AGO Visit - Nature, Colour, Distance, Animals!

Maharana Jawan Singh of Mewar is seen with his hounds in pursuit of two wild boar both in the foreground and background of this painting. The focal point of the painting is where he slashes the larger boar with his sword while his dogs are attacking the smaller boar. The green dress that is worn by the ruler and his army, as well as the emphasis on the green vegetation of nature show the mark of a ritual hunt called Aheriya. During this hunt, the ruler and his army were to wear green robes.

When I look at this piece of artwork shown from the Maharaja exhibit in the AGO, I see anger but yet struggle for survival. I see a beautiful landscape filled by trees and mountains and a deep blue sky. What I think the artist is trying to portray is that although nature is a beautiful thing people can sometimes be oblivious to it and sometimes only focus on negative things. (like a vicious fight)

This painting makes me feel happy yet confused. The nature shown in this painting shows light and serenity, but when a fight for survival is put into place I feel confused as to why they would be placed in such surreal nature, why not on a rainy day to help the negative feeling of the death of the boars and the blood spilling take over. This painting somewhat reminds me of the movie "Marry Poppins" because in the movie there is a wild chase with horses and hound dogs. I love the movie "Marry Poppins" which is why I think I chose to write my post on this painting.

I think that this is a great painting for children to see when they visit the AGO because it shows how the world can be a frustrating place and that not all things go the way they are suppose to. I also think that the design in this painting is very pin point and very clear, and I think children will like this painting because of the organizational aspect of the horses and dogs. It is a very clear painting for the children's imagination to run wild and make them wonder what will happen next! I think that the words that I as an early childhood educator would discuss with the children would be words like nature, distance, animals, colours, shapes, because these words are what make up the painting. I would start talking about nature and where this painting takes place. I would add in the word 'distance' to try and see if the children recognize the landscape of the mountains and the fields. Next, I would ask the children what animals they see in this painting and talk about for example, what horses are used for; are they used for riding? If I was showing this painting to very young children, colours and shapes would be good to bring up.

Overall, I think children would be interested in this piece because of the animals mainly, and how it would look somewhat cartoonish to them!

Instant Sculpture!

Before I moved to the city of Toronto for school I was never the type of girl who would get all dressed up in a short dress and heels and go out with my friends; I guess this was because I lived/live in a really small town and there was/is still nothing to do there. Growing up with an older brother who played outdoors almost every single day influenced me to tag along in a pair of sneakers and shoot some hoops. Although I LOVE to get dressed up now and party it up, running around in a pair of sneakers playing basketball and street hockey is still something I do whenever I have the opportunity. I guess behind the hidden fashion wall of glammer and sass will always be a muddy kind of girl who's not afraid to get dirt on her shoes. I am a star of sport at heart.

To sculpt, is to take things whether they are personal items or store bought products, and bring them together to create something new and different. I wouldn't necessarily think of sculpting with shoes to be an activity for young children, but now that I think of it, it would be a fun thing to do when in circle time. Everyone could take their shoes and pile them up in the middle of the circle. The teacher could then ask the children what they believe sculpting really means and what they could make out of this huge pile of shoes. If the teacher wanted to expand on sculpting, she could introduce clay to the children (if little, use play dough) and let their imaginations run wild to create different objects with the clay, or play dough.

If you're wondering why I have two pairs of Puma shoes, well, that's another story, preferrably one I wouldn't like to tell.

Creativity!

Personally, I believe that I am a very creative person. I express my creativty through many things, for example, through dance, singing, scrapbooking, drawing, painting, organization, and through expressing who I am to others. I think the main person in my life who has inspired me would be my mother. My mother is a graphic artist. She paints with water colours and oils and is amazing at what she does. When I was a child I used to live in a neighbourhood with tons of children, so I had many other children to play with. Everytime my friends would come over to my house we always did something creative whether it was through painting, sculpting, creating forts with the living room furniture, or playing in the sandbox creating mudslides and rivers using the garden hose. My mother always gave us great ideas for us to try next, which inspired us to create things on our own.

Now that I'm older I keep on finding new ways to express my own creativity. Over the past couple years I have started scrapbooking which has taken up a lot of my time. I've created tons of scrapbooks with millions of photos and keepsakes from special events. I have also started to paint with water colours, but I am more serious about it now that I am older. I think that my creative experiences will help me in my future as an early childhood educator because I can remember back to when I was a child and what new and exciting ideas I wanted to create. Those experiences can take me into the minds of young children today and can hopefully understand their creative path.