A Day of Art

Justin had a ridiculously busy summer.  I think he took 7 days off--five to build the swing set and 2 when we had company from out of town, as a professor on a 10 month contract, that's not much time off!  We had been meaning to visit the Parthenon in Nashville, but had never made it happen.  After a long evening at work one day recently, we stole him away for a short trip the next morning before he headed in to his office.

I was the only one who had been there before.  It was the early '90's when I was there with my family.  I did recognize some of the paintings that are permanently displayed in the gallery.  They were spackling the middle section, so I assume that they are in the processes of changing a borrowed collection out.

The kiddos looked somewhat patiently.  Kate was very good at pointing out impressionistic pieces, which was fun.  We talked about portraits, landscapes, and still lives.  Then we went upstairs to the main attraction of the museum.  Kate was probably the most impressed by Athena.  The last time I saw the statue, she was not yet gilded or painted.

Things 1, 2, and 3 looking at Athena, with Nike, and her shield with Medusa's head

Ellie and I were there too.  She did really well, didn't fuss once!  She's been such a portable little girl, which is a great blessing, having older siblings.

Then we saw the plaster statues made from the casts of the original sculptures of the pediments in Greece.  The older girls were quite put off that they were missing heads and arms.  We showed the the recreations that had been made with all the parts intact to show how they had once been formed.  Kate told me that it was much better that someone had made the parts and they had just been lost through the course of time.  Funny, I always thought it is sad that someone's work has been lost or damaged, but she sees it more as a sadness that they wouldn't have ever been finished.

We came home and worked on an art project based on an impressioninst, Claude Monet, who we've been studying.

Gabby and Katie are tearing tissue paper to make the water.

 Nate's completed project