On a weekend trip to Cambria, I had the privilege of meeting Patrick and spending some time in his art studio. He was gracious enough to share some of his painting techniques. Today, the fourth-graders watched this brief video below, which captured a bit of my experience at Working Art Studio. We used his painting as the basis for a visible thinking poetry lesson.

Woods

The man walking through the woods

Endless trees surrounding him

Heaving himself forward

What seems like just a tiny bit with every step

But in reality it is a lot

The chirping of birds and sun

One day and lightning and rain hammering on the back of his neck

Every drop with its own unique mark

The next leaves crunching under his feet

Clouds chasing him down

Pushing through the broken and dead shrubs

His blistered feet doing him no good

His back aches, leaning ever

Swiping with his rusty and half-broken dagger

Starving and waiting for food

Like a bear waiting for its prey

It seems like he will never escape the hold of the forest

–Evan

The Golden Sky

The golden sky of the desert flickered with brightness

The cacti smiled that they were happy

The animals gleamed for they have not seen anything like it

The sky says, “The sky tells many stories

Within it you will find many things.”

–Jacob

The Yellow Lake’s Leaf

The golden tree leaves fall from the tree

Just to hit the beautiful surface of the yellow lake

When it does, it wanders to wherever its heart takes it

As it comes to a stop at the bank

It whispers to the Earth, “Good-bye.”

As it was once was alive

Now is has left the Earth in search of adventure

–Cayden

Possibilities Wonders

The person holding something has a black hat

The person holding something out to the world to see

And is not scared to hold it out

It is raining so hard like a falcon diving

The water droplets soaked the treetops 

They got so full they were droopy

Like a bunny in a meadow

An owl sitting on a branch is like possibilities

that are just sitting and waiting for someone to open it

–Cyanne

The Silent but Alive World

A person looking into the distance as if the world had turned into fire

While the birds look at the fire

The rain falls down on the whole world

The world so silent as the raindrops fall

But so alive of feelings, emotions, and spirits

As the people, animals, plants, and all living things

Wake up from the night

Even though they were fast asleep,

They were still wary of everything around them

Like a vulture, looking over everything that is happening

But not really knowing what is going on

–Madison

I see…

In this painting I see a hand opening a drink

Outside in the wilderness,

with a clink that is soft and mellow

Then a pop! and fizz

The soda, dripping down slowly on your hand

Like a tiny waterfall

You drink and feel a little sizzle going down your throat

You smile and then walk away, slowly sipping

–Dylan

Why so Sad?

A black rain cloud bursting with sadness

as it cries with rain over the forest

But as it cries, it fills the oceans and lakes

like a bee fills its honeycomb with nectar

Why was it sad?

No one knows and no one will ever know

–Tyson

New World

The sun shining down onto the green trees full of life

like a bunny hopping around in a meadow of poppies

And a ladybug on one of those poppies standing out from the rest

The ladybug on a poppy,

A bunny hopping through the poppies,

The trees full of life

And the sun shining down

It repeats over and over again

But then one day a bird comes over and sits on one of those trees

And everything changes

Now the sun stops shining and begins to rain

The trees wilting with no more life

The bunny stops hopping through the poppies because the poppies are gone

And the ladybug is no longer there

Not it all comes together and forms a new world with emotions, happiness, and sadness

–Ava

Eating Clouds

Eating clouds and drinking rain

I am soaring across the sky and just open my mouth,

eating white cotton candy (clouds)

I am lying down in the sky, drinking rain

Hmmm…somebody wake me up

But it’s not a dream

–Lana Zeini

Shining Light

The dragon I see is fierce, bold, and strong

Like a tiger, big and fast

It’s like a spirit popping up to haunt you

It’s this big dark foggy cloud,

Skimming the ground everybody’s scared of

But in the end, it turns into a beautiful ray of sunshine

It’s now everybody’s faith and light in the distance

–Chloe

The Thief

I think it is a person holding something

It is a man holding an elephant head

And that man is wearing a black hat full of cash

Almost like he cashed in a 1,000,000 dollar check

Except he robbed the cash

the thief with an elephant head

–Cyrus

Eye of the Hurricane

Storms rush up and down

Spinning around

Upside down, trapped in the eye of a hurricane

And suddenly I fall out, moving about

Lightning strikes and I fall down

I come back out

Stronger now

Braver than ever before

–Juliette