Ancient Paths: Visual Arts Program
We are quickly approaching the close of the first quarter here at Ancient Paths and with it a few major projects in the Visual Art Department. The kindergarten and 1st grade class have been working hard on their own rendition of Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh. The 2nd and 3rd graders have completed 2 major projects and have jumped into a third that will take them well into the 2nd quarter. The 4th and 5th graders are almost finished painting a large still life. Spending time on larger projects causes each student to work slowly, to linger over what they are working on. It makes them consider and question small details that hurried hands and minds are unable to.
We began the year by reciting the following verse:
Let Your work appear to Your servants, And Your glory to their children. And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us, And establish the work of our hands for us: Yes, establish the work of our hands. -Psalms 90:16-17
We want every student in the grammar stage to be deeply grounded in this idea. He is the one who sets our work before us and it is from Him that all blessings flow. Every visual arts class begins with standing and reciting this scripture in unison. Before we pick up our tools for the day we pray and ask that the Lord will bless the work of our hands and that they will be used in ways that are glorifying to Him.
The kindergarten and 1st graders began their quarter by using simple elements of shape, color and texture and have spent considerable time arranging these together to represent the organic and geometric forms that we find both in and out of nature. Every class allows for instruction on how to find the truth in the objects that we see in the world. The students are asked questions such as, “What shape is that? How big is it? Is it far away or close? What colors do you see?” These constant repetitive questions help the student establish that truth. Early in the grammar stage it is necessary to highlight how important this is and to plant seeds on how to spot what is false or fake. Small deviations we make in form, texture, color, size can reveal much about the way that we think and what we truly believe. The more we ground ourselves in truth the more difficult it is to be uprooted. We want our students to have roots that go deep.
The 2nd and 3rd graders started with basic geometric still life arrangements that dealt with size and proportion. As the students create their own works of art we are establishing that it is God who is The Creator and we are made/fashioned in his image. We then are little creators, and we are to create and make the things that fill the earth and bring glory to The Creator.
The 4th and 5th graders begin every class with a quick sketch in graphite. Some days they are allotted 7-10 minutes, while others are 3-5. At this age the students routinely ask, “Is this good?” which can always be redirected back to whether or not they are telling the truth about the object they are representing. The “Good” is closely tied to Truth and in many ways they mean the same thing. The students are instructed to look closer, making small adjustments in order to arrive at the truth. Halfway through the quarter we started to dive into art history and are currently discussing symbolism. A single object in a work of art can convey information that would fit into multiple written volumes; as time goes on this information then spans across centuries as more and more artists use this same symbol, adding even more depth and weight to the message.
There are clear cut pathways that have already been well established across the centuries we are currently treading. Paths that have been cleared before us; as we walk along them we must honor those who did that work. Our fathers and mothers, great-grandfathers and grandmothers spanning generations, each one carrying with them a great, beautiful and worthy weight established by our Father in heaven. We want our students to know how to honor this past, pave the way for those in this present age and to provide future generations with a clear way forward, filled with deep roots, a firm foundation, and a hope of abundant blessings. As our current culture quickly tears itself apart we are in the process of building. Building on Truth, Goodness and Beauty.
We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair. – II Corinthians 4:8
As the great philosopher Crockett Johnson once wrote,
“He was falling, in thin air. But, luckily, he kept his wits and his purple crayon. He made a balloon and he grabbed on to it.”
One of our goals in the Visual Arts Department at Ancient Paths is to teach every student to visually express objective Biblical truth and beauty in a subjective way. We do not want to shy away from the beauty God has given us in creation and revealed in His word. Making beautiful things is difficult. It takes time and devotion. Beauty makes demands of us. It is a gift. Beauty highlights what is ugly, what is false, what is lacking. Beauty attracts to itself; causes us to linger, question, consider, confront.
soli Deo gloria,
Kristine Jones - Visual Arts Department