"Directed Drawings"
by 7-Year-Old Sarah and 11-Year-old Paul
Soon after our arrival May 21, 2009, in San Rafael, California, for a visit with my son and his family, we were spirited away to
grandson Paul's baseball game. Daughter-in-law Anne had prepared gourmet picnic dinners for each of us, and we dined
in the stands while cheering Paul's team on. It was really chilly for a day in late May.

Then we walked a few steps to Sarah's first-grade classroom for a sort of "show and tell" night of the work they have done
this year. The teacher had shown the students how to draw the various subjects, so they are called "directed drawings."
They explored various techniques required on a practice sheet, then drew the subjects.

We caught the excitement of the kids as they showed their parents around and proudly introduced their teacher. How I
wish I had been in such a class! There obviously had been a unit on medieval times, as you'll see below from the castles
to dragons, great and small. The kids' self-portraits were priceless, as were their colorful takes on Matisse's style. It was
so much fun! Here's Sarah:
When dragons roamed the Earth and knighthood was in flower
The giantess is the giant's wife in Jack and
the Beanstalk. Sarah says she is crying
because Jack killed her husband.
The class learned how a beanstalk grows
from a tiny seed.
This Chinese New Year took us into the Year of the Ox, so the
kids learned to draw an ox. I'm going to frame him!
When did you last see a Tasmanian devil?
I love Sarah's
Tasmanian devil.
Flowers
"After Matisse"
Self-Portrait and Cat
Note the message on Sarah's shirt: "I
(heart) Alex." When I asked her if she
still liked Alex, she looked a bit
embarrassed and smiled demurely.
Sarah in the arms of her dad, Jonathan, with Grandpa Stoehr.
This was my favorite experience
on our trip to California May 21-25, 2009.
Jan's grandson Paul's self-portrait
Note the parts of the body are spelled
out in place. The "real Paul" is to the
right, standing in the Art Gallery in front
of his and some other students' work.