Sharon Clarke reads “Colorful Dreamer,” a picture book about the life of artist Henri Matisse, to children at the library.
As part of its summer reading program, the township library has held events centered around art, befitting its theme of “Color Our World.”
Among them is the Little Artists series, which held three sessions earlier this month. Each one focused on a famous artist – including examples of their work – and children created their own pieces in the style of that artist.
Sharon Clarke is a youth supervisor librarian.
“I thought it’d be fun to show a little bit, learn basic things about the artist and then have them make the art first hand and in their style,” she said.
In the first session, participants learned about George Seurat and created art with his technique, known as pointillism, in which dots of color applied to blank paper or canvas are used to create an image, with the viewer’s eye blending the dots from a distance. The children used Q-tips to create the dots.
The second event focused on Yayoi Kusama, a Japanese contemporary artist who works mostly in sculpture and installations.
“She’s known for her polka dots,” Clarke explained, “known as the princess of polka dots … We made paper pumpkins, because she’s known for pumpkin sculptures with polka dots.”
The last of the program series focused on Henri Matisse, a French artist known for the use of color in his paintings and collages with painted paper. The session began with Clarke – wearing a T-shirt that featured Matisse’s “Icarus” – showing the kids examples of the artist’s works, how they were created and common themes like plants and birds.
She also showed examples of his collages, explaining how Matisse referred to them as “drawing with scissors.” Clarke then read a children’s book based on his life, “Colorful Dreamer.” It explored how the artist grew up in a dreary French village and thought of joining the circus as a child, an idea his parents discouraged. He had turned to studying law when he became ill.
During his recovery, Matisse discovered painting and began to heal. “Colorful Dreamer” features dull images to represent his time in law school, then colorful ones to represent his art career.
After Clarke finished story time, she transitioned the children into craft time, where they used colored construction paper, scissors and glue to create collages like Matisse’s, helped by two teen volunteers.
Gina Winters was in attendance with her son, Ben, both of whom attended all three sessions of the “Little Artists” series.
“Every week it’s a different artist and a different project,” she noted. “It’s just a really nice moment for grown-ups to connect with their kids and make some art together.”
Winters and her son both created collages, with Ben explaining to his mother his plan for making a turtle.
The session ended with children and parents taking home their finished pieces, holding them up to show them off.
