When I think back to the collections we've seen this week, transformation/evolution are themes that come to mind.  We've seen artwork over such an expansive period of time, showing growth not only in technologies and skill but also in the way we view and capture an image.  We see this transformation/evolution from the flat woodcuts of Dioscorides Pedanius, to the extreme intricacies and fantastic nature of Robert John Thornton's prints, to the abstract pochoir prints of Jean Burkhalter.  This theme is important for emerging artists to consider because they are constantly revising their work.  We can also think of transformation in the metacognitive sense and how observing these works transforms or helps to evolve the way we think about our own practices and beliefs as learners. 

When taking a course for the purpose of creating a lesson unit for students, I try to see the information through a student filtered lens.  Within the botanical umbrella, I was pleased to see that both flowers and plants were highlighted throughout the visits, with both men and woman being featured and celebrated.  Children want to see themselves in the people they study and all the visits included little personal stories that help bring the study of botany through illustrations come to life.  I will provide many images from the Library of Congress and other websites uncovered in this class for the students to see, but the background stories will help the primary resource come to life and spark students to be interested in doing further research on their own. Each day has brought another branch to the story of botanical studies and illustrations! (no pun intended)

Thematically, the subject matter remained constant--flora and fauna, however, the way in which the subject was observed and presented visually and in a literary sense changed with the prevailing attitudes of contemporary culture. I found interesting the restraints on what details were depicted and withheld in botanical illustration in relation to the audience of men versus women. It was also fascinating to see how the depiction of botany changed as the medicinal value of plants decreased in the field of medicine. The visual accuracy and scientific properties of a plant were of utmost importance initially but changed to a more subjective and artistic interpretation as the efficacy of plants was not regarded as highly by the establishment.

Readers of Shakespeare’s 1623 First Folio would see this image of the author:

While readers today might see this image of him in any collections of his work published in the last several decades:

Both images show Shakespeare, but modern printing technology is able to show him with vivid colors and minute detail not possible when the First Folio was originally published.

One of my favorite things about seeing all of the beautifully preserved botanical books from different eras this week was watching as the style of illustration changed as new printing technologies became available. Because we saw books from such a wide variety of publication dates, we were able to witness these changes in illustration style and quality from incunabula to present day. Because botanical illustrators were (usually) trying to represent their subject matter as accurately as possible, they are quick to adopt new techniques that can be reproduced in print with the latest technologies, so it is fun to watch as the illustrations get more colorful and detailed over time (until photography gets perfected and illustrators are free to get abstract and weird).

You’ll see the evolution as you scroll through these chronological hyacinth illustrations:

First, I must comment on this part of the opening quote: “botanically accurate, comprehensive and recognisable to species level.” I tried to draw and collage flowers. My drawings with the water-color pencils were probably more “comprehensive” than my collage, and they were definitely more  “botanically accurate.”  However, both were “recognisable,” even though my collage was my attempt to imitate work by Eric Carle.

That being said, if I am looking at themes across the collections, I noticed that many of the works included text. Something that I noticed was that many of the title pages used punctuation, i.e.

https://tile.loc.gov/image-services/iiif/service:rbc:rbctos:2017gen12550v2:0007/full/pct:25/0/default.jpg 

We saw the above book at Bartram’s Gardens. I asked the librarian from the LOC about this and was told that punctuation was what they did prior to 1850 (I could have the date wrong). I am quite interested in punctuation and grammatical constructs. To continue, I also like when museums and books show the “process” of a work. When I draw – an infrequent occurrence – I tend to record not just the date, but the where, the medium, and the colors. 

The other theme was “historical significance” (for lack of a better term). When we were at Bartram’s Gardens, it dawned on me the first time I had ever heard of Wm Bartram. It was in an English class at Rutgers. I had been assigned one of his works, but, truth be told, I don’t think I finished it. I don’t remember enjoying the reading, and my guess is the work would have been “better” if I had understood its historical significance.

Because of this class, I am even more aware now of plants, flowers, herbs, and their connection to “medicinal healing[,] as a part of commerce[,] spiritual expression and…the Divine.” Many thanks to Cate, Eric, and the various librarians, curators, etc. we met along the way.

  Themes  connect across time and place may be due to our human nature and that rites of passage or landmarks of our lives have similar connections to being human. Culture, class, and religion may spark and define differences but our human nature regarding our lives pursuits through beauty, love, healing, feeling loved and values are traits many people find valuable and pursuing our individual life landmarks. Thematic connections can be drawn between and within the works explored would be how to surround our lives with beauty through the art of The Divine. Reading and understanding what was naturally provided for us may maintain our health such as watch out for Poison Ivy, or a hot cup of Mint tea may be great for your mood and digestion, or a colorful arrangement of colors throughout the shade of petals may soothe your anxiety and provide a challenging drawing activity for your brain. The many Rare and Valuable behind the scene literary sources inspire my mind, an overwhelming desire of gratitude for the artistic, historians, librarians, and so many individuals taking care to ensure that these priceless documents are kept safe and available to the Common Man.  

I was up for much of the night looking at Mary Delaney's collages on The British Museum's website trying to figure out how she was able to create such depth in her paper cut outs.  I reasoned that, while she mastered the art of embracing negative space, her process creating shadows and depth through  pigment/papermaking must have been a massive undertaking.  I collected various paper types (even using the tissue wrapping from a roll of Scot's toilet paper hoping it would achieve some translucency) and pigment types (from water colors to washi tape) and experimented with creating colorful paper samples for my project the next day.  It is both challenging and wonderful for be in this state of artistic play and curiosity again - As Kate mentioned that the beginning of the week, a focus on process is a fundamental theme of this week and I was able to use that lens as we traveled place to place - soaking it all in.  It is this lens that allowed me to see through the eyes of wonder again and put myself into the shoes of my students.  This will prove to be invaluable during the school year as now I will truly be empathetic to their struggle with embracing their own processes without getting tripped up by visions of their final product.  We were exposed to so many different mediums this week and I marveled at the processes that brought forth a myriad of beautiful and informative visuals.  Speaking of visuals, that is the one thing I could not seem to master this week, uploading an actual visual to this TPS network board - guess that means I will have to come back for another class :)

Mary Delany collages from the British Museum

Article about Delany's collages (Links to an external site.) from the Garden's Trust.

Thematically speaking, the business of growing a new way of seeing is the connection point for me this week.  In each experience, we were invited to look closely at examples and images of botanicals, and consider how this kind of 'close reading' of plants has inspired wonder and exploration throughout history.  The practice of looking closely at botanicals reminds me to slow down the delivery of content in my ELA classroom and allow the seeds of wonder blossom.  The attention to detail that emerges when assigned time to look carefully and respond intentionally is clearly demonstrated in Mary Delaney's collage work.  The hands-on experiences this week were further reminders of seeing through a new lens.  6 - 8   TPS/UARTS   English/Language Arts  

https://tpsteachersnetwork.org/the-arts-and-primary-sources/seed-packets-what-will-you-grow-cultivate-this-year