Saturday, March 8, 2008

Art History at the Museum


The Detroit Institute of Arts was our field trip yesterday! David, Emily, James and I spent several hours exploring the newly redesigned and far more child-friendly museum. Accompanying us was my good friend Debbie and 3 of her children - some of my children's favorite companions. (We both left our youngest children home as we were not so brave as to take five year olds along this time.) It takes about 75 minutes to drive to the DIA and then about 30 minutes to find a place to park since the parking lot was full. Evidently the museum is free to Detroit residents on Fridays, a fact we were unaware of when making our plans. (This Sunday is also free, if you are so inclined!)

It was the first time for James to visit the art museum. He liked the Egyptian mummy the most as well as the mummy cases. He also liked the suits of armor - big surprise! lol He wanted to explore the Native American section more but we ran out of time and attention span.

Emily had been to this museum before. She also liked the mummy a lot. The giant painting of The Last Supper made a big impression on her because Jesus had light shining from him. She thought Judas looked suspicious because of the way his body was positioned. She bought a mood ring in the gift shop.

David also had visited the DIA previously a couple of times. A large crocodile headdress from the African collection made a big impression on him. The armor was also a favorite. David thought this triptych was "cool" because he "likes to carve".

I always love the Egyptian collection and wish I could spend a lot of time just staring at each object. Sadly, children's attention spans are not that long. I would have liked to examine more closely this page from The Book of the Dead.

I have little patience for African "art" or Native American items, although the latter is far preferable in my view. Some of the things I liked were the triptych David admired, a stone effigy of a knight, the intricately designed ceilings, some very beautifully and skillfully done portraits by Rembrandt Peale including one of George Washington, and some lovely Greek and Roman jewelry. One pair of earrings reminded me of a pair I made at a workshop given by my friend Penny, except that the museum earrings were gold, pearl and amethyst and mine are just glass beads. lol A painting with symbols of immortality was also quite intriguing.

We were all pretty impressed by a section of mosaic flooring from ancient Rome (pictured above). The kids all liked going up and down the spiral staircase. Also one of their favorite things to do was to attempt to lean over the railings and look down into the 'courtyard' inside the building. We had to go up to the 3rd floor merely to attempt this, although the adults did not realize this goal until after the 3rd floor had been reached. They also loved riding in the elevator. Simple pleasures! The "Eye Spy" puzzles placed in many rooms were a big hit with the kids as well.

There was a lot we did not get to - Asian art, the 3rd floor (British, Dutch, Fashionable Living, etc..), Modern, Rivera Court, and much much more. Plans for going again were discussed vaguely and I am sure we'll make another visit.

I'd also like to go with just ADULTS so I don't have to repeat ad nauseum things like, "Don't point so close to the painting" , "Don't get so close to the statue" , "Remember, no touching" , "Quit leaning over the railing" , "Didn't we just go to the bathroom" and more. lol Then I could just look and read and browse to my heart's content. Someday..... Anyone up for a Mom's Night Out? Or Mom's Sunday Afternoon?

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Pride & Prejudice Reactions

I asked David and Emily to write just a short reaction to the Pride and Prejudice movie we watched last week. (If you watch, get the LONG version from A&E!) Anyway, I thought the reviews showed so very clearly the reactions of men and women to this story. See if you can guess whose is whose. LOL

Btw, I left the spelling intact, in the interest of being "real".

Review 1
This is the story of 5 girles and there famaly. It is a romance book and movie. I guess it's a classic novel.

This movie is about 6 hours long. Not much happened in the story. I guess it didn't captivate my intrists. The way everyone talked was odd. It's like they wanted to complicate everything.

Review 2
I liked the whole movie especially when they loved each other at the end and he smiled. I cannot believe it. Lydia married Mr. Wickcamm and visited them (the family) and at the end two girls got married.

Did you guess whose was whose? lol