Webquest: Karsh

Introduction

The title of this show is Poetry of Landscape: The Seasons - Paintings by Russell Chatham. This lesson plan aids students in understanding and researching the connection between visual arts, poetry and the natural landscape. The goals of this Webquest are to:

• Integrate art and images as primary resource material.

• Provide resources so that students can focus on using information instead of looking for it.

• Build and support students’ inquiry, critical thinking and analysis skills.

Your Quest: Write Landscape-Inspired Poetry

Resources

Part One: Researching Poems and Landscape Paintings

Choose at least two poets and to artists on this list to research and explore.  Look through the websites listed and record your observations and notes in a research journal. Be sure to note aspects of the poems and paintings or prints that you admire, and why.

Poetry

• William Blake's Night
• William Wordsworth's Lines written when sailing
  
• Poems by James Thomson
  
• James Thomson's Winter
  
• Richard Brautigan's The Return of the River (excerpt)
  
• Jim Harrison Reading
  

Artists

• Claude Lorraine
  
• William Turner
  
• Russell Chatham
  
• John Constable
• Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes
• The Barbizon School
  • Jean Baptiste Camille Corot
  • Theodore Rousseau
  • Jean-Francois Millet
• Gustave Courbet
• Hudson River School
  • Asher B. Durand
  • Thomas Cole
  • Thomas Moran
• Impressionists
  • Claude Monet
  • Camille Pissarro
  • Alfred Sisley
• American Tonalism
  • Albert Ryder

   

Part Two: Observing Nature

Observing nature first-hand is important to many artists and poets. For this part of your research, visit an outdoor location in the Grand Traverse Regions that gives you inspiration.Explore your environment and brainstorm vocabulary for your poetry through the following writing exercise.

Find a comfortable seat and answer the following questions in your research journal.

1. Take a deep breath and relax. Close your eyes. What do you smell? Describe the scents around you with rich words and phrases.
2. What do you hear?
3. What sensations do you feel on your skin?
4. What do you see? Make sure to address the following:
   • Colors
   • Shapes
   • Landscaping and foliage
   • Animals
   • Weather and atmosphere

Part Three: Creating your Broadside

What is a broadside?
Historically, broadsides, a sheet of paper printed on one side, contained a song or ballad and were sold by wandering peddlers in Britain from the 16th century to the beginning of the 20th century, when mass-circulation newspapers superseded them. Although broadsides were supplanted by more efficient modes of communication, the form remained popular among poets. As printing became more mechanized, printing text from handset type using an old press became an art form. Today, broadsides are often collaboration between a poet and a print artist and the product is highly collectible.

Using your research notes and vocabulary brainstorm, gather all of the phrases and words that appeal to you. Arrange them into a short poem that will fit on one 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of paper.

Using your research notes, review all of the aspects of landscape paintings and prints that appealed to you. Pick a two dimensional medium (painting, watercolor, pencil drawing, collage, etc.) that you are the most comfortable. Create a landscape inspired by your experience in nature. Scan your landscape into the computer. Use the software available to combine your image and text. Print off enough copies to share with your classmates.

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