Artful Reflections

An interesting scene... before you set your ideas about what might be happening here, follow this path:

Look carefully. Slowly.

Look at the corners, the top, the bottom, the middle.

What do you notice? What items or beings do you see? 

Don't think yet about what might be happening, just notice what you see.

What does this scene remind you of?

What do you think of as you look at this painting?

What about this painting might feel unexpected?

What surprises you about this scene?

What do yo think is happening in this painting?

What questions do you have?

What do you wonder?

Take some time to reflect on these questions in writing or using art or by video recording. 

Don't rush. 

Let some silence fall between your ideas and keep looking carefully.

This painting is called Peaceable Kingdom.

It was painted by Edward Hicks.

This version lives at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. You can visit it here.

Hicks was renowned as a minister - he had a much respected ability to share aloud the inner light rising from his silent reflection.

For Hicks, painting was an extra - preaching was his passion, what he believed he was born to do. He painted Peaceable Kingdom more than 62 times! Rumor says that you can see signs of his own state of mind, at the time of each version, in the facial expressions of his animals.

George Fox, founder of Quakerism wrote:

“Be patterns, be examples in all countries, places, islands, nations wherever you come; that your carriage and life may preach among all sorts of people, and to them; then you will come to walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in everyone; whereby in them you may be a blessing, and make the witness of God in them to bless you.” Statement of 1656, from The Works of George Fox (1831)

George Fox is getting at the idea of Letting Your Life Speak here.

How is Edward Hicks letting his life speak in this artistic work? 

How will you let your life speak?

Feel free to share your visible thinking with me at coffind@sidwell.edu. I will add them to this post. If you wish, include documentation (photos, video, writing) of your process.

For added information about testimonies:

https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.59908.html
https://www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.1396.html
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Edward-Hicks

Types of thinking encouraged: 

• Develop Questions
• Connect to Prior Knowledge
• Slow Looking
• Practice Articulation
• Safe Exploration of a Topic, Idea, or Object
• Wonder about Differences or Similarities

Source:

A twist on the See Think Wonder thinking routine: https://www.smore.com/emm0s-see-familiar-surprise-wonder