Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Flighty Gifts



Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt;
poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen.
- Leonardo da Vinci


 Paint!




 Maple Seeds!


 Cheese boxes!


Did you know that besides his famed Mona Lisa, 
Leonardo da Vinci laid claim to
water walking shoes, 
ball bearings,
a robot, 
and a telescope?
Clever man, that Leonardo.
His flight machines got us thinking...
What about homemade helicopters?

So we painted maple seeds,
inspired by this cleverness.

You know those round cheese boxes?
The ones that nest shiny triangles of cheese? 

They make a perfect home
for flying seed games.
We painted our boxes with acrylic and gel medium.  

And tucked in fall poems for good measure.
A fun holiday gift for your flighty friends.
Or your seedy ones.

And books! We have books!

A Seed is Sleepy - Diana Hutts Aston, illustrated by Sylvia Long
Leonardo and the Flying Boy - Laurence Anholt
Leonardo Beautiful Genius - Robert Byrd
Leonardo's Notebooks - Leonardo da Vinci

And here's one stunner
that celebrates not so much seeds or invention,
but the bittersweetness of time, and change...

 
House Held Up by Trees - Ted Kooser, ill. by Jon Klassen
...which reminds me of another fascinating
and compelling read :

Wildwood - Colin Melloy, illustrated by Carson Ellis

Happy reading!
Happy writing!
Happy flying!

3 comments:

The Knitty Gritty Homestead said...

Just when I start clearing some books out of our overflowing shelves...I add a few more to our wish list!! My son would be so into DaVinci...I'll never forget visiting Clos Luce, the house where he spent his last years, and where he died...powerful, to share a space like that, even centuries apart.

Faith E. Hough said...

I love A Seed is Sleepy--such a gorgeous book. And your idea for painting maple seeds is fun, too! I think my girls would love that.

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

You always have such good book recs and projects. I think you have a houseful of artists and writers in the making.

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