I have frequently been asked to recommend art books to parents, not only to those who cannot (or think they cannot) draw but also to those who are familiar with artistic modes of expression but who would like, perhaps, to explore anthroposophical ideas of art.
I now have two books which I can recommend! Neither is for the beginner artist and neither is directly helpful with working with one's children. Having said that, it is of course very true that the more sensitive one becomes to the nuances of artistic expression, the more one evolves as an artist (especially if one thinks one is in no way artistic!), then the deeper and more meaningfully one can work with the Waldorf curriculum. So....have a look at these books and be brave - they might just help you stretch further than you thought you could!
The books are Dark and Light Drawing: 52 Exercises and Sweater of Rain: Gesture Stories. Both are by Laura Summer, an artist who lives and works in Upstate New York where she and others have founded the Free Columbia Art Course, whose mission it is to "provide an artistic course of study out of the inspiration of anthroposophy that seeks to promote culture and freedom." These and several other books are available from their website: www.freecolumbia.org
The first title is a workbook, a series of drawing exercises in black and white which lead one through an exploration of darkness and light, of composition and balance. Laura gently questions and challenges one to explore relationships to point and periphery, to gesture, mood and tone, building upon each previous experience as the exercises progress.
Sweater of Rain is not a workbook as such but it is an invitation to explore the mood and gesture of the festivals of Easter, Ascension, Michaelmas and Advent. Laura says:
In creating these stories I tried to see what the gesture of a season is. How is Advent different from Easter? What happens at Ascension? At Michaelmas? In creating paintings and block prints to accompany these stories I tried to bring the gesture of the season as it is revealed in the story to visual expression. You will not find illustrations here but rather visual experiences that may make you question, what gesture lives here?
The seemingly simple yet compellling artwork which Laura provides gives much food for thought and soul nourishment as one strives to find one's own relationship to the changing gestures of the seasons.
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