Let's Draw April Awakenings - children's drawing classes at Rockland Library
Topic: Kids Art Class
Press Release

"Let's Draw April Awakenings!" - Children's Drawing Classes at Rockland Library, 2013

Rockland -  Children will draw in celebration of Spring this April at Rockland Public Library. Participants draw along with artist Catinka Knoth as she demonstrates. Subjects may include fairy tale papercuts in honor of Hans Christian Anderson's birthday; koi kites and cherry trees for the Japanese Spring Festival,  spring peepers and baby birds; baby animals such as bunnies, puppies, kittens, lambs, and colts; and spring flowers such as crocuses, daffodils, and tulips.

"Let's Draw April Awakenings!" -
4/02    Fairy Tale papercuts
4/09    Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival
4/16    Spring Peepers & Baby Birds
4/23    Baby Animals
4/30    Spring Flowers

The ongoing workshops, sponsored by Wendy and Keith Wellin, for age 6 and up, (including the young at heart), are free and open to the public.  Children age 10 and under should have an adult accompany them. Knoth expects participants to be able to work independently for the most part.  Classes provide all materials and meet every Tuesday, 4-5 pm., Community Room, Rockland Public Library, 80 Union St., hosted by Friends of Rockland Library. FMI - Jean Young, children's librarian, 594-0310.

Demonstration art and photos by Catinka Knoth (to follow).

Spring Themes for April adult art classes at Rockland Library
Topic: Art Class

Press Release:

April Art Workshops for Adults at Rockland Library

Rockland - Catinka Knoth  will lead a drawing workshop series for adults, on creating 'April Art'.  Attendees will explore themes such as Spring papercuts;  the Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival; and spring flowers. Classes meet 11 a.m.  Mondays, April 1, 8, 22, and 29th; in the Community Room,Rockland Public Library, 80 Union St.  Led by Knoth, participants will  create their own art. Knoth provides the classes free of charge, with materials supplied. Friends of Rockland Library host the workshops, which are open to the public. FMI Knoth at 596-0069 or Rockland Library at 594-0310.

4/01    Spring Papercuts
4/08    Cherry Trees
4/15    No Class - library closed for Patriots' Day
4/22    Daffodils & Yellows
4/29    Tulips

Knoth will provide instruction and guidance in drawing and creating the April themes. Each week is a different subject. Participants will work with pencil, colored pencil, and crayon, and sometimes scissors, with a focus on drawing in color.

Knoth paints watercolors of Maine and whimsical animal scenes, which she offers as cards and prints. She also teaches a free weekly children's drawing class at Rockland Public Library, which is sponsored by Wendy and Keith Wellin. For more information about Knoth's work visit www.catinkacards.com.

Demonstration drawings, art, and photos by Catinka Knoth (to follow).

March Motifs- Sled dogs, Celtic designs, Circus Figures, Easter Cards - Adult Art Class 2013
Topic: Art Class
"March Motifs" Adult Art Workshop Series with Catinka Knoth at Rockland Public Library, 2013

Rockland - Catinka Knoth  will lead an art workshop series for adults, on creating art around March Motifs. Participants will visit themes such as the Iditarod dog sled races, celtic designs for St. Patrick's Day,  the circus, and Easter. Each week will be a different subject. Classes meet 11 a.m. on Mondays,  in the Community Room, Rockland Public Library, 80 Union St.  Led by Knoth, participants will  create their own art. Knoth provides the classes free of charge, with materials supplied. Friends of Rockland Library host the workshops, which are open to the public. FMI Knoth at 596-0069 or Rockland Library at 594-0310.

3/04    Iditarod sled dog races & husky dogs
3/11    St. Patricks Day & Celtic designs
3/18    Circus figures
3/25    Easter designs and cards

Knoth will provide instruction and guidance in drawing and creating March motifs. Participants will work with pencil, colored pencil, crayon, and papercutting, with a focus on drawing in color.

Knoth paints watercolors of Maine and whimsical animal scenes, which she offers as cards and prints. She teaches a free weekly children's drawing class at Rockland Public Library, which is sponsored by Wendy and Keith Wellin. For more information about Knoth's work visit www.catinkacards.com.

Iditarod, St. Patrick's Day, the Circus, Easter cards - March Medley kids' drawing classes
Topic: Kids Art Class

"Let's Draw A March Medley!" - Children's Drawing Workshops at Rockland Public Library, 2013

Press Release: Rockland - This March, children will draw the Iditarod Dog Sled Races, St. Patrick's Day, the circus, and designs and cards for Easter, at Rockland Public Library's ongoing drawing workshops led by Rockland artist Catinka Knoth. Participants follow along with Knoth as she demonstrates creating a variety of subjects for March. Husky dogs, mushers and dog sled teams, are motifs from the Iditarod Race in Alaska. The class may also experiment with papercuts of dog teams.  St. Patrick's Day has it's shamrocks, St. Patrick, leprechauns, pots of gold, rainbows, and Celtic designs.Traditionally March was when 'the circus comes to town', bringing acrobats, animals, clowns, and tents. Easter motifs include bunnies and decorated eggs.

Sponsored by local patrons, Wendy and Keith Wellin, the workshops, for age 6 and up, and the young at heart, are free and open to the public.  Children age 10 and under need adult accompaniment.  All materials are provided. Ongoing workshops meet every Tuesday, 4-5 pm., Community Room, Rockland Public Library, 80 Union St., hosted by Friends of Rockland Library. FMI - Jean Young, children's librarian, 594-0310.  

Tuesdays; 4-5pm, "Let's Draw a March Medley!"

03/05     "Let's Draw the Iditarod Races and Sled Dogs!"
03/12    "Let's Draw for St. Patrick's Day!"
03/19    "Let's Draw the Circus!"
03/26    "Let's Draw the Easter Eggs, Bunnies, and Cards!"

A circus puppet show of triangle circus people - our youtube video

Download Eggs & Bunny Coloring Page

Presidents' Day - a crow story
Topic: Stories

Presidents' Day.

Cory Crow had heard that it was Presidents' Day. He'd seen and heard the people talking about Presidents' Day sales as they returned to their cars in the parking lot at one of the big huge stores in the little town. He had heard more about it from a radio playing in someone's car as they waited for their  family to return.  Cory saw that lots of people were out shopping. He'd seen  people going  to the car dealerships too. He wondered that they would go to buy cars on this day.

Cory heard from the radio that Presidents' Day mostly honored George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Washington had been the first president of the United States, and  Lincoln, the 16th president.  Washington was born on February 22, 1732, and Lincoln on February 12, 1809. Their February birthdays used to be celebrated separately but now they were celebrated on the third Monday of February. It was a national holiday. Government offices, banks, post offices, and schools were closed. Many schools also had a winter vacation week during this time.

Cory had seen  portraits of these presidents on the people's money. Washington's face was on the old quarter coin and on one dollar bills. Lincoln's profile was on the penny and his face was on five dollar bills.

There were monuments and memorials of these presidents. A huge carving of their heads, along with two other presidents, was on a granite rock mountainside called Mount Rushmore. In Washington D.C. there was a large statue of Abraham Lincoln sitting in a throne like chair. They called this the Lincoln Memorial. The Washington Monument was a very tall obelisk. People came from all over the world to see these monuments.

There were also some well known paintings about Washington in the museums. Gilbert Stuart painted portraits in oil paints. Washington had commissioned Stuart to paint his portrait. Stuart did the painting but never delivered it to Washington. He kept the portrait so that he could paint copies of it to sell. Stuart realized that a lot of people would want a portrait of Washington, the first president of the United States. He painted many replica portraits from that first painting.

A painting by another artist shows Washington on his horse, in his role as the general who led the American colonies in the American Revolutionary War. A painting by Emanuel Leutze, Washington Crossing the Delaware, shows Washington as he led his troops in small boats over the Delaware River during a bitter winter storm.

Lincoln had led the country through the Civil War, a war that ended slavery in the United States. Photography was a new technology during that time. Civil War photographer Mathew Brady made many photographs of Lincoln.

Cory flew by the building with the big window where he'd seen people making art. It was a class at the library. One day a week there were kids with their parents who came to draw. He wondered if they would draw something for Presidents' Day. But the library was closed that day because of the holiday. Maybe they would have the art class the next day and draw  portraits of Presidents Washington and Lincoln. Cory wondered what such portraits might look like.

He saw a newspaper that had fallen out of a trash can. The page it was open to carried a large advertisement for a Presidents' Day Sale. It was illustrated with a pair of stark black and white silhouette pictures of both Washington and Lincoln.

Cory got an idea. He could pluck out some of his own little black feathers and arrange them to look like that picture. He tried to do this in the snow, but the wind kept blowing the feathers away. Next he gathered a pile of twigs and tried lining them up to make the shapes of the presidents' silhouettes. Yes, that was looking a bit like the portraits in the newspaper. The wind soon blew the twigs away, but Cory felt very pleased with himself and his art experiment.