Project Results: Art & Garden

The summer art project is completed, and although the batteries on the camera gave out while I was in the midst of photographing the pieces, I did manage to get images of some of the pieces. The project is one I have taught many times (and am in the midst of teaching again): Famous Painter Self-Portrait. So, take a famous painter and do a self-portrait (you, not the painter) based on the style and palette of that painter. It leads to many interesting pieces.


Self-Portrait as Kirchner

Self-Portrait as Rothko. This one confused some people, one thought I was kidding, some just didn't see how a Rothko could be translated as a self-portrait. This is pretty much a direct re-creation of Rothko's "#2". As soon as I saw the painting I saw how it could be interpreted as a face.

Self-Portrait as Modigliani.

Self-Portrait as Modersohn-Becker (not Gaugin, although there are strong similarities).

On Thursday we got home from shopping and found a surprise waiting for us.

A little background: On August 12, Arabella and I were in the garden and I found a bunch of large yellow, black and white striped caterpillars. We took the two largest and put them in Arabella's bug catcher, along with leaves of the plant we found them on (morning glory vines, I think). For a day and a half they were fine, then we found them hanging from the top of the catcher, and later that day they made pupae. I explained to Arabella that they MUST BE LEFT ALONE. But within 24 hours she had picked them off the lid of the bug catcher and was rattling them around. I put them out of reach (even high up for me) and explained that they might not be able to turn into butterflies if they were not left alone. I really doubted they would come out after their rough treatment.

But this past Thursday we got home, and as I put my keys away I noticed something odd in the bug catcher, A BUTTERFLY! We took it outside to let it dry its wings, took a few pictures, and left it alone.

I was hopeful that the other would also come out of its pupa, but so far, four days have passed and the pupa just gets blacker, but no butterfly. Arabella is a bit sad, but happy about the other, now liberated, butterfly. I don't know what kind of butterfly this is. Monarch? Viceroy? Something else?

This winter I will be thinking of how to make a butterfly cage for next summer so we can spend a little more time with the beauties before we let them go.