Activity 6:

Just Get Up and Mark It!

Objective:

Students will create primitive style drawings and paintings to experience the style of Clementine Hunter.

Materials:

Plastic bottles, old window shades, tile, clay pots, etc.
Tempera paint, acrylic paint
Pieces of old boards, enough for each student to have one
Paintbrushes

Motivational Link:

Clementine Hunter liked to sit in a rocking chair, so it would be good if you could "recreate" her as you tell this story, preferably by sitting in a rocking chair.

Today, you and I are going back to Gumbo Island. We are going there to observe and to learn from one of the most interesting artists of our time... Mrs. Clementine Hunter. Clementine Hunter moved to Melrose Plantation in 1902. She went there with her family when she was 15 years old. Back then she worked as a field hand picking cotton. She didn't get to go to school, so she never learned to read or write.
But boy, did she paint! Clementine started painting after a woman named Miss Alberta Kinsey visited Melrose Plantation. Miss Kinsey left behind her paintbrushes and paints after her visit and Clementine found them when she was cleaning up. When Clementine saw the paint and brushes she became very excited. She was thinking of all the things she could do with them. Of course you know what happened. They let her keep the paints and brushes -- and so began the birth of a famous artist.
Clementine had her own way of doing and saying things. For instance, she didn't say she was going to draw or paint a picture -- she said she was going to "mark" a picture. Clementine often told how she got some of her ideas. According to Clementine, she would see an idea in her sleep, get up and "mark it."
Clementine was known as a primitive artist because she never had formal art training or art classes. She painted about her life and her feelings -- on anything from curtain shades to bottles. She didn't own a fancy artist's palette; she used an old piece of board on which to put her paints.

Activity:

Show children pictures of Clementine Hunter's work from the book Clementine Hunter: American Folk Artist, by James L. Wilson (Pelican Publishing Company: Gretna, LA, 1988). Allow them to tell what they like about it. Explain what they are seeing in the pictures.
Guide the children to take a piece of board for their own art palette. Ask them to sit quietly with their eyes closed and begin to think and imagine. Tell them when they think of an idea, they should open their eyes and "mark it," just as Clementine Hunter did. Tell them they can use any of the materials before them.
When they finish, ask them to explain to the class what their painting or drawing is about and why they drew it.
Finish the activity by allowing the children to write or draw in their journals.

Extension:

Give the children 5 x 7 unlined index cards and allow them to draw or paint on one side. Tell them they are making postcards and to only use one side. These can be placed in the Art Museum activity later.