Bestowing The Brush

Sing with me: O Come All Ye Faithful, The Glance by George Herbert, Liturgy for Seasons of Illness, A kind review and thank you, Drawing board question, Tea recommendations, Color Connections full video course update, A.D.E. At Home Conference is on February 3rd- I’m doing a tutorial on the color PINK, Affirmations for you going forward with a creative endeavor, It’s a lie to believe that you’re not creative, Go play!

Music Bed Licenses for this episode:

Homecoming- Judah Earl

You need a color theory course, right? Listen up!

(NOTE: This course is currently in pre-sale. If you buy today, you will get the first 9 videos, and the remaining 12-15 will automatically become available in the fall once they are fully edited and uploaded).

Take advantage of the current pre-sale and lowest prices that all of my courses will ever be at from now until August 14th, midnight CT:

Today's topics:

1. When your Mind’s Eye is Blind
2. When You’re Totally Distracted
3. When The Glory Is Too Much
4. What To Expect This Year from BTB
5. The Lamp Post submissions to Adele:

Adele is a 13-year-old Charlotte Mason style student from Alton Bay, NH. She's created a new publication called The Lamp Post. I had the privilege of subscribing to the very first issue and was so surprised, entertained, and positively stirred by the articles and calls for entries! It’s such a rich and diverse collaboration paper, and I think you and your family will really enjoy this debut issue. But, mostly you'll enjoy all the other issues that you can help create!

This week’s episode is kinda personal. I took questions from you on Instagram a couple of weeks ago asking what you’d like for me to discuss with my dear husband on air. I thought Caleb (Nachtigall) would make a perfect guest, because he was homeschooled K-12! If there was ever a person who embodied education being “an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life,” it’s him.

This episode covers more intimate topics (that I have honestly had a hard time publishing):

• How we met
• Our testimonies of faith in Christ
• We beatbox duet for 8 seconds--so you have to stick around until the end
• His beard care routine

My husband, Caleb, talks with me about his favorite memories of being homeschooled K-12, what we really think of the Charlotte Mason method, his homeschooling philosophy in general, and about the husband’s role in home education. What are your family’s educational values? Can you define them? Do they change?

Caleb also debunks the “Homeschoolers are under-socialized” myth, and he tells us about where his art degree got him...but also what he did to self-educate his way into a few different career paths over the last ten years.

If you’re not doing the Charlotte Mason method perfectly, like us, then this episode is for you.

We all have to deal with glory. As image-bearers, each of us carries borrowed glory from the Father. As we look at each other and see the glory we each have, it’s natural for our hearts to envy, rather than to glorify God. Today, Tilly Dillehay (author/ blogger/ podcaster) helps us sort through the topic of envy. She clarifies how this sin plays out from one image-bearer to another, especially with artists. You’re going to want to read her book whether or not you are an artist, because her insights are so true and convicting! Listen in.

Read her here:

Elizabeth Michel, plein air painter, portrait artist, and book author/illustrator, is with me today! She also works with children ages 10 and up to improve their drawing skills. Today, we discuss a new book that she’s written and illustrated for you: “Honk! A Tale of Praise” is in bookstores and available online for you now! In the episode, we also discuss making drawing a part of your home culture and how to make it a consistent habit in the home.

A short episode about what I'm currently reading. Within are bits about drawing, nature study, and observational skills. Enjoy!

I talked with Felicity Harrison this time last year. She and her mom had some questions about what art school was like as she was trying to decide what the next steps were for her future. It’s a year later now, and Felicity has focused on her art business, but our conversation was helpful for her to try to figure out how to best spend her time. I also talk about tuition costs, toxic ideologies students will have to fight, and about how to be creative with your future unknown vocation. Who knows what God has for you or your student?

Sensitive content warning: Midway through our interview we briefly touch on school requirements for drawing nudes, also known as life drawing.

Follow her @flissyartgirl or on her business page @stars.and.lemons

“Trees are dumb, birds are dumb, nature is dumb…” But what changed Danny Sabra’s mind? Let’s hear this self-taught artist’s perspectives on learning drawing and painting after thinking he didn’t have the talent. We, as always, talk about our mindset, and he and I chat about how artistic elitism can really ruin you. Plus, many other helpful things come up. Trust me.

Also, listen all the way to the end to score a sweet code that will give you a 10% off discount on all my video courses from now until Wednesday, September 15th at midnight! This special promo is in celebration of Bestowing The Brush’s 4th year in existence! Toast with me, will you?

The plexiglass picture plane shop is finally OPEN! If you have my second video course, you'll probably be wanting one of these tools per student to aid in seeing the shapes and lines of your world better.

Jack's working definition for creativity is the ability to make useful connections between seemingly unrelated things. Give us your ears for an hour if you've ever felt completely paralyzed by perfectionism, notebooking guilt, or have been tempted by the harassment of your inner gremlin...

After all,

"The point of nature journaling is to give ourselves a tool that is going to help us to slow down, to be in a deeper communion with nature, to be present at a deeper level. If we start to look at it as making an art portfolio, then it’s scary...It becomes more about ‘How does the journal look?’ rather than, ‘What did I observe in nature today?’”

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You're also helping me celebrate my 4th year of Bestowing The Brush this episode! Listen in to score a sweet code that will give you a discount on all my video courses! Special promo is just for this week of Sept. 7th-midnight of Sept. 14th, 2021. Also, my plexiglass picture plane shop is finally OPEN! If you have my second video course, you'll probably be wanting one of these tools per student to aid in seeing the shapes and lines of your world better.

We deep-dive into exactly what’s in my new intermediate video drawing course and why you want it for your homeschool drawing lessons! The sale ends tonight at midnight! (7/5/2021) I also tell you about some exciting guests that will be on the podcast this September 2021. Get ready.

Course launch sale ends July 5th, 2021 at midnight. Check out the sweet deals here:

Two articles today! Readings & commentary of "Art Training in the Nursery" & "Hints on the Teaching of Drawing in the P.U.S." by M.L. Sumner and Emeline Petrie Steinthal, respectively. A lot of parents are very intimidated by going about teaching drawing in their homeschool lessons. It doesn't need to be complicated and the good news is that children have a natural affinity for this kind of thing. All they need is a little direction and encouragement! Listen to find out how to do it with no art training yourself...

Mentioned in this episode:

Is clay modeling just number 591 of aaaalllllll the subjects you need to include in your Charlotte Mason homeschool lessons? Or, is it something much more simple and profound? I guess you can decide after listening to Nicole Handfield and I talk about our experiences with this medium and all its benefits and pitfalls. How does this relate to the nature notebook, too?

We talk motivation, materials, mistakes and mother culture in this episode. Hopefully you can learn from what we've tried and what we like!

Marley Peifer helps us guard ourselves from nature journal comparisons by taking on a growth mindset, gives us excellent tips on nature journaling in the snow, and shows us the value of direct experience versus indirect knowledge.

This episode will equip you with a healthy attitude and very practical steps you can take to start right now!

Why, why, WHY do we do brush drawing for our drawing lessons? Miss K. Loveday has the answer in this episode and I couldn't agree more...Not only does she present the motivating ideas for why we draw in the first place, but she helps us with very technical matters, too. Listen in to learn about the specifics of the brush, seeing broadly, perfecting our touch, and many other things!

Molly the Modern Homeschooler and I talk about how technology hinders or helps us in pursuing art education, slowing down for artistic development in a fast-paced world, the problem of internet comparison, and being comfortable with not knowing an "end game" for this subject of study. It's a great episode, tune in!

We also found 1,954 analogies for how learning to draw is just like other subjects. Buckle up.

More on Brushwork from Mrs. H. Perrin of the Parents' Review, AKA Brush Drawing. If you need to know the intricacies of exactly how to practice this skill, you've tuned into the right podcast. Drawing lessons can be a breeze for your Charlotte Mason homeschool after you listen to the ideas in this paper. Enjoy!

Do you ever feel like somewhere along the way, you said goodbye to making art? Do you want to reclaim your creativity? Listen to this episode to hear Jane Boutwell and I talk about the inner critic and those pesky little lies we believe that hinder our creative expression. Whether you express yourself through music, writing, painting, or any other medium, this episode will give you fresh wind in your sails! 

Why in the world did Charlotte Mason discourage the use of a black-lead pencil in drawing lessons??? Mrs. H. Perrin tells us the secret...

Perfectionism. If you or your children struggle with this condition, then listen in! You have hope. Elizabeth and I talk about how we overcome it in our lives and how you can, too!

Maria Coryell-Martin of Art Toolkit challenges us to view art as a tool versus a talent. To use sketching as a means of scientific inquiry, communication, and connection to the world. Listen to hear us talk about her wild glacial painting adventures, about how to sneak up on walruses, and how some of her most remarkable mentors have impacted her thoughts and processes of making expeditionary art!

Hi again! This episode gets you ready for the 2020-2021 season of podcasts and also tells you all about my video course. I think it's totally right for your home school. Find out why!...

Enjoy the reading of and extra commentary on this drawing talk I did last summer at the Morning of Living Ideas retreat. Have a fantastic summer, everyone! 

Mention me @bestowingthebrush in Instagram posts if you or your students work any of the Fésole Club Papers, do any color swatches,  or try any other drawing practice. You know I love to see!

Regularly scheduled IG posts will resume in July and Season 2 of the podcast will start in August. Happy drawing, folks!

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Sources mentioned in paper:

Francis Bate and Juliet Williams of the Parent's Review

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You get to hear me talk with Nicole Handfield on this episode about the magical practice of the Nature Notebook and drawing in it, along with a few other topics, too. Nicole has generously shared with us a huge stockpile of resources for nature lore books, nature journaling, and some inspiring ideas as to WHY we do this. Listen in!

May's Fésole prompt! Want to join this Fésole Club virtual correspondence art class? (THIS may be your LAST CHANCE before you loose time to complete the foundational work from the first two Collingwood papers!) 

***If you haven't already, go back and listen to "The Fésole Club: The Lemon" and do a lemon drawing or two-- reading my critiques on Instagram of the other lemon paintings submitted that month. When you feel confident, move on to number 2: "Boughs of the Branstock" prompt and practice one of those (check IG for comments on others' trees, too) before moving on to this Spring- themed prompt!

Step 1:  Listen to my reading of Collingwood’s third paper on this podcast and be totally inspired. Listen to the end for my suggestions and recap!
Step 2:  Gather and ready the materials mentioned.
Step 3: Draw, paint, make mistakes and draw again! Practice is your friend.
Step 4:  Submit your best drawing for comments by emailing it to me at bestowingthebrush@gmail.com between now and May 22nd. One submission per person for the month, please :)
Step 5: Post your drawings (practice and final) to Instagram, tagged with #fesoleflowers, for me and others to see! 

I have Kateri Ewing on the show with me today. We talk about the impact John Ruskin has had on us as artists, about her work and teaching, and about her unique point of view on drawing and learning to see. We touch on many things here- I cannot wait for you to take a listen! Stay until the end for a beautiful reading of one of her poems and for some notes for my listeners participating in this month's Fésole Club! #fesolebranstock

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Find Kateri Ewing's work here:

Personal website: https://www.kateriewing.com/

Her NEW drawing book: "Look Closer, Draw Better: Expert Techniques for Realistic Drawing" 

https://www.amazon.com/Look-Closer-Draw-Better-Techniques/dp/1631596225

Instagram: @kateriewing, @kateriewingart

Courses on Blueprint: https://shop.mybluprint.com/painting/classes/startup-library-painting-with-watercolors/475128

Courses on Craftsy: https://www.kateriewing.com/craftsy

Courses on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/kateriewing

Kateri on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/kateriewing

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Sources Mentioned:

Ruskin's works: The Elements of Drawing, The Nature of Gothic, The Laws of Fésole, and Unto This Last

Charlotte Mason Volume 1, Home Education

Andrew Wyeth

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Follow me on Instagram at: @bestowingthebrush   

Like Bestowing The Brush on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bestowingthebrush/

Send comments, questions, & Fésole Club entries to: bestowingthebrush@gmail.com

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April's prompt! Want to join this month's Fésole Club correspondence class? Go back and listen to "The Fésole Club: The Lemon" and do a lemon drawing or two, in conjunction with reading my critiques on Instagram of the other lemon paintings submitted. When you feel confident, move on to this month's prompt and submit by the deadline for critique!

Step 1:  Listen to my instructions and reading of Collingwood’s second paper on this podcast and be totally inspired.

Step 2:  Gather and ready the materials mentioned.

Step 3: Draw, make mistakes and draw again! Practice is your friend.

Step 4:  Submit your best drawing for critique by emailing it to me at bestowingthebrush@gmail.com between now and April 24th. One submission per person please :)

Step 5: Post your drawings (practice and final) to Instagram, tagged with #fesolebranstock, for me and others to see!
 

*** Email submissions CLOSE at 6pm CT on Wednesday, April 24th! ***

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READ this paper in these places:

Ambelside Online Transcription of this paper: http://amblesideonline.org/PR/PR14p092FesoleClub.shtml

In this episode, Emily Kiser and I talk about an often underused or misunderstood tool in drawing lessons in P.U.S. schools - Memory Drawing. Emily did a systematic look through the P. R. programmes and found out just how foundational and crucial this exercise is within a Charlotte Mason education. Listen in to hear about how training in this area harmonizes with and supports many aspects of a person's education and artistic abilities!

Find Emily Kiser's work here:

I began reading Mason in 2016, but never had I made a Nature Journal a part of my life until a little over a year ago. It has been a vehicle for change in my life in many ways! Listen in to hear my story...

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Talked of in this show:

@pleinairfinds, Elizabeth Michel, on Instagram- Check her out for a great view into home schooling and drawing and painting in plein air

@naturesketches who is a fellow nature journalist, listener of the show, and maker of wonderful handmade sketchbooks

The Laws of Fésole , John Ruskin

"All Great Art Is Praise," John Ruskin

Scripture on the role of artisans in the building of the Tabernacle: Exodus 31: 1-11https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+31-35&version=ESVUK

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Follow me on Instagram at: @bestowingthebrush   

Follow my Page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bestowingthebrush/

bestowingthebrush@gmail.com

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Let's go on a drawing adventure together! Details within. Never heard of W.G. Collingwood? You're about to find out about he and Mason's historic  Fésole Club. Get your brushes ready, I'm taking submissions NOW for this reincarnation of a lost Art Club established back in 1891!

Join the Virtual Fésole Club!

Step 1: Listen to my instructions here and Collingwood’s first paper for you on the podcast, and be totally inspired.

Step 2: Ready the materials mentioned.

Step 3: Draw, make mistakes and draw again!

Step 4: Submit your drawings starting NOW, March 6th, 2019, on Instagram @bestowingthebrush or to my email: bestowingthebrush@gmail.com

OR simply use the hashtag on Instagram: #fesoleclubthelemon

*Submissions CLOSE at 6pm CT on March 26th!*

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READ this paper in these places:

In this episode, Richele Baburina and I conclude our talk on Brush Drawing and get down to some lesson time atmosphere considerations and practicals. We also discuss how brush drawing manifests in the nature notebook, and muse over the wonders of geometry in this beautiful world God created. Listen in!

Find Richele in these places: 

Charlotte Mason Poetry, Math Resources: http://charlottemasonpoetry.org/math-resources/

On Instagram: @rbaburina

Her Brush Drawing course produced by Twenty Twenty Press: https://www.twentytwentypress.com/?product=brush-drawing-kit-a-basic-course-by-richele-baburina

Her Elementary Arithmetic Series: https://simplycharlottemason.com/store/charlotte-mason-elementary-arithmetic-series-book-1/

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Follow me on Instagram at: @bestowingthebrush   

NEW- Follow my Page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bestowingthebrush/

bestowingthebrush@gmail.com

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PC: @TheHeatherHallPhotography

SHOW NOTES:

- Of Richele's comments and research Part 1 and 2 of discussion:

Emeline Steinthal, "Letters to the Editor," in The Journal of Education, (May, 1900), p. 297.

W.G. Collingwood, Fésole Club Papers, (W. Holmes, Ltd., 1906) p. 20.

Charlotte Mason, “Children are Born Persons," in The Parents’ Review, volume 22, June, 1911 (CharlotteMasonPoetry.org), pp. 419-437.

Charlotte Mason, “Books,” in The Parents’ Review, volume 6 (1896), p. 156.

Charlotte Mason, “Books,” in The Parents’ Review, volume 6 (1896), p. 476.

Charlotte Mason, Parents and Children, (Charlotte Mason Research and Supply, 1989), pp. 202, 203, 282-285.

Charlotte Mason,  Ourselves, Book I, Self-Knowledge , (Riverbend Press, 2017), pp. 42, 43. 

Emeline Steinthal, “Aunt Mai’s Budget,” in The Parents’ Review, volume 10 (1899), p. 90.

Art Middlekauff, “Nature Notebooks in the 21st Century,” (CharlotteMasonPoetry.org, May 8, 2018).

A.C. Drury, “How to Keep a Nature Notebook”, in The Parents’ Review, 1941, (Charlotte Mason Poetry.org, Jan. 8, 2019), pp. 218-233.

Christine Verspaandonk, "Memories of a PNEU Education",  (AmblesideOnline.org, 1999).

Irene Stephens, “The Teaching of Mathematics to Young Children,” in Special Reports on Educational Subjects (London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1911), No. 11.

Of my readings of John Ruskin: "The Laws of Fésole."

TIME STAMPS:

17:00 Geometry and John Ruskin

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In this episode, I'm discussing Brush Drawing with Richele Baburina! Richele not only writes articles for Charlotte Mason Poetry, but also manages the CMP math resources page, has written three math books, and has created a beautiful basic Brush Drawing course, all the while home educating her two boys and helping her husband with flat art preservation. Listen in and learn about this watercolor art form that is a critical part of a Charlotte Mason education!

Find Richele in these places: 

Charlotte Mason Poetry, Math Resources: http://charlottemasonpoetry.org/math-resources/

On Instagram: @rbaburina

Her Brush Drawing course produced by Twenty Twenty Press: https://www.twentytwentypress.com/?product=brush-drawing-kit-a-basic-course-by-richele-baburina

Her Elementary Arithmetic Series: https://simplycharlottemason.com/store/charlotte-mason-elementary-arithmetic-series-book-1/

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Today, I finish my conversation with Cody Wheelock. Cody runs an Atelier here in Omaha, NE and works in the visual art department of a local private school with students of all ages. We talk about what gives us creatures our Beauty Sense, how we can better self-critique, and we chat about some great artists from the past! Enjoy.

Find Cody in these places: 

Instagram: @wheelockpaintings

Omaha Atelier of Fine Art: http://www.wheelockpaintings.com/oaofa/

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Mentioned in this episode:

Documentary "Why Beauty Matters" by Roger Scruton, the philosopher https://vimeo.com/103665136

Frederic Church https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/chur/hd_chur.htm

Alexander Von Humboldt https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436471

The ultra handy MODERN black mirror http://www.marcdalessio.com/iphone-painting-tool/

Or, make your own Claude glass/ black mirror https://www.instructables.com/id/Make-your-own-Claude-Glass-or-Black-Mirror/

CONTACT ME:

This episode features my first guest on the show, Cody Wheelock! We talk over the foundational nature of drawing, wax eloquent about painting, discuss the magnitude of large waterfalls, and the benefits of failure. We be begin to touch on the imagination and Beauty Sense, but that, folks, that is an episode for another day...

Find Cody in these places: 

Instagram: @wheelockpaintings

Omaha Atelier of Fine Art: http://www.wheelockpaintings.com/oaofa/

Special thanks to Aaron Holz, who trained us both.

PC: @TheHeatherHallPhotography

Drawing is more about character building than making a pretty picture. Listen in to see WHY!

Sources: 

Drawing Design and Craft-Work by Frederick J. Glass

The Laws of Fesole by John Ruskin

Charlotte Mason in her Vol 1. Home Education- page 313  "Children have 'Art ' in them

Special shout-out to Kateri Ewing who will appreciate 14:30 onward! Let's talk Ruskin soon.