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Saturday, 24 April 2010
Crocuses and a Poem
Topic: Seasonal/Holiday

Crocus

Pokes out of just cold ground
Quietly shouts the news of spring
Opens its face to singing sun,
The sign to us the world goes round.

With strength to push through dirt and cold,
It knows the sunlight will be greeting.
From deep within its core,
It feels the sun's return.

By appointment, or by sense,
It must start the rising push,
And sideways nod to us
That all is coming round.

©Catinka Knoth 4/24/2010

purple crocus 1, photo by Catinka Knoth

Crocuses  have  come and gone for awhile now. Several things have prompted me to try my hand at writing this now. My upcoming "Paint Spring Flowers!" workshop, a search for existing poems on the flower subjects we'll paint, that April is National Poetry Month, and the example of a friend's writing for spring. Try it! 


Posted by Catinka Knoth at 4:07 PM EDT
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Wednesday, 21 April 2010
Drawing Spring Peepers -Coloring Pages, poem attempt, & kids art
Topic: Kids Art Class
Demonstration drawings of spring peepers from kids class - click the links for coloring pages, listen to the peeper chorus, and see how small a peeper is.

spring peepers drawing

Spring Peepers coloring page 1

spring peepers drawing

Spring peepers coloring page 2

We tried brainstorming rhyming words to make a poem on Spring Peepers. The whiteboard below shows my fast attempt at a 'poem'. The kids tried some rhyming lines too. An english teacher told me once that one should avoid the rhymes with kids writing poems because they'll worry too much about rhyming, rather than thinking about what they want to say. Steven Sondheim, in an interview with Terry Gross tonight, said, "First think of what you want to say, then you hit the rhyming dictionary to come up with ways to say your meaning in rhyme." (my paraphrase of his words on writing song lyrics.) Maybe you'll have a go at a poem. There are no poems on these fellows (to speak of). Let us start - here is the updated version.

Spring Peepers - Poem

As we peepers peep
We keep the people from their sleep.

Others hear our chorus
    And know such swells of spring
A surest sign new life it is to bring.

In our search for other peeps,
We sing all night as we creep
    And jump around the deep.

©Catinka Knoth 2010

spring peepers peom whiteboard brainstorm

Listen to chorus of spring peepers - mp3 recording

Peepers are only thumbnail size! Peeper sitting on a thumb.

Kids Art
spring peepers kids art group photo


Posted by Catinka Knoth at 8:32 PM EDT
Updated: Wednesday, 21 April 2010 9:40 PM EDT
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Tuesday, 20 April 2010
Maine Eagle Cam - Mother tends egg and newly hatched chick
Topic: Life

From Maine's Biodiversity Research Lab - the eagle has hatched, another perhaps soon. Sitter/Mother(?) turns the egg for better incubation. She's made to know. Perhaps we humans  have such knowledge deep inside, but we look for and find it in each other -  ties that bind.

http://www.briloon.org/watching-wildlife/video.php 



Posted by Catinka Knoth at 1:13 PM EDT
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Saturday, 17 April 2010
Daffodil Watercolor Notecard to Download
Topic: Art
Download my free daffodil watercolor notecard (c. 3mb pdf). Print on 8.5 x 11 paper, fold in half the short way, and in half again to make a frenchfold notecard. Happy spring writing!

daffodil bouquet art

Posted by Catinka Knoth at 6:02 PM EDT
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Friday, 16 April 2010
Spring Flowers Watercolor Workshops Series and Free Notecard Download
Topic: Watercolor Class

Watch flowers grow from your paint brush - from a recent press release:


"Let's Paint Spring Flowers!" Watercolor Workshop Offered by Catinka Knoth


Rockland - Catinka Knoth will teach "Let's Paint Spring Flowers!", a watercolor workshop, at Lincoln Street Center for Arts and Education, 24 Lincoln St. The four week class will meet Tuesdays, 10am-Noon, from April 27th through May 18th. An alternate schedule will run Wednesday evenings from 6-8pm, starting April 28th. Participants may sign up by suggested donation of $80 for the complete series, or $25 per individual session. Call Knoth at 596-0069 to confirm space.


Students will experiment with explorations in sumi-e inspired calligraphic brushwork, negative and positive shapes, contour drawing, variegated washes, and glazing. Photographs of spring flowers such as crocus, daffodil, tulips, and iris will provide a different subject for each session. Paintings by O'Keeffe, Charles Demuth, John LaFarge, John William Hill, may also serve as inspiration and models for study.


daffodils watercolor

daffodils watercolor

tulips watercolor

tulip painting

daffodil painting


Download my free frenchfold notecard of this daffodil bouquet watercolor (pdf c. 3mb)
https://catinkacards.tripod.com/pdf/daffodils-frenchfold.pdf

Order notecards of these spring flowers watercolor paintings.


Posted by Catinka Knoth at 4:45 PM EDT
Updated: Sunday, 18 April 2010 10:05 PM EDT
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