Spring Series Nature Study with Art and Music - Update to Composer

It was brought to my attention that the composer links for Schubert on page 20 of the ebook are no longer working.

Here are the updated links...you can print out this email and put it with your ebook so you will have the updates when you need them:

· Listen to the entire Piano Sonata in B flat Major D. 960 on YouTube.com.

      Movement 1: http://youtu.be/Ok9tofNmqNY

      Movement 2: http://youtu.be/G2AIMQ0-zWY

      Movement 3: http://youtu.be/zD12AOCty0Q

      Movement 4: http://youtu.be/p2YbCgudmc0

The Victorian Observation of Indian Decoration

Illustration: Decoration from an Indian lacquer workbox, seen at the Great Exhibition, 1851.

British designers, and particularly those involved in the textile industry, had been either literally copying or producing Anglicised versions of Indian pattern work for generations. Although it was relatively standard practice to produce Indian inspired textile pattern work, it was perhaps not until the nineteenth century that the British began to develop an interest in the reasoning behind, both the popularity and the obvious superiority of Indian decorative pattern.

As the discipline of science procured for itself a veneer of respectability and, to a certain extent at least, a relatively unbiased analysis of a whole range of subjects, the world of the decorative arts, particularly from an historical perspective, was bound to eventually become included in nineteenth century scientific analysis.

A number of individuals tried to make sense of an often bewildering entanglement of decorative pathways. These pathways joined most, if not all of human cultural diversity, into a confusing network of symbols, styles and creative eras. Much of the early nineteenth century information tended to rely on a typically Eurocentric approach to decoration, with most of the decorative eras of Europe either spontaneously appearing fully grown, or lending themselves to cultures outside of the continent. Therefore, European architecture, design and decoration often found itself being put forward as the influencer of what was deemed to be lesser cultures on the periphery of Europe. The fact that often the opposite was true, took some time to percolate within the European consciousness, and to be honest there are still many in Europe who believe in the Eurocentric perspective of events, whether historical, political, religious, or indeed decorative.

Illustration: Indian ivory inlay decoration, seen at the Great Exhibition, 1851.

That Europe and particularly Britain had much to learn from the perspective of design and decoration began to be consistently put forward by a number of critics, some of whom had practical experience in the decorative arts and some who didn't. Criticism of contemporary British decorative arts output gained pace during the 1840s, but it was perhaps the event of the 1851 Great Exhibition in London which really made a convenient public forum in which to discuss British decorative arts as compared to the rest of Europe. However, considering the international aspect of the Exhibition, more particularly to those cultures outside of Europe, many of which were considered little more than colonial appendages of Britain, the discussion and analysis could be expanded beyond Europe.

India was particularly highlighted by critics during and after the Exhibition. For many it was the first time that they had seen Indian products in such detail and on such a scale. Of course, when talking of 'India' we have to be aware that as far as the British were concerned when they referred to India, they were talking of their influence over what is now Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. This also meant that decorative work displayed would be both Hindu and Muslim based and in that respect a cultural range of Indian work would have been seen. However, it is also true that much of the accumulated work shown at the Exhibition under the banner of India had been supplied by the British East India Company as well as by individuals and therefore as the old Mughal Empire was their particular power base much of the decorative display work had a Mughal and therefore Muslim heritage.

Illustration: Decoration from an Indian lacquer workbox, seen at the Great Exhibition, 1851.

Britain had always had, and to some extent still does have, a fairly peculiar relationship with India. Although there is a certain amount of complexity in the relationship which spans a number of generations, there is something to be said for the idea that Britain in its struggle to deal with its own inferiority when seen against the seemingly unchanging and age-old Hindu cultural traditions, or the rich cultural world of the Islamic Mughal Court, found a way of coping with its own inferiority by adopting a form of projected superiority. Many in the Mughal Court in particular saw much of the British blunt acts of perceived superiority as regrettable and painful to watch, and there are lots of amusing stories of Mughal Emperors inviting the British to their Court hoping that the civilised nature of the atmosphere might well help to educate the British in refining their nature.

As to decoration, the analysis of individuals such as Owen Jones helped to formulate, not so much why Indian decorative work was so successful and popular, although this was an important part of the understanding of India and its decorative history, but more a case of why it was consistently of such a high standard and why it seemed to work on so many levels and in so many disciplines without fail. The practical and technical analysis of Indian decoration shows clearly that much of it consists of pattern work that is devoid of illusion. This means in fact that Indian decorative detailing whether for architecture, glass, ceramics, wood, metal or indeed textiles lacks shadow or any element of depth. This was shown to be diametrically opposite to much of European decorative work of the last three or four hundred years.

Illustration: Inlay decoration of an Indian hookah, seen at the Great Exhibition, 1851.

Richard Redgrave in his supplementary report to the Great Exhibition, produced in the following year 1852 stated that Indian:

'...ornament is always flat and without shadow; natural flowers are never used imitatively, or perspectively, but are conventionalised by being displayed flat and according to a symmetrical arrangement; and all other objects, even animals and birds, when used as ornament, are reduced to their simplest flat form.'

Redgrave was not merely casually observing the main aspects that made up Indian decorative pattern work, he was in fact trying to underline why he and others felt that this form of decoration was infinitely superior to anything produced by Europe in the last four hundred years and certainly that of contemporary Britain. It was felt that Indian designers and decorators, rather than suffering from a lack of knowledge of perspective or a three-dimensional viewpoint in art, had instead a superior knowledge and skills base as far as art and design were concerned, specifically because they did not use perspective and illusion. They had an intrinsic and long-term understanding of materials and surfaces, which included their decorative strengths and weaknesses, a technical and practical ability that Britain had lost sometime in the early renaissance. That it was needed for the British to rediscover this innate ability through the Indian decorative arts, was seen as paramount to a successful domination of decoration both in Europe and internationally.

Illustration: Indian cashmere covering, seen at the Great Exhibition, 1851.

Not all were convinced that Indian decoration could help point the way for contemporary British design, and certainly many had difficulty with the concept of Indian decorative arts being seen as superior to that of the British. Many of the British who resided in India itself were prone to see anything Indian as inferior to the British way of life, but as already stated there is always the potential to start believing in your own superiority when it is stressed enough times. That that superiority was inherently self-delusional, and a delusion that was purposely projected as an overall confidence on to those who were being ruled, is an aspect of the British Empire that is only now beginning to surface.

More damning perhaps is the attitude of critics such as Ruskin who was very vocal in his condemnation of non-European art, design and decoration. He was known to have dismissed the Indian decorative arts on a number of occasions which is interesting as many of the followers of Ruskin and particularly those who became part of the British Arts and Crafts movement, were keen to introduce some of the more fundamental aspects of Indian decoration, particularly the aspect of the removal of any form of shadow or depth to pattern work. Although William Morris rarely praised the role that India played within contemporary nineteenth century decoration, particularly within textiles, it is clear that his work follows closely the tenets of Indian decoration. Although he would rather have given the praise to European medievalism, as indeed would Ruskin and many of the Arts and Crafts followers, there is little doubt that India had a long and consistent effect on British decoration. This became acute during the Great Exhibition of 1851 and thereafter was analysed and projected onto at least a certain element of Britain's decorative work, particularly in the form of textiles. Perhaps the British debt to Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, at least in the form of decoration and pattern, should be expressed a little more often than it is.

Further reading links:

Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnvial - Spring Splendor

It has been a lot of fun for me to see spring come to all parts of the world through your Outdoor Hour Challenge blog entries as part of this carnival. So many of you have had an early spring which makes for a very green and colorful carnival.

Our family has enjoyed getting outside everyday as part the Go Explore Nature photo scavenger hunt. Yes, even our family needs a little push to get outside sometimes and this project encouraged us to not only get outdoors but to notice things in a deeper way. I hope that the Outdoor Hour Challenge helps your family in the same way....there is evidence in this edition of the carnival that proves that you are indeed finding joy and learning right outside your back door. Thank you to all the participants this month and I look forward to seeing your May entries as we all get deeper into this Spring of 2012.

Just a little note about the 

More Nature Study Book #4 

for Summer Nature Study. 

I am still writing and creating furiously in order to meet my May release deadline. I have found it necessary to push the release date to May 20, 2012. I wanted to keep you informed so you can plan your summer nature study using the Outdoor Hour Challenge.

Enjoy the carnival!

Spring Journal from Grace and Truth

Spring Splendor

Denise from Grace and Truth is a fellow Californian (she is southern and I am northern) and she has put together a wonderful post to share their Spring Splendor. Thank you so much Denise for sharing your nature journal entries..inspiring! Don't miss her beautiful images either. 

Heidi from Starts at Eight would love for you to pop over and see their Outdoor Hour Challenge #1 (which is really a Signs of Spring post). What lovely collages of their spring world she has put together for us all to enjoy!

Buds/Catkins/Blossoms

Angie from Petra School has submitted their Spring Nature Study-Catkins entry for carnival readers. I'm sure we would all love to have been there for their study set in a gorgeous location with a magical place to complete our journals.

Barbara from Schoolhouse on the Prairie shares their Buds, Catkins, and Blossoms on Our Spring Splendor Walk entry with the carnival. They made some important observations and followed up with journals that will remind them of their spring walk on the prairie.  Don't miss reading her closing statement. :)

Kim from A Child's Garden wrote up their account of Our March Bark Walk on the Nipmuck Trail. There are a lot of things to note in this entry but I what I noticed was how different her early spring woods look in Connecticut from what we see here in Northern California. Different trees, different colors...interesting to me.

Jen from Snowfall Academy has been conducting a tree study of a tree they can see from their apartment window (in France!). See their Spring Tree Study entry and be inspired. 

Robin Pastels Project from Hodgepodge

Spring Bird - Robins

Janet from Across the Page is sharing Cornell Pilgrimage Part 2: Hawks for us to enjoy. I loved this entry and it inspired me to make our plans in the near future to visit Cornell Lab of Ornithology.  Stay tuned for more information from Janet on the Cornell Lab in the May edition of the Handbook of Nature Study Newsletter.

Amy from Across the Page gathered several nature study sessions into her entry: April Nature Notes. Her robin image is gorgeous and her girls followed up with some very carefully done nature notebook pages. She also shares a few of their images from their photo scavenger hunt from Go Explore Nature. 

Tricia from HodgePodge has put together a jam-packed entry with so much nature study goodness it makes my heart swell: Spring is Full of So Many Things. Take a look at their robin study and follow-up Robin Patel artwork (shown above).

Schoolhouse on the Prairie is all ready for some birding!

Barbara from Schoolhouse on the Prairie has submitted their All About Birds entry for carnival readers to enjoy. I really loved seeing how birdwatching is a such a part of their everyday life. There is also a nice shout out to the Hodgepodge family...

Leslie from Two Cowgirls shares their Farm School - Raptors entry with this edition of the carnival. You must click over and see their nest images and hear how they are incorporating interest driven learning.

Jen from Whimsical Blessings wants carnival readers to see their Nature Study - Robins entry. Did you know that robins are the state bird of Michigan? She also includes their Signs of Spring Journals...excellent job!

Spring Flowers - Poppies, Buttercups, and More

Shirley Ann from Under an English Sky shares their Dandelion Study with carnival readers. They had a wet day to complete their nature study which included observations, collecting, and journals. She has a printable Dandelion Notebook Page to share with you all. Enjoy!

Angie from Petra School wrote up their Spring Flower Study-Learning the Parts study for us all to enjoy. What a beautiful visual entry! She has some images of their Forget-Me-Nots and up-close images that are going to inspire you to give your spring flowers a good inspection. Her boys have made wonderful nature journal entries too.

Here is an inspiring entry for those of you with younger children: Nature Study with Spring Wildflowers from Jen at Whimsical Blessings. Their family uses a more formal science program during the winter and then nature study the rest of the year, building on interests and subjects that they have in their own backyard. They also incorporate nature study with their art time...perfect!

Rachel from All Things Bright and Beautiful shares their Wildflowers Everywhere entry with carnival readers. They took a hike and captured some beauties! Rachel's daughter has also put together a blog entry all her own: The Buttercup. Thanks so much for sharing your beautiful entry!

Dogwood Study

Amy from Hope is the Word has written and submitted their Dogwood Tree Study. She says, "One of the toughest things I have to let go of as a homeschooling mother/tutor/teacher is that I will always have all of the answers." I think that is the lesson we all learn over time...hard to let go of it though. Thank you for submitting your dogwood study and showing examples of your nature journals.

Dogwood Nature Study and Chalk Pastels Sketches from the Hodgepodge family will inspire you to look more closely at your flowering trees (and maybe even follow up with an art project!). Make sure to see their beautiful dogwood blossoms.

Fern Study from Under An English Sky

Potpourri

Shirley Ann from Under an English Sky was surprised to find ferns for their OHC - Fern Study in their neighborhood..in fact, their own backyard! She relates how this was a surprise to her and they now will be able to watch the fern throughout the year. They did an excellent job on their nature journals, capturing in great detail their fern study. 

Annette from Life With the Grubb Worms has shared their Outdoor Hour Challenge #1! Welcome to the OHC community and thanks for sharing your outdoor time with carnival readers.

Brandy from Half a Hundred Acre Wood wants to help you Make a Botany Book. They started their Dogwood Study early and have included a tutorial and a free printable tree notebook page in their entry. She also has submitted their Tree Study for you all to enjoy. Thanks Brandy.

Good Friday Garden and Choosing a Tree - Another great entry from the Hodgepodge Family. They are keeping up a family tradition while planting seeds and starting another tradition with their youngest and his personal tree study. Wonderful ideas.

Learning to Study Nature from Lisa at Looking At Life Creativlei is their account of the Spring Splendor Walk. They really saw some interesting things. I hope to see another entry from their family soon!

Amy from Barefoot in the Park has submitted their Spring Green collage for carnival readers to enjoy. 

Christy shares their Spring Nature Walk and Fairy Houses entry from her blog Crafty Cristy. What a great setting for enjoying a little spring sunshine and creativity. They also had a whopper of a grasshopper visit this month and she shares her Serendipitous Nature Study of a Grasshopper entry with the carnival. I love to see families find a subject and then pull out the Handbook of Nature Study to learn more...excellent!

Bethany at Little Homeschool Blessings shares their latest addition: The New Momma. Check out their little colt!



Don't forget to share your blog entries with the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. All entries done in May are eligible for the next edition. The deadline for entries is 5/30/12 and you can send them directly to me: harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com or submit them at the blog carnival site (link on the sidebar of my blog).

Also, the May Newsletter link will be in tomorrow's blog entry so make sure you are subscribed so you can download your copy as soon as possible. There are lots of great ideas for nature study, a new nature journal suggestion, and several articles contributed by Outdoor Hour Challenge participants.

Cupcake?

Fancy one of these fancy cup cakes? Banana and nutella, honeycomb, choc malteser?

Love London

The rain doesn't bother everyone. I'd like to know how much more of this rain before we stop hearing we are still in a drought. Even a flood or two hasn't changed the status.

Thirty Seconds Over L.A. --- Part Two

Hollywood had always been about sweeping out the old in favor of the new. Studios and showmen weren't in business to celebrate history. Sam Zimbalist was self-preserving enough to put oldies in perspective. I believe that only 10 or 15% of the movies sold to TV are really great pictures, and I'm interested in seeing what happens when the lesser product is shown. A lot of those twenty-year-old shows would look "silly and dated" now, said the still active producer. Motion Picture Herald ran with that admission in steel-tipped boots: It's always been painful to look again at old movies that we thought were good, and find out how crude they were. The enthusiasts for ancient films have done more than any others to keep motion pictures in their infancy (Ouch --- They mean us, Greenbriar readers!).

Reissued Marie Antoinette Got a Thumbs-Down From 1956 Exhibs

The attack on Hollywood's past was unrelenting. Surviving movie relics amounted to no more than a pox on exhibitor livelihoods. MPH saw broadcasters and their newly-bought oldies  as cut-rate junk dealers: The blunt fact of the matter is that the stations, in order to get one film worth seeing today, will have to buy many which were scarcely worth the price of admission when they were originally shown. Disdain among the trade bled into theatres formerly open to re-plays, as witness hostility toward 1956 reissues Northwest Passage, The Sea Hawk, and others on receiving end of withering showman commentary in back pages of Boxoffice, Motion Picture Herald, varied trades. Lessening receipts from such "Encore Triumphs" was the very reason they'd gone to telecasters, who were grateful and willing to pony meaningful $ for access to them.

It was a no-win fight what with film companies chasing respective windfalls and showmen left holding (empty) bags. Pete Harrison of his weekly Reports warned theatres not to book vintage MGM without a written guarantee that their show wouldn't turn up on local free-vee that very night. As of Fall 1956, the following "Masterpiece Reprints" were labeled smallpox: A Tale Of Two Cities, Marie Antoinette, Mutiny On The Bounty, Boy's Town, others. Even if these weren't actually being televised day-and-date with theatres, they were listed among titles forthcoming to buyer stations in lavish newspaper ads promoting pre-48 MGM's to come. Everyone knew that all came to home viewers who waited. Spokesmen for Metro tried convincing exhibs that the library's sale to TV was a good thing --- after all, think of all that free publicity via alliance with the tube, and "a rise of interest in MGM films." Such was purest banana oil that showmen would not swallow.

KTTV saw ratings drop nearly a third for its next Friday night MGM special. That was Mrs. Miniver. Further erosion came with They Met In Bombay the following week. Viewership was considered disappointing after fantastic numbers posted by Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo. One explanation for the decline is that there was less promotion for the subsequent weeks' pictures, said Billboard. Newspaper ad buys had settled down to the quarter-page class. Interesting was viewer fluctuation over the two-hour slots --- Bombay fell off sharply in its second half, whereas Miniver built up almost steadily. Movies on TV were being evaluated by thirty-minute increments, the question being less whether folks tuned in than would they stay tuned in. Still, Colgate was more than happy with "the greatest sales volume in this (LA) market of all time."

It didn't take long for KTTV, and other stations, to figure out which side old movies were buttered on. After a first season of Colgate Theater, trends were clear as Trendex figures confirming them. Said Billboard: The general rule of thumb now is that the action-adventure pictures will get ratings; comedies, musicals, problem or love stories will not (but hadn't exhibitors already known this from reissue experience? --- guess nobody asked them). Here then, was KTTV's Top Ten Metros for its first season of Colgate Theater: Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, Honky Tonk, Boom Town, Anchors Aweigh (thanks to Sinatra, said trades), They Were Expendable, They Met In Bombay, A Guy Named Joe, Test Pilot, Command Decision, and Homecoming.

It's the he-man type of star which gathers the audience, observed Billboard ... Female stars, except for the Marilyn Monroe, Jean Harlow type, are poor draws. The kings of TV's boxoffice, at least on KTTV's corner, were Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy, he-men both. Comedies and musicals were considered outdated. People just don't dig them anymore, said Billboard. As far as television is concerned ... the best musical may command less (advertising) money than only an ordinary adventure film. Competing salvage dealers meanwhile worked double-time to pull the Metro oldies off their perch. Associated Artists, distributor of the pre-48 Warners library, filed their "Most Honorable Report" trade ad, replete with a bowing Japanese caricature, to declare Destination Tokyo a bigger ratings-getter (at least in Miami) than L.A. titan Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo. 1956-57 was fast becoming a My Backlog's Better Than Yours contest.

Leo's TV Roar Now A Grunt, said Variety in a January, 1957 headline. Seems the Pre-48 Greats yielded a less than great $40 million from sales so far of the vaunted package against expectations they'd collect upwards of $60-70 million. Trouble was paucity of buyers after deep-pocket stations grabbed their marbles. Smaller markets just couldn't afford what Loew's demanded, to-wit a one-million dollar single-station tariff. Recouping that kind of money (an enormous outlay, said Variety) within a seven-year license period would be tough sledding for telecasters in secondary markets. Could they go into profit before time to send the movies back? For stations outside the largest cities, it didn't seem likely. Metro seemed to have priced their "too rich" features out of the market, and humbler outlets made do with lower-tagged product from rival sellers (NC stations were notably shy of Metros until post-48 groups came available in the sixties).

Another Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo story, too good not to mention. Chicago's WBBM premiered it on 1-5-57 after a build-up approaching KTTV's. Their projectionist grabbed three 16mm reels out of the station's time vault just before the Saturday night broadcast. The vault locked behind him and would not reopen until the following morning. To the man's horror, it became clear that Tokyo's final seventeen minutes were on a fourth reel now inaccessible thanks to the vault setting. Came the dawn and debacle ... hundreds of phone complaints, eighty per hour throughout Sunday. In an aftermath Variety tabbed "How To Go Broke-eo With Tokyo," WBBM lost $20,000 making amends, with the final reel playing off on Sunday night, followed by a commercial-free repeat of the entire film. All their regular advertising clients had to be bumped and reimbursed for commercial time lost. It was a disastrous error, said a WBBM spokesman, adding that the projectionist responsible had been fired that day.

One more irresistible footnote, also dated 1957. June of that year saw Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo finally opening theatrically in Japan, Tokyo in fact, and on a roadshow basis. It was a ten-day stand, "disappointing" at the boxoffice, according to Variety: Viewers expressed dismay over the too obvious fabrication of the Tokyo targets. Others claimed they were duped into thinking it was a new film. No protests or demonstrations otherwise took place. The film had been considered for release in Japan four years earlier, but the idea was scotched after it was screened to local dignitaries. Eihai, the firm who'd bought distribution rights from Metro, hoped Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo would gain wickets altitude at venues outside its premiere city to compensate for the Tokyo freeze.