poetic philosophical thoughts |
Columbus Zoo Let’s go to the Art Musuem, I begged my resistant kids. We can visit the zoo tomorrow. Animals in cages. It’s not as if they are in their natural habitat. Much better to help my children discover true art. They must see the Impressionist exhibit, “From Matisse to Monet,” before it moved to another museum. So they wanted to see the baby gorilla and the baby elephant! We could do that any day. It was a small museum. The paintings were breathtaking. Framed appropriately, spaced carefully. On exhibit. Each in their own cage. My seven year old son reached to touch the vibrantly textured impressions of life. I cautioned him to stand back. Art is to look at, I reminded him. Don’t touch. Don’t feed the animals. I tried to draw my teenage daughter to Monet’s paintings. I wanted her to see what I saw, experience what I felt. Words are such poor symbols. “Don’t analyze so much,” she stated emphatically. How could I tell her what it was I was trying to share with her? I didn’t want to analyze the paintings. I wanted to “be” them. Feel the wind blowing on Monet’s sunflowers, hide under the weeping willow in the incredible depth of greens he had created. I would not cage the artist’s work. The children quickly tired of simply looking. We found our way to the main floor kid’s exhibit. Paper and markers soon enabled my son to create his own impressionistic artwork. Dress-up clothing made to match the attire in the dutch master’s paintings upstairs allowed my son and daughter to become a painting in motion. Art roams free. |