This has been the first day of my week long Artist Residency at Kingston Elementary School. I'll work with every student throughout the week K-5. The focus is the Lynnhaven River watershed and the animals and plants, insects, birds, etc. that would have lived along the shores 400 years ago prior to the Jamestown settlement. To celebrate the beginning of this project I'm posting the empty canvas that I will paint during the week. Isn't it the most amazing experience each time we look at the blank surface...I love to wonder what will show itself.
Today I engaged the young artists in the first 5 classes out of the 26 that I'll work with in a lively adventure of imaging what we might have discovered if we had walked along the banks of the river 400 years ago....before settlements of any kind, surely before their neighborhoods, shopping centers and the roads that drove wildlife away. They were then asked to each draw what they think may have lived in this area at that time. They are inspiring me, I am inspiring them. Perhaps I'll keep the daily process posted ...by the end of the week the goal is for me to have a canvas tapestry for their school library 52x95 inches....and for them to go forward working with their art teacher to create a small work utilizing the techniques they'll see me applying.
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