City Hall field trip

 

 

Touch of the Master's Hand

When I was a little girl, my Great Grandma taught me a poem.  It's the same one that she taught to her daughter and her daughter's daughter (my Mama).  Now I'm teaching it to my daughters.

 I love tradition.

"Touch of the Master’s Hand," by Myra Welsh

T’was battered and scarred, and the auctioneer

Thought it scarcely worth his while

To waste much time on the old violin,

But held it up with a smile.

"What am I bidden, good folks," he cried,

"Who’ll start the bidding for me?"

"A dollar, a dollar," then, two! Only two?

"Two dollars, and who’ll make it three?

"Three dollars, once; three dollars, twice;

Going for three . . . "  But no,

From the room, far back, a grey haired man

Came forward and picked up the bow;

Then, wiping the dust from the old violin,

And tightening the loose strings,

He played a melody pure and sweet

As a caroling angel sings.

The music ceased, and the auctioneer,

With a voice that was quiet and low,

Said: "What am I bid for the old violin?"

And he held it up with the bow.

"A thousand dollars, and who’ll make it two?

Two thousand! And who’ll make it three?
Three thousand, once; three thousand, twice;

And going and gone," said he.

The people cheered, but some of them cried,

"We do not quite understand

What changed its worth?" Swift came the reply:

"The touch of a master’s hand."

And many a man with life out of tune,

And battered and scarred with sin,

Is auctioned cheap to the thoughtless crowd,

Much like the old violin.

A "mess of pottage," a glass of wine;

A game, and he travels on.

He is "going" once, and "going" twice,

He’s "going" and almost "gone."

But the Master comes and the foolish crowd

Never can quite understand

The worth of a soul and the change that’s wrought

By the touch of the Master’s hand.

Artist Study: Pointillism

Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, by Georges Seurat

We are just beginning our artist study of Vincent Van Gogh.  Today we learned about a technique called pointillism, which is when you use tiny dots to create a larger image.  Van Gogh learned this style of painting early in his career but quickly made it his own by using dashes instead of dots.   The girls thought that this was very neat!

  

After we read for a bit the girls made their own drawings using pointillism!  Have a look!

Jordan (6) wanted to recreate Van Gogh's painting, Self-Portrait with Gray Felt Hat

And this was what Megan (8) came up with.

 

I gave the girls huge sheets of paper and realized after they were done that I was going to have trouble scanning Megan's drawing!  Oops.

I'm still not so sure where this artist study is going or how involved it will become, but so far so good!  We're having fun anyway, and now we can all tell you what pointillism means!