Van Gogh work

 Our art study notebook page. I also have a large print of the original work for her.

Our nature study notebooking page.

Mary's still life study of one of daddy's flowers in a vase. The original is 12x15ish and contained in a sketchbook. I had her draw the flower in oil pastels and then we created a resist and painted over top with watercolor.

A diagram to go with the nature study.

Moving on, this is Mary's version of Starry Night. It is in her sketchbook with oil pastel and swirly yarn glued on. She liked drawing with glue.

I ran out of time to put together nature materials for stars or nighttime, but Mary did independently draw her own solar system. Forgot to take a pic of the Starry Night art study page.

Van Gogh

To inaugurate our homeschooling journey, we started with a Vincent Van Gogh art study. We were going to start with Emily Carr until I happened upon a print of Van Gogh's sunflowers. Inspired by my husband's sunflower orchard (three years in the making), I made a quick switch and sunflowers it is. More pictures to come, but I wanted a record of the books we're using. All of these are available at our library.


Van Gogh for KidsBy Hyde, Margaret E.A board book with some prints and very limited text. More appropriate for the three and under set.
Van Gogh: A RetrospectiveBy Gogh, Vincent vanA large, comprehensive book great for all ages. We're mostly using it for the pictures, of which there are many, but Mary is able to read the details under the pictures. The book publishes Vincent's letters.
Vincent Van Gogh
By Connolly, Sean(Book - 2006)A non-fiction book appropriate for Mary's level that gives basic information about his life. It does not ignore the ear cutting or suicide.
Vincent's Colors: Words and Pictures by Vincent Van GoghBy Gogh, Vincent van(Book - 2005)Prints and few words. Mary could have read it last year, as well. The book uses descriptions pulled from Van Gogh's letters to describe his own work.
Camille and the Sunflowers: A Story about Vincent Van GoghBy Anholt, Laurence(Book - 1994)Children's fiction detailing Vincent's stay in Arles told from the perspective of the son of the postman, who is featured in one of Vincent's portraits.
Painting the Wind
By Dionetti, Michelle(Book - 1996)Longer and more complex than Camille and the Sunflowers, Mary is not able to narrate this one as well or absorb as much of the story. Told from the perspective of the (imagined) daughter of Vincent's housekeeper in Arles.
Van Gogh
By Bernard, Bruce(Book - 2000)Non-fiction. We have not used this one as it's too far above Mary's level.
I'm pleased with our study so far. We studied sunflowers in depth and did several art projects related to them, including a still life study in pastels. We pressed a small sunflower and some leaves and will preserve them eventually. We also did a simple nature study of the sunflower. Mary is able to tell me when Vincent was born and died, where he was born, find the Netherlands and France on a map, and tell why Vincent cut off his ear. She has trouble remembering enough of the books to narrate and is also struggling to use her imagination to describe her feelings upon looking at a painting. 
In Week 2 we're studying Starry Night. This may extend to a study of the stars but I doubt it as my resources are a bit advanced (got some freebies from the National Research Council). I'm trying to get her to slow down while doing art. She'll scribble less that way. She's working on her own version of Starry Night at the moment and we should be putting the finishing touches on tomorrow - swirly yarn bits for some mixed media (she has also learned what a medium is and can identify the medium she uses in her own artwork).
Week 1 - Sunflowers
Week 2 - Starry Night
Week 3 - Irises
Week 4 - Bedroom at Arles
Week 5 - Self Portrait (before her birthday)