Light & Black.   In the landscape section we look at three different paintings: Winter Landscape, Mone Sanite-Victorie and Nocturne in Blue and Silver.  Each of the 18 paintings comes with two art lessons.  

Before you start the lesson you are given a history on the artist and his painting.   

Next comes a picture of the project along with pictorial steps (with text underneath) of the project along with a materials list. 

Each of the projects is simple enough to do.  They could, most likely, fit into an hour long co-op class…guess what I am thinking of doing???   Having a fun art class!

Most of the projects use materials easily attained in most basic art stories, others might take a bit of sussing out on amazon (like shrink plastic), but not that difficult.   Then it’s just a matter of sitting down with a group of children and having fun doing some art.  (and learning some history at the same time).

My thoughts:
I like this book and how it is laid out into sections.  It would so easy to teach art to your children/students as the lessons are well laid, with hints about when to use speed, how to mix up your paints, or whatever else you need.  The instructions are easy to read and having the pictorial alongside makes it super easy to follow. I love how each of the lessons grabs a hold of ONE idea from the painting studied and then finds a way to work with the idea presented.  Some of the ways are SO COOL!  🙂  I want to do this book so bad with some students, I think it would be so much fun.

In showing it to an art teacher, her response was “wow…that would be so interesting to do”, and “did you see this lesson?…what would be good to show the colours..oh, I like this”.   (she said she’ll be looking for it!)

Fine Art Adventures: 36 creative, hands-on projects inspired by classic masterpieces
Maja Pitamic & Jilll Laidlaw
Chicago Review Press
144 pages
Softcover, art, resource, children’s art
Age: 6 and up

Where can you find it?
Amazon.ca: Fine Art Adventures.
Amazon.com: Fine Art Adventures: 36 Creative, Hands-On Projects Inspired by Classic Masterpieces

This post may contain affiliate links – using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool – thank you!

©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time . We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites

Art Book: Wild Garden

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 Do you remember A Hand Lettered Life from last week?   This is another in the Scratch and Create Series that I thought you might like to know about.   Wild Garden is a set of postcards, making them ideal work on anywhere you find yourself needing to wait around and the finished product makes an excellent quick thank you gift for those you meet along the way.

Scratch & Create is a neat little product where you use a stylus to create colour!   So instead of putting colour on to the page (and needing to think what colours go together), you are taking a silver coating off to reveal beauty underneath.

You use this stylus pen to do your creating.

I have to admit, I love the portability of Wild Garden, the fact that I can stick it in my purse and take along while my boy does his karate lessons…that works for me.  I don’t always want to read a book or play on the tablet while he is at practice.   So these little cards make the ideal way for me to spend time waiting.

At the end of it, I have a finished product that I can give as a thank you gift to his Sensei, or put in a envelope to tell a friend I was thinking of her.

Since the colours are already done for me I don’t have to haul along a bunch of markers or pencil crayons either.  Just a simple neat package that travels easily.

Just check out the bright colours!

I have to admit, it takes a bit of time to know how much pressure to exert and which end of the stylus to use for best results, so you might want to keep your first attempt for a family member gifting, but once you have the hang of it, the rest of the 20 postcards will prove to be an easy gift.

Do keep a cloth handy to wipe up the silver coating as it comes off, you don’t want to end up wearing it.  It does clean up real easily. 

This would be a great item for folks who like to scrapbook or doodle while they wait, or are just sitting back relaxing.  It’s a great way to keep the hands busy.

Wild Garden
Scratch & Create
Helen Hardik
20 postcards, One Stylus Pen
Rockport Publishing
Reviewed for: The Quarto Group

This post may contain affiliate links – using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool – thank you!

©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time . We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites