Thursday, November 04, 2004

Short Attention Spans . . . and Art, Again

I am, unfortunately, one of those people who can’t stay focused on one single thing for a very long period of time. My mind just simply wanders in too many directions to keep it trained on one subject for an extended duration. As I mentioned earlier, I’ve been reading up on art history a little bit. Despite my best intentions, I’ve been distracted from my goal of being an art-whiz by the time the book was due back at the library (yesterday). Although I renewed the book two times, two times is, unfortunately, the limit. So, yesterday I had to give it up. (I guess they presume that other people might want to read it also?) The good news is . . . I was able to at least skim the last half of the book before returning it.

I was very pleasantly surprised to discover recently that my 7-year-old sister is also studying art history with her home school group. While she was at my house this past weekend we had several good discussions. She told me that her favorite artist is Michelangelo because he painted the “Sixteenth Chapel.” When she studied Michelangelo, her teacher taped some posters to the bottom side of a table and the kids sat under the table to draw scenes from the bible “on the ceiling” just like the famous artist. I thought that was very cute. She also liked Van Gogh because of the swirly stars in his Starry Night. When she studied Van Gogh she drew a self-portrait and was happy to report that she put the words “Girls Rule” on her t-shirt. When she studied Picasso, she cut out squares from a magazine of similar-colored objects and pasted them together to illustrate cubism. It was all very interesting to learn about how art history is taught at that level. (Isn’t home schooling the most fantastic thing ever?) The only thing is that I’m envious I can’t take a class like that. Sounds like a lot of fun!

Now I’m trying to decide whether I’ll stay on the art history kick (and get another book at the library) or find some other fleeting area of interest for the next six weeks. Life is way too short to cram everything in. I hope they have really big libraries in heaven.

5 comments:

Rachelle said...

Wow! What a cool art teacher. I want Ben to take that class. I had terrible art teachers while I was in school which warped me terribly. I didn't do much in my homeschooling years in art but discovered it in earnest in England. I had to take a year of Art History for my major and I'm so glad. I may not be talented, but I am appreciative.

Anonymous said...

Sports Illustrated is good reading. Oh wait, would that contribute to the bane of society? :)

Amy K said...

Dear Anonymous whoever-you-are,

If you pay for my subscription, I'll promise to read it cover to cover. My work address is: 1414 K St., Ste. 200, Sacramento, CA 95814. You can have it sent there.

I believe it's important to be a well-rounded person and am quite willing to devote a limited amount of time to sports each week.

Sincerely yours,
Amy Koons

Anonymous said...

Actually, I'll just give you my old issues. A promise is a promise, right? Perfect.

Mr. Anonymous Whoever-I-Am

Anonymous said...

Does that promise include the swimsuit issue?