As the nights are getting colder and darker and with Advent almost upon us, it seemed somehow appropriate to focus on the bright and cheery cardinal for our final Art Class of the semester.  Cardinals are one of the birds that remain with us throughout the winter months, singing into the quiet darkness before the dawn.  It’s a beautiful analogy and sign of hope for us in the dark and quiet of Advent as we await the birth of Our Savior when the “sunrise shall visit us from on high” (Luke 1:78) on Christmas morning.

We discussed why Cardinals are called Cardinals, named for the Roman Catholic Cardinals whose vestments are the same color.  Interestingly, a flock of Cardinals has several names, including a college, a radiance, a conclave and a Vatican.  We looked at a painting by the 19th century British artist Sir John Everett Millais of Cardinal John Henry Newman.  It’s a lovely painting of the saint that hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in London.  We then looked at several pictures of real cardinals in the snow to base our drawings on.

This week we used liquid watercolors for our paintings.  We started by sketching the cardinal, with all its distinct features.  Then moving on, the children covered over the their drawings with black lines.  They then started painting with the watercolor paint, building up layers of color to get the shade they liked for their birds, branches and backgrounds.  After their paintings dried a bit, they let the snow fall upon their work by adding snowflakes with white acrylic paint and Q-tips.  For several of the children it took some coaxing to have them let it “snow” right on top of their cardinals and branches, their instinct was to have the snow fall around them.  It was a fun lesson and the children did a beautiful job!

Their collage Holy Card this week was from Psalm 104:12-13:

Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;

they sing among the branches.

From your lofty abode you water the mountains;

The earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.