Home schooling continues and we\u2019ve just had a pretty successful art \u2018lesson\u2019 – not everything has been successful so I\u2019m celebrating this little success. The Littlest has been great at giving things a go, but she hasn\u2019t always been hugely impressed with her current \u2018teacher\u2019 – being a parent and teacher definitely has its challenges. And we only have one child to home school (the other two at school should be managing their home schooling themselves, I merely provide copious amounts of food for them and the one in hospital I attempt to support as much as possible by phone\/FaceTime) plus I\u2019m in the hugely privileged position of having the time. I know how hard it must be for so many parents juggling all this stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Back to art. The real-life proper school sends out a weekly plan for all subjects and for art, the children have been tasked with looking at abstract art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Abstract art seems to divide people with many looking at an abstract painting and saying that \u2018anyone could do that\u2019 or they don\u2019t like it because they can\u2019t see what it is. But in a way that\u2019s the beauty of abstract art – there is no right or wrong – it doesn\u2019t have to be ABOUT anything. I love what Picasso said about understanding art:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When children are looking at something they have a tendency to just take it for what it is rather than look for some hidden meaning. So, looking at abstract art with the Littlest has made me open my eyes and see things differently too. We used the Tate website that showed how abstract art began and developed over the twentieth century, in pictures https:\/\/www.tate.org.uk\/art\/art-terms\/a\/abstract-art<\/a>. And the BBC has a great short video where someone \u2018goes into\u2019 one of Kandinsky\u2019s paintings https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/teach\/class-clips-video\/art-and-design-ks2-kandinskys-schaukeln\/zv7g7nb<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We watched a video from a Mumbai based fine artist called Suraj https:\/\/www.google.co.uk\/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=video&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwic_P7S9_npAhXioXEKHTZPBroQtwIwB3oECAcQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D0eFq–WiyBc&usg=AOvVaw0_BsMvCfGyzzeVryQ8WNLQ<\/a> and the Littlest then used the same technique to make her own abstract art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Materials: acrylic paints, canvas\/thick card, cling film, something cylindrical to roll across the canvas, small paintbrush<\/p>\n\n\n\n