Purchasing Original Art

Sometimes I make art. The creative process of producing art is irregular in my life, depending on many factors: time available after my three day jobs or giving in to the sometimes absolute need for expression, to name just two.


Professionally, in my Docent Art Program, I talk about art. I teach adults how to bring mounted fine art reproductions into classrooms and have a blast talking to the children about the art. Well, actually I mostly teach them how to ask open-ended questions and then listen to the children. And listen, we must, because they have a lot to say and not many opportunities to be listened to without judgement.


Sometimes people suggest that I bring in examples of local artists artists and I have to explain to them the somewhat indescribable differences between great art and not-so-great art. Talking about art that is not so great is not enjoyable, is strained and the conversation, if there is one, does not last long. Great art, no matter what the style, time period or subject matter involves more then initially meets the eye, speaks a universal language, has layers of meaning, has an emotional impact on the viewer and even the techniques and materials used are interesting to look at and talk about. One of my measurement tools of great art is that it excites my eyes. My eyes want to keep looking and look again. They dart back and forth. Then the eyes start to communicate with the brain and heart. Ideas and emotions begin to surface. There are no judgements interfering with that process. It is exciting, draws me in and demands my attention and my responses are elicited. They have surfaced and must escape.


While I'll never own a Picasso or van Gogh or Cassatt or O'Keefe, I can still afford to own great art that meets my definition of depth, intrigue and beauty rising from the soul.


Last night I walked into the Whitman, MA town hall for their 3rd Cake, Champagne & Art event sponsored by the local Mass Cultural Council. While I was looking forward to sampling the champagne, I had no expectation of purchasing anylocal original art. It is hardly ever worth purchasing.


I walked in, looked to the right and was immediately drawn to one area displaying expressive multi-media paintings of people and architecture. They were compelling and if I could afford one, I knew right away I would purchase one. Deciding which was the only dilemma.


I am now the proud owner of Jeremy (as seen right) painted in 2009 by 28 year old Mathew Gillis Hall of Whitman, MA. Remember his name. The day will come when you will say, "I remember when Cathy Drinan tried to tell me about him." (The textures and depth of character are not evident with this small copy of the image. I will try to get one that is worthy of and indicative of the original, 40" by 69".)


Purchasing original art allows us the very special opportunity to connect with other people on a level we could all use more of. Standing before great art is itself a feeling of honor. To meet the artist is another. To have the treasure in your home to be enjoyed on a daily basis and shared with others, perpetuates the honor. It connects you to humanity.
Jeremy looks at you with beauty and depth. I don't know his story. I only know that there is one.


Thank you, Mathew Gillis Hall and thank you, Jeremy.

Docent Art: Transportation: Steam Engine Train

American Express Train

1864 Currier & Ives

Suggestions: Many are the same categories as with the other Currier & Ives in this unit.
a. The time period - Now that we have seen all three paintings and we have seen that all three were painted about the same time, what can we say about this time period? Was it exciting in any way? How? Was this time it very different from having only horses and walking and row boats for means of transportation? In what ways? (See the steam boat in the background?)
b. People’s feelings - How do you imagine the people felt about trains? Why? How do you think the artist felt about trains? What is the evidence in the painting of this?
c. Color - What part of the train is most colorful? Why? How does the artist use color to keep the train the most important thing in the painting? (dull toward the back vs. bright for the foreground)
d. Composition - How has the artist composed the painting so that our eyes stay on the picture? Mostly on the train? (Note the curves and sideways triangle formed by the train, train tracks, and the smoke. To block the eyes from traveling off the picture and out of the frame, the golden tree looms up to the pretty sky and leans to the right, pointing to the train.)
e. Cost - What costs are involved in making, running, maintaining this train? (Don’t forget the making of and maintaining of the tracks) What did this “cost” in labor, which means people? Who built those tracks? (I know I am dating my fifty year old self here but if you’ve seen some of the old Kung Fu shows, you’ve seen an indication of the many Chinese people who were used to build the train tracks.)
f. Environment - Any costs to the environment? What were they? Did the people know then about pollution the way we do now? Why or Why not?
g. Benefits - Did the people benefit in any way from this knew form of transportation? How? When might speed be important? If I had to get some medicine across land as quickly as possible what form of transportation would I want to use? Has anyone heard of the pony express? Business benefits - Is anyone making money here? Who is? Who isn’t?
h. Safety - Which form of transportation that we saw today was the safest? Why? Each of them could have accidents. How might speed make a difference in the results? (The scientifically interested could estimate the speed of each and then calculate the speed of impact depending on whether the moving object hit another moving object or a stationary one. I think that with two moving objects the speeds are multiplied by each other.) How about safety from other people? Were the trains or steamboats ever held up by robbers? Why? (This goes back to the entertainment factor. These people had money with them for vacationing, eating and such forms of entertainment as gambling and game playing.)
i. Exploration - Did exploration benefit in any way? Could ordinary people and whole families become explorers any easier now with this new means of transportation? Could new territories be moved into? What was the cost of this exploration? Who paid a price? Was anyone a loser? Did the Native Americans willingly give their lands to the people on trains? What did the Native Americans call the train?
j. Choices: Which painting did they like best and why?

• Which form of transportation did they like best and why?

Docent Art: Transportation: Steam Boats

The Champions of the Mississippi: “A Race for the Buckhorns.” ~ 1865 Currier & Ives by F.F. Palmer

This exciting painting was created by the English female artist, F.F. Palmer. We saw another of her paintings previously in Docent Art (A Happy Family of Ruffed Grouse) also produced by C.& I.
The title: The children might ask about the “buckhorns” in the title. We know that the boats are in a race. We can see some buckhorns on the middle boat in between the steam pipes. My guess is that they are the prize, the trophy, that goes to the winner. They are a symbol of strength and speed. This symbolic use of horns is actually a very ancient custom and, I might add, very masculine way of perceiving strength and victory. But don’t tell all this. Know and ask about it. Let the children develop their own theories and then ask them to back them up, to defend them according to what they see in the painting. It may prove to be a strong theory or a weak one depending on what they point out as their defense.

Suggestions: In general, same as with first
a. Color - Do you like the colors chosen by the artist? What do they do for you and for the painting? (Lots of possibilities - cool and warm, exciting associations such as fireworks and bonfires) Do they help the composition? How? (Teaching point: Any time you see diagonals the composition will be more dynamic. Here, both colors and shapes form many diagonals.)
b. Composition - What shapes help our eyes to move over the painting? Can you describe this eye flow pattern to me and I’ll trace it with my finger? (The cheering crowd is probably where you enter. Then the eyes scan the three boats from left to right, with the fire and pink smoke pointing the way. The gently curving diagonals on all of the boats push our eyes to the bow, where rods and smoke stacks jut upward. Our eyes do not go off the canvas at this point, though, thanks to the backward flowing smoke and sparks, topped by the arcs of clouds and blue sky. In between all of that action there is a brief respite with a sub-focal point of the glowing moon. It is not so large or so important, though, to distract us for long. The waving flags bring our eyes to the fourth boat in the rear and then our eyes can begin the journey all over again as the come back to the cheering crowd.
c. Comparison - How is this form of transportation different from or similar to the last?
d. Cost - What “feeds” the steam boats? Can you see this fuel in the painting? Did it take a lot of time, money and people to make these boats? Compare this kind of boat with another kind of boat shown in the painting that costs a lot less.
e. Cost to the environment - Can you see any indication in the painting of a cost to the environment? How does the environment have to pay for this kind of transportation? Is there any pollution? Any noise? Can noise be a kind of pollution? Can noise be dangerous or harmful?
f. Safety - Can the steam boat be dangerous in any way? How? Could a fire start on these boats? How do we know? Do you see any lifeboats on the side of these steamboats? What does this mean? Is the Mississippi a shallow, calm river? What is it like?g. Benefits - How did the people benefit from this form of transportation? Did they get places faster than they did with the horses? Is faster always better? Has anyone ever chosen to travel slowly for some reason? When and why? (How about paddle boats, the swan boat and canoes?) How did you benefit from traveling slowly? Have you ever taken a walk somewhere that you previously had only driven? What happened? Did you notice things that you didn’t notice while zooming by? Did you make more use of your other senses? When we go places slowly do we hear and smell things we didn’t notice before? Maybe we even are going slowly enough that we

Docent Art Program Halifax, MA 10-09

The Champions of the Mississippi: “A Race for the Buckhorns.” ~ 1865 Currier & Ives by F.F. Palmer

This exciting painting was created by the English woman, F.F. Palmer. We saw another of her paintings (a happy family of ruffed grouse) also produced by C.& I..
The title: The children might ask about the “buckhorns” in the title. We know that the boats are in a race. We can see some buckhorns on the middle boat in between the steam pipes. My guess is that they are the prize, the trophy, that goes to the winner. They are a symbol of strength and speed. This symbolic use of horns is actually a very ancient custom and, I might add, very masculine way of perceiving strength and victory. But don’t tell all this. Know and ask about it. Let the children develop their own theories and then ask them to back them up, to defend them according to what they see in the painting. It may prove to be a strong theory or a weak one depending on what they point out as their defense.

Suggestions: In general, same as with first
a. Color - Do you like the colors chosen by the artist? What do they do for you and for the painting? (Lots of possibilities - cool and warm, exciting associations such as fireworks and bonfires) Do they help the composition? How? (Teaching point: Any time you see diagonals the composition will be more dynamic. Here, both colors and shapes form many diagonals.)
b. Composition - What shapes help our eyes to move over the painting? Can you describe this eye flow pattern to me and I’ll trace it with my finger? (The cheering crowd is probably where you enter. Then the eyes scan the three boats from left to right, with the fire and pink smoke pointing the way. The gently curving diagonals on all of the boats push our eyes to the bow, where rods and smoke stacks jut upward. Our eyes do not go off the canvas at this point, though, thanks to the backward flowing smoke and sparks, topped by the arcs of clouds and blue sky. In between all of that action there is a brief respite with a sub-focal point of the glowing moon. It is not so large or so important, though, to distract us for long. The waving flags bring our eyes to the fourth boat in the rear and then our eyes can begin the journey all over again as the come back to the cheering crowd.
c. Comparison - How is this form of transportation different from or similar to the last?
d. Cost - What “feeds” the steam boats? Can you see this fuel in the painting? Did it take a lot of time, money and people to make these boats? Compare this kind of boat with another kind of boat shown in the painting that costs a lot less.
e. Cost to the environment - Can you see any indication in the painting of a cost to the environment? How does the environment have to pay for this kind of transportation? Is there any pollution? Any noise? Can noise be a kind of pollution? Can noise be dangerous or harmful?
f. Safety - Can the steam boat be dangerous in any way? How? Could a fire start on these boats? How do we know? Do you see any lifeboats on the side of these steamboats? What does this mean? Is the Mississippi a shallow, calm river? What is it like?
g. Benefits - How did the people benefit from this form of transportation? Did they get places faster than they did with the horses? Is faster always better? Has anyone ever chosen to travel slowly for some reason? When and why? (How about paddle boats, the swan boat and canoes?) How did you benefit from traveling slowly? Have you ever taken a walk somewhere that you previously had only driven? What happened? Did you notice things that you didn’t notice while zooming by? Did you make more use of your other senses? When we go places slowly do we hear and smell things we didn’t notice before? Maybe we even are going slowly enough that we can reach out and touch things that we couldn’t if we were going too fast.
Is everyone on these steamboats involved in operating them? Some are just passengers. What do they do with their spare time? What do we do to “entertain “ ourselves while riding in a car?
h. People’s feelings - How do the people feel about this form of entertainment (the race)? How can we tell? (Have the children describe the body language and behaviors of the people on the river bank.

Transportation- Horses

Docent Art Program Halifax, MA 10-09

A Spill Out on The Snow
Currier and Ives, 1870

Even though this print was produced after the next one of steam boats, I thought we would begin with this painting because horses were around a lot longer and so represent an older form of transportation.
With this unit we can easily develop some lines of discussion that can continue through all the prints. Here are some possibilities:
a.Artistic techniques - I’m referring to the ones already mentioned of color, composition, eye flow. For example:
· Do the colors help our eyes to stay on the painting and within the frame? Are there any colors that are so odd or so bright that we keep looking at that spot and not at the rest of the painting? If our eyes keep looking at the whole painting does that help us to enjoy it?
· Can you describe the eye flow pattern? Where does your eye enter the painting and what path does it flow? What did the artist do to make your eyes do that? Isn’t that amazing?! An artist who lived 137 years ago put lines and colors on paper in such a way that your eyes are controlled. Even if you try not to follow that pattern, your eyes will still go back to it.
b.Transportation — The pros and cons of each can be considered. Examples:
1.Costs - The food and care of the horses. Does it take a lot of people to care for a horse?
2.Environment- Any benefits or costs? The horses give us back the gift of its manure - very useful for the earth.
3.Safety - We see here that even with horses, people had accidents. Is this one as bad as an accident with cars? Why not? What is the difference? (We can always play devil’s advocate.) Isn’t the horse buggy more open and exposed? Isn’t the car enclosed? What about speed?
4.Benefits - We already mentioned manure being good for the earth. Do people benefit from their pets? Don’t the horses provide the companionship of a living creature? Will the horse run out of gas? Is the horse pleasant or even beautiful to look at? Maybe the horse can’t be used in all weathers at all times but this picture proves that it can be used in many different kinds of weather. Can all means of transportation be used in so many ways? How about fun? Are all means of transportation fun? Do these people look like they are having fun? (The story of what is happening is probably the first thing that will be talked about.)
5. People’s feelings – What feelings are expressed in the painting? How can you tell? (Have the children describe the facial expressions that range from amusement to annoyance.)
6.Trivia (but not trivial) — There’s a history and science lesson in the trees. Aren’t they elm trees? They used to line so many New England streets. They have largely disappeared from that plague of Dutch elm disease, though. Another change over time.

Transportation (aka: Currier & Ives) introduction

Docent Art Program Halifax, MA 10-09

TRANSPORTATION
(All by Currier & Ives)

This unit holds promise of many possibilities for discussion. Artistically speaking these prints are each very colorful and well composed. This means that for each of the pictures we can ask the students what the colors and placement of the shapes does for the eye flow patterns as we look at these pictures. We can ask the children to describe for us how their eyes move across and over the pictures. After this exercise we should give credit to the artists for these design decisions. We can ask the students what they know about the lithography process and its importance. (Our neighboring town of Plympton used to have its own lithography or printing business, Halliday Lithograph. Perhaps their parents worked there.) They may know the name without understanding the meaning.
Currier and Ives ended up being more like successful businessmen than artists. There were many more people involved in producing these prints who do not receive the credit. We can help to give some of these anonymous people credit now. Currier and Ives would commission an artist to draw or paint a picture of some current event, much in the same way that courtroom artists and photographers do now. Then, if Currier and Ives approved of the picture, it would be copied (the drawing part) onto a special stone. The stone would be used to print the lines of the drawing and then the stone would be prepared again for each color to be used. Each color was applied and printed separately over the last color, requiring careful attention to lines and details. The artists were men and women. Almost all of the colorists were women.
You can give the above information at the beginning as an introduction or you can begin showing the prints and then weave it in when you feel the moment is right. Usually, I would go with the second method. In this case, however, I feel it is a good introduction with history lessons that apply so keenly to the topic of time. How has printing changed over time? Has labor changed over time? Are women still the “cheap labor” on a production line in a factory or are prints made differently now? Has reporting and informing the public of important events changed over time? How so?Transportation: We can always encourage the students to keep in mind that art works can be enjoyed in many, many different ways using all our senses and all our abilities. We can look at it, we can read about it, we can listen to music that harmonizes with it, we can use our math skills with counting and measuring, we can use our scientific knowledge by investigating how things were accomplished; what made them work. History is learned and understood as we reveal changes that have occurred over time. The possibilities are endless. All can be encouraged.

Transportation (aka: Currier & Ives)

Docent Art Program Cathleen Drinan, director, 781 585 6418
Halifax Elementary School
October, 2009
Transportation (aka Currier & Ives)

A Spill Out on the Snow 1870
American Express Train 1864
The Champions of the Mississippi: “A Race for the Buckhorns.” 1865

Welcome to all of you considering the Docent Art Program and welcome back to those of you who have enjoyed this program before. For nineteen years now in Halifax, Massachusetts we have had the pleasure of conducting a cultural version of “Kids Say the Darndest Things!” Let me reassure the new-comers about a few things before we get underway with our first theme for the year. First, this is less of a technical program about art than it is a conversational program about life itself. The mounted prints provide the visual focal point and the springboards for conversation. Anything that the children are interested in discussing can be dealt with in an educational manner. If the students are interested, then they are listening and are involved. We do provide some structure to this by utilizing such techniques as clarifying or summarizing or encouraging further exploration by asking follow-up questions. I’ll help you with all of this throughout the year and there will always be written information and suggestions. Secondly, I’d like to reassure you that you are not expected to memorize the information or become an instant expert on anything. Try to feel comfortable with not knowing. If you can do that, you can enjoy being a student right along with the children. This program is about responding to art. It is difficult to be responsive if you believe that reading and analyzing replace looking and feeling. Look, listen, look some more and learn from each other. That is what we do in Docent Art. Enjoy!
Don’t hesitate to call or email me anytime you have questions and I always love to hear quotes and stories from your classroom visits.
When we first presented this unit in 2002, the school’s theme for the year was “Time”. (We have new principal now and we are not using yearly themes but I wanted you to be aware of the thread running through our thematic units this year.) Artworks can complement or illustrate any theme. That’s the easy part. However, the prints we see this year were chosen a long time ago and they were chosen as individual thematic units, rather than a year-long theme. In order for the children to view the prints as new images, we present them in approximately the same order over a seven-year period. So, even though the prints were not chosen with the theme of time in mind we can keep that theme in mind if we wish to and if it benefits the conversation. We certainly can always ask such questions as, “How much time has passed since this painting was made or since this artist was born or died?” The children enjoy looking for the signature and date and you can ask for volunteers to do the math. Other time-related questions applying to any of the paintings include:
How much time do you think it took the artist to paint this?
Does a painting look different in different time periods of history? Why or why not?
Did artists have more time for producing artwork in the “old days” (You can let the children define that.) or do they have more time now because of technology helping them out? For instance, using a digital camera instead of developing their own film, or being able to drive cars instead of taking the horse and carriage out to the country to paint. Don’t feel pressured to turn each unit of our program into an illustration of the theme. Only bring it up if it applies or it will be fun or the class will benefit from the discussion. Let the artwork be itself. With that in mind, let’s begin with a theme that I think will nicely complement the theme of time, that of transportation.

Poster Art aka Propaganda

Docent Art Program, Cathleen Drinan, Director
Presented: Halifax Elementary School, Halifax, MA
April, 2009

Paintings discussed
Motocycles Comiot by Theophile Steinlen, 1889
Job by Alphonse Mucha, 1898
Poster, January 18 to February12, By Ben Shahn, around 1930

Poster Art
(aka Advertising or Propaganda)


We are so inundated with advertising that we take it for granted as the background of our existence and we may not realize its effect on us. We may even think that we are immune to its influence; that we are too savvy for that trick. We also may have certain beliefs regarding the types of information surrounding us. We may believe that advertising is part of the American way of life and that it can be so entertaining, that its absence is difficult to imagine. Just look at all the hype around the Super Bowl half-time commercials! The word, “propaganda”, however, conjures up ideas and feelings associated with falsehood-telling countries considered to be our enemy. However, believe it or not, all advertising is a form of propaganda. The dictionary defines propaganda as “A systematic effort to persuade a body of people to support or adopt a particular opinion, attitude, or course of action. Any selection of facts, ideas, or allegations forming the basis of such as effort.” With this definition in mind, even health promotion articles and fact sheets, which aim to disseminate beneficial, scientific facts, are a form of propaganda. Rarely do people use the word in this context. Last fall, in my Board of Health office, a man from the Mosquito Control Program and I were talking about the West Nile virus and the importance of avoiding all forms of containers holding water, as the mosquito which spreads the virus is dependent on small containers for breeding. Looking ahead to next spring’s efforts to prevent the disease, he said, “Propaganda, that is all you can do. Get that propaganda out there.” I was surprised but did not disagree with his word choice. The word, then, is neutral. It can be used to beneficial ends or evil ones and all sorts of selfish uses in between. If we can help the students to be aware of the message and to develop an awareness of the purpose, they can be informed citizens making informed decisions. That is what this unit is about: awareness and making informed decisions. Aim at actively coordinating our eyes and our minds to achieve this awareness. We try to discover two things. What do the posters want us to think? What do they want us to buy or do? Our posters are commercials or advertisements on paper.

The posters discussed in this unit date from the turn of the last century. They advertise products, lifestyles and an event. Let’s talk about advertising for a minute. (You know I like to interview the class for a couple minutes.) What do you think about advertising, the kind you see in magazines, on billboards, on TV and popping up on the computer? How does it work? What is the goal? What are the advertisers trying to do? (If they say anything such as “sell us something” or “get our attention” or “entertain us”, they are right on target and will see similarities in the art we view this month.)

Advertising is a form of propaganda. Propaganda is spreading the word about something. To make the idea spread quickly and to make the idea stick, the artists and writers use certain techniques. You can write the categories on the board and let the children spot the techniques.

Here are some of the techniques:

Visibility:

Something must grab your attention. The artists and writers want you to see their poster or magazine page more than someone else’s poster. How do they do that? Some things you can look for are:

• Color
• Contrast
• Bold words
• Exciting content
• Humor
• Shock value
• Different, unique
• Anything else?

Message:

The advertising has a message.
If the writers and artists think the people will like the idea, then they can tell it like it is.
If they think the people will not like the message or might even hesitate (too different, too costly, not their style, etc.) then they will try to:

• Disguise it.
• Ignore it. They can skip the message and just make it a memorable advertisement, one that can’t be forgotten. After a while, viewers will get to know the message and by then they have enjoyed the advertising campaign for some time.
• Change it for different groups of people. For a health conscious population, emphasize that the bread is full of fiber. For those who are less health conscious, emphasize that the bread is soft.
• Use celebrities to endorse the product or be linked with the product.
• Use beautiful people to advertise the product or idea. Use experts to talk about the idea or product.
• Use social values to pressure you. Society wants you to be a good person or a patriotic person or a healthy person.
• Stigmatize: Part of the successful anti-smoking campaign stigmatizes smoking in public and around children.
• Suggest through association. This technique is used when a vitamin advertisement shows healthy, strong, happy people. It is suggested that the vitamin made them strong, healthy and happy.
  
  Suggestions for all three prints:
  What techniques were used in these posters we see today? (Just write the main idea, not the whole explanation.)
  Did the poster succeed?
  What is the message?
  

Suggested participation:
Bring in favorite magazine ads that illustrate some of the above points and ask the class to analyze them. You could ask the teacher if a bulletin board entitled something such as “Think about It!” or “Be Informed” could be used in the classroom and students could add to it as they find examples.

Suggested follow-up activities:
Create an advertising poster.
Make an advertising video.
In either case, have the students explain:

• The targeted population.
• Identify the techniques used.
  

Have fun!