Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci was born April 15, 1452 and died on May 2, 1519. He was a Renaissance genius who is considered to be one of the greatest painters of all time, and possibly the most talented person who ever lived.

At the young age of fourteen, Leonardo was apprenticed to the artist Andrea di Cione. He was exposed to many artistic skills including drawing, painting, sculpting, and modeling. By the age of twenty, Leonardo was qualified as a master in the guild of artists and doctors of medicine. His earliest known work is a drawing in ink of the Arno Valley, drawn on August 5, 1473. From then on, Leonardo worked in Milan, Rome, Bologna, Venice and France creating art that would create history.

In the 1480s, Leonardo created three well known pieces of art, St. Jerome in the Wilderness, the Adoration of Magi, and Virgin of the Rocks. Virgin of the Rocks is the only finished painting due to problems with completion and payment with the first two paintings.

Leonardo’s most famous painting from the 1490s is The Last Supper, painted in Milan. Unfortunately, Leonardo had used tempera as his surface, resulting in his painting flaking and molding quickly. Due to this problem, The Last Supper is one of the most reproduced works of art.

It was in the 16^th century that Leonardo created his most famous work of art, the Mona Lisa. To this day, no one knows why the woman is smiling. Many tests have been done on this mysterious painting, and one exposed a faint veil over the women’s face. In Leonardo’s time, women wore veils when they were pregnant. So it is assumed that she is smiling because she is pregnant. However, it is just a guess. Leonardo’s use of subtle shadowing around her mouth and eyes makes this an impossible puzzle to solve.

Throughout his life, Leonardo created works of art that astonish and inspire any artist who set eyes on his work. I admire Leonardo’s sense of mystery, and how his paintings leave questions unanswered. He pays a great deal of attention to the details and due to his artistic talent, has created beautiful masterpieces. Leonardo da Vinci was not just an artist. He was a genius.

By: Sansara Deshpande

8^th grade

Drawing by Jamie Raupp, Saline Middle School Art Student

Jamie Nicolle Raupp, a young student in 8^th grade, has been taking art class for 10 years. Not only does she have pure passion for this activity, but she inspires others to feel the same way. One of her most favorite pieces of art was when she was in 7^th grade, her drawing of Winston Churchill. She told me, “This man was an inspirational leader of England. He was the Prime Minister of England during World War ll.” pausing to take in her amazing poetic words, she then said, “I enjoy this piece quite much, because it shows off the roughness of lead when applied in different shades like the rough war that divided the world.”

These words touched my heart. I truly felt the meaning of her art. Not only can she draw incredibly, but she can feel her masterpiece. So the next the time my pencil touches the canvas, I will remember the internal pain she lets out on her paper creating sparks of beauty.

Written by Catherine Marchenko, 8^th grade

11-11-11 CRANBROOK

Cranbrook Art Museum is re-opening 11-11-11! Check out their website for more information on the ongoing events! Cranbrook Museum There are lots of events for artists of all ages!
Not only do they have the "Saarinen House"
but they also have artwork from the recent alumna that just spoke at U of M... Nick Cave!

Pittsfield Township Hall Art Show

The Saline Area Schools Art Department is holding an art show at the Pittsfield Township Hall from now until January 6th, 2012. The hall is located at 6201 W. Michigan Ave (across from Burger King). The main entrance is around back and the show is located just through the doors. Township business hours are Mon. – Fri. from 8:00am – 5:00pm. Please stop in and see the talent of our terrific Saline students!

Art Project, powered by Google

Explore museums from around the world, discover and view hundreds of artworks at incredible zoom levels, and even create and share your own collection of masterpieces! Explore the great masterpieces from museums such as Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy or the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam by cilcking on www.googleartproject.com. You can :

• Explore museums with Street View technology:virtually move around the museum’s galleries, selecting works of art that interest you, navigate though interactive floor plans and learn more about the museum and you explore.
• Artwork View: discover featured artworks at high resolution and use the custom viewer to zoom into paintings. Expanding the info panel allows you to read more about an artwork, find more works by that artist and watch related YouTube videos.
• Create your own collection: the ‘Create an Artwork Collection’ feature allows you to save specific views of any of the 1000+ artworks and build your own personalised collection. Comments can be added to each painting and the whole collection can then be shared with friends and family.

Check out the visitor guide to learn how to use this site:

http://www.googleartproject.com/c/faq

by Janice Martin

Interesting Article

Why The Arts Are Good For Business

This is a great article as to why more than ever the arts programs are relevant in the education of today's student.



Janet Hughes

Frederick Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park

USA Today created a list of the 10 Great Sculpture Gardens Across the USA.
One of them was right in our backyard!
The Frederick Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park