DIY Curriculum :: Leaf Study

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“The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider’s web.”
-Pablo Picasso

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A simple flashlight held under a eucalyptus leaf can open up a whole new world. Take a close up photograph and voila! A makeshift microscope:

Eucalyptus sideroxylon ‘Rosea’
Red Ironbark Tree

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Eucalyptus citriodora
Lemon-Scented Gum Tree

DIY Curriculum: Flags Over California

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Flags Over California

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Flags

Project: A colorful investigation of early California history using miniature flags and interesting facts [who knew California was once under the Argentine flag?]
Supplies: Internet, cardstock, bamboo skewers, cardboard

1. Print out all 33 mini flags from:

www.loeser.us/flags/california.html

2. Glue the flags to shortened bamboo skewers and create corresponding index cards that have the basic information for each flag.

3. “Plant” your flags onto a map of California, choosing locations that correspond to where each flag first “landed”. We printed out a map and glued it to a piece of cardboard [nice and thick, from a box]. The pointy end of the flags [the bamboo skewers] poke in nicely and stay in place well.

4. You could also display your flags in a long row using two pieces of cardboard as a supportive strips.

5. Create a folder where all pieces can be stored away for future use.

Additional California flag history found at:

www.militarymuseum.org/Flags_Over_Ca.pdf

Fresh Art: Norman Rockwell & The Photographs

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Norman Rockwell’s subject was average America. He painted it with such benevolent affection for so many years, that a truly remarkable history of the 20th century has been compiled. Most of Norman Rockwell’s iconic paintings were inspired by photographs. Prior to beginning a painting, Mr. Rockwell would first plan out the scene to be photographed, often inviting family and neighbors to help act out his vision. It was then from a photograph, or a series of photographs, that Mr. Rockwell would begin painting:

Norman Rockwell

The Runaway. Oil painting for Post cover, September 1958.

girl at the mirror

Norman Rockwell

Girl At The Mirror. Oil painting for Post cover, March 1954

norman rockwell

norman rockwell

After The Prom. Oil painting for Post cover, May 1957.

Norman Rockwell One

norman rockwell

The Tatooist. Painting for Post cover, March 1944.

Browse the Norman Rockwell Collection (both paintings and photographs) online at the Norman Rockwell Museum.

Rockstar Photographers: Iain Macmillan & The Abbey Road

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Iain Macmillan

Photographer Iain Macmillan shot the iconic image of The Beatles crossing the street for the 1969 album cover, “Abbey Road”. At around 11:30 that morning, Mr. Macmillan was given only ten minutes to take the photo while he stood on a step-ladder and a policeman held up the traffic. Mr. Macmillan’s other shots from that day in 1969 – the ones that didn’t make the cut – show just how tricky it can be in getting such a simple shot to look ‘just right’.

Iain Macmillan

Iain Macmillan

Iain Macmillan

Iain Macmillan

Iain Macmillan
Iain Macmillan

View live webcam of the actual crosswalk on Abbey Road HERE

Abbey Road
Side One
1. Come Together Lennon
2. “Something” Harrison
3. “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” McCartney
4. “Oh!Darling!” McCartney
5. “Octopus’s Garden” Starr
6. “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” Lennon

Side Two
1. “Here Comes The Sun” Harrison
2. “Because” Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison
3. “You Never Give Me Your Money” McCartney
4. “Sun King” Lennon, with McCartney and Harrison
5. “Mean Mr. Mustard” Lennon
6. “Polythene Pam” Lennon
7. “She Came In Through The Bathroom Window” McCartney
8. “Golden Slumbers” McCartney
9. “Carry That Weight” McCartney with Lennon, Harrison, and Starr
10. “The End” McCartney
11. “Her Majesty” McCartney