Music to our ears/their ears...

This week and next we will be looking at different ways music can inspire us to feel, think, act and even write. 

Create a New Post on your own blog with the word "music" somewhere in the title and type up your answers to at least 5-6 of the questions regarding music on the blue sheet I passed out yesterday.  Go for about 400 words.

Create a second New Post titled Teachers + Music and write about the answers to the questions about music you got from 2-3 teachers you spoke with.  Include your own answers to each question, too, and write about how they compare to the teachers' and/or anything you found interesting or surprising.  

Create a third New Post and share some of your favorite lyrics.  You could post entire songs or just favorite lines.  Do this one like we did our favorite life quotes and movie quotes.

Add images to your posts to make them visually interesting...you could also link to videos or websites.  I can show you how!

Thanks! Hope you're having a great day!

(pillow)talk

Create a New Post on your blog and include your writing connected to the drawing of a pillow we looked at it in class on Monday.  You might include your haiku, but also post a longer bit of prose.  Try for about 150 words at least on this one.  You can copy and paste the image from here, and if you'd like to, you can leave a comment on this post.  I've included some writing I did below.

Dream Marks on My Pillow by Ana Lancu

Last night before bed, I stepped out onto the front porch while Booker T. raced with a predatory growl towards the woods behind our house.  I waited for him to return, a triumphant skip in his step telling me all was safe and sound thanks to him, and from there on the front steps I noticed there was no moon out, or at least not one I could see.  A few stars dotted the sky but the yard was darker than usual and my big black dog crept back up beside me almost camouflaged.

I had been thinking of her off and on all day--my sweet Nanny who left us in June--and another round of loss swept through me there...no moonlight only made me miss her more. I scratched Booker's ears and cried, soft so that no one would hear, as if anyone was listening at that time of night.

I'll never be a little girl again.
I'll never see her shrug her shoulders
the way she always did.
I'll never see her handwriting on a
letter in my mailbox.
I'll never see her listening with interest
to my little boy's chatter the way she
always delighted in whatever I had to say.
I'll never see her again.

Ryan let Macauley sleep with us--a real treat on a school night--and with puffy eyes I slipped into the tiny sliver of our king size bed left for me, my son's now long legs tucked in close to mine and my big black dog in a ball at my feet, my husband miles of blankets and pillows away. Our room was dark and warm and I read only a few pages of my book before I floated into sleep.

And then, she was there...standing on my front walk, reaching out to me with a piece of paper in her hand.  He was there, too, a few feet behind her and to the side in dark blue jeans and the striped shirt he had on in their only picture with Macauley when he was a baby.  I grabbed her and squeezed her and cried for her to stay.  She just stood there and let me, still holding the paper.

I blinked and turned to see the numbers on the clock pushing me to start another day. I stared at the ceiling, making myself remember seeing her, knowing how dreams come and go if you don't commit them to long-term memory...like so many days I spent with her or spent not with her...they just slip away.

I could have cried in the car this evening when I told Ryan on the way to dinner. He said maybe it was a sign but he didn't say of what.  If I cry for her again tonight, will she be there on my front steps when I close my eyes?

Haiku:

When I close my eyes
she's standing on my sidewalk--
she knew I missed her.

Works inspired by Edward Hopper

Choose one of the 4 paintings (above) by American artist Edward Hopper we studied in class this week (you could also use his painting "Nighthawks" that is referenced in the insurance commercial we watched) and write a piece of at least 250 words inspired by it.  You might do a short fiction piece or a personal narrative or maybe even a long narrative poem.  You can refer to your lists of sensory details and other thoughts in your journal entry completed in class for ideas.  Please create a New Post on your blog  by the end of this week with your writing and include the painting, too.  Thanks!

Clay Story

For a New Post to your personal blog think about pieces of 3-D art such as sculptures and search for a piece you feel connected to online. Post the a picture of the piece and your comments or thoughts (in at least 150 words).

Ask yourself....

• How was it made?
• Who made it?
• Where did the clay come from?
• Whats the piece for or part of?
• What does it remind you of?
• Is it funny? Scary? or something else?
• What time is it from? 

Feel free to use a piece from here if you cant find anything online:

Poems for Paintings by the Artist you Profiled

In a New Post on your blog please choose 2 pieces by the artist you profiled and write a narrative poem of at least 10 lines for each. 

A narrative poem is one that tells a story.  It doesn't need to rhyme.  You could tell a made-up story inspired by the painting, you could tell a story from your own life the piece makes you think of, you could make up a story about the subjects in the painting...You could connect your two 10-line poems or let them stand on their own. Try to include vivid, sensory details and rich, interesting word choices.  You might even try to include a poetic device (like alliteration, simile, repetition, etc.) if you're comfortable doing so.  Please include the piece of art you are writing about in your post.  Give the post a creative title.

Circles of life: Mandalas

I hope you enjoyed the process of coloring the printed mandala designs in class on Wednesday.  We'll take some time on Monday, maybe, to finish those up.  Mandalas are important to a variety of cultures, faiths and schools of thought...

You can create some interesting mandalas at this site.  If you click on the asterisks, there is more information about the different elements.

Leave a brief but thoughtful COMMENT on this post answering one or more of these questions:

• How or why do you think art could be used as therapy?
• Can you think of other pieces of or types of art that are connected to certain faiths, disciplines or movements?
• What elements/symbols did you include in your own mandala?
• What role does art play in your own life?
• If you could be any kind of artist, what would you be?  Why?

Art Walk

In another New Post on your blog, post some writing connected to the art print you chose to study during our discussion in the front lobby of KHS on Tuesday.  Try for at least 250 words. 

Tell us the story from your own life it made you think of, write a critique or vivid description, write a long poem or several shorter ones inspired by the image...whatever you want to come up with. 

Include an image, too.  If you can't get a photo of the actual print on your post, just choose another one online that has the same feeling or look.

Have a wonderful weekend!