Artist Love - Alexander Calder

... (& 'About Me' ... working with kids!)


Something you may or may not know about me - is that I help out at my son's primary school, alongside the teacher, doing Arts and Crafts with the 'Kindy' (Kindergarten) class. These are the kids in my son's class, they range from age 4-6, there are 24 of them,  so it's quite hectic, sometimes noisy and ALWAYS lots of fun!!


At the end of this school term, the school will be having an Art Show! Not surprisingly I have been 'roped in' to help out!! Of course I am delighted to be involved.   :0)


One of the things we will be doing is making Alexander Calder inspired wire sculptures!
Here is some of the inspiration I have acquired for this project - the teacher, *Ms Superstar, and I have not yet worked out a project, with suitable processes, materials etc.  But I wanted to share these images with you, because whether or not you are familiar with Calder yourself, his work is just awesome!!
{* not her real name - but it SHOULD be!!}

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I have to be honest, as part of my Textile Design degree, we rarely touched on ANY art history, and although I was familiar with the name Alexander Calder, I was not terribly familiar with his work. It's fabulous don't you think?





Here's a brief bio:  ALEXANDER CALDER.

{Calder - image via Britannica}

Calder, was one of America’s most famous sculptors; he lived from 1898 - 1976.


He studied Mechanical Engineering but was to become a very versatile artist, creating lithographs, toys, paintings, tapestry and even designing carpets. 


He was responsible for the invention of the mobile. 


Calder's most well known work features perfectly balanced mobiles, which were comprised of brightly coloured shapes,  hanging delicately by wire, spreading out from a central wire. Hovering in the air, twisting and turning around - as if by magic!




He began with Toys in the 1920's, moving on to working with wire sculptures and mobiles.
In the 1950s, Calder began to focus on huge, monumental sculptures, many of which would become his most famous works. He created some such pieces for JFK airport in 1957 and UNESCO in Paris in 1958.

Bobine (1970), National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia (image from Wiki )

Lithographs above from RoGallery
 1. Bird's Nest 1971
2.Derrier le Miroir (Abstract II) 1968
3.Derrier le Miroir (Abstract IV) 1968

Take care,
love Sally x0x