Grocery Shopping With A Twist.

      When I’m grocery shopping at my metro, I tend to gravitate towards the bread section of the supermarket.  I walk in, I quickly pass the fruits and vegetables and I spend most of my time checking out and trying new forms of bread!  I love bread, as I literally cannot get enough of it.  It’s in every meal I eat, whether it’s the main course or there to compliment the main course.  Breakfast is a time for me to whip up some solid meals using bread, such as eggs, ham and cheese bagel, French toast, or even the simplest of just toasting a bagel and putting peanut butter and jam.  Working with bread is never hard, and can be the simplest component in adding to or enhancing a meal. 

       Bread has been around for ages.  While trends such as low carbohydrate nutrition or low fat dieting come and go, bread is here to stay- people!  Bread is also healthy as it increases your protein intake, add fiber to your diet, and refill your muscles by supplying quality carbohydrate in addition to healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals!

My Favourite Types Of Bread
White bread:
- the most variety of bread. 
- looks white
- soft texture

Wholewheat bread:
- made from whole wheat flour
- contains all the components of the grain
- it has become the most popular with increasing knowledge of the health benefits of bran and what germ
- looks brown
- soft texture

Mixed Grain bread:
- may be made from any combination of grains (e.g. kibbled grains, wheat germ, whole grains or wheat and other cereals) and seeds (e.g. sesame seeds)
- looks brown
- rough texture

Lavash bread:
- made from white wheat flour, yeast, salt and water which is oven-baked on a heated metal plate
- thin
- flat bread

Bagal:
- is shaped into a ring  
- has a crusty a chewy texture. 
- it may be coated with poppy or sesame seeds and can be flavored (e.g raisin and cinnamon)

Pita Bread:
- The pocket can also be stuffed with various fillings
- drier on the outside
- softer on the inside
- flat

- oval 
- rough on the outside, and soft on the inside

Naan:
- made in india, Pakistan and Afghanistan. 
- flattish
- crisp texture

Chinese Steam Bread:
- eaten in most countries of east Asia
- shaped like a ball and may have a sweet bean paste or meat filling
- “Lao bing is a Chinese-style flat bread

Glutan-free bread:
- has a dense and more crumbly texture than traditional bread


My Sketches of Bread

As an Early Childhood Educator...i would create a chart of all foods that children know when they go shopping at their local grocery market.  These foods can include- favourite breads, cheese, fruit and vegetables or even candy.At the beginning of circle time, pull this chart out and ask children to identify what's their favourite type of food.  Then ask the children about the shape, texture and colour of the type of food chosen. I think this is great way to get children's mind's thinking and allows them to experience and view their favourite food in a more analytical way!





Art Word of the Week: Texture

Texture refers to how the quality of any surface of an object when you touch it.

(Schirrmacher & Fox, 2009). 

Bread has so many different textures.  it can be rough, bumpy, smooth or soft.  What i also think is so great about bread is, is that their exterior may feel rough, but the interior is a soft feeling and vice versa!  For example: a croissant. Its rough on the outside, but soft on the inside.

References

Schirrmacher, R., & Fox, J. E. (2009). Art & Creative Development for Young Children (6 ed.). Belmont, CA: Delmar.

Art Flim Review

      My first reaction to the film, in just be looking at the title and cover of the flim, I thought it was going to be another movie with a creepy teenage boy that had a lot of problems, yes, another movie that was the same as every other movie only worse.  I was not keen in watching the film, but hey when Jake Gyllenhaal stars in it, really sparks my interest in being committed in watching the film.  But in the end, my judgments about the film were wrong.  It was surprisingly one of my favourite art movies I’ve experienced in awhile.
     At times, the film was a bit confusing since it would frequently switch between reality and fantasy to the point where it just becomes difficult to comprehend and read, but it was defiantly an experience and was an incredible work of art. 
     I loved how the film asked questions about reality, fantasy, and life in general for a typical teen to think about.  The protagonist in the film, Donnie Darko (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) is filled with all these questions about the ordinary and/or the extraordinary.  His character is interesting is a tortured soul whose life is ordinary. All he wants is sanity, but his mind is infested with unbelievable hallucinations, compulsions driven by a mysterious creature named “Frank”.  Gyllenhaal as Darko in the film is simply brilliant and creepy at the same time, as his character consistently transitions from being normal to the abnormal teen that he is.  As the viewer of the film, Darko’s potential unstable and dangerous man child character as he is tortured throughout the journey of the film, defiantly drived the film.  I felt that Richard Kelly wanted the viewers to subconsciously connect with Donnie Darko’s character in a way no one else could have, through each individual interpretation of the character’s behaviour and action.  I thought Richard Kelly and Jake Gyllenhaal really worked well together to create this masterpiece of art.  It really kept me on my toes continually, with beautiful and at times deceivingly haunting cinematography, making the dull and ordinary life of a teen menacing and truly insane.
     Tension is constant in this film, and Kelly doesn’t stop building it for a moment, right up until the last second when the film reaches its explosion of a resolution.  I felt that after I watched the film, it really screwed with my mind, and sucked all my emotions out of me.  I felt literally numb, no feeling just a blank slate starring at the end credits thinking “ wow, what did I just watch.”  And it made me question myself in terms of where does reality really begin and end? Overall, the film gave me chills, and made me think in ways that I would never have thought of.
As an Early Childhood Educator...
Give children a treat and a different approach of teaching children art appreciation and art aesthetics.  Expose children to art films every other friday.  After watching the short film, allow children to discuss what they thought of the film. 

 

Art Word of the Week: Design or Composition

Design & Composition is the "overall mark of success, the standard of achievement, and the frosting on the cake" (Schirrmacher & Fox, 2009, p. 142). 

Design should relate to the standard of achievement making it all relative. Throughout this film, i thought the producer definitely knew what he wanted to achieve, and he did a brilliant job in creating such an artistic, dynamic and mind thrilling movie to achieve that design and level of standard from his audience.  

References

Schirrmacher, R., & Fox, J. E. (2009). Art & Creative Development for Young Children (6 ed.). Belmont, CA: Delmar.

Everyday Patterns

Patterns of the houses- San Fransisco

This by far, was my favourite Art's Explorer activity.  Patterns are found everywhere, whether its from looking at architectural buildings, floor tile in your kitchen, or even a broken fence just off the side of a highway.  Patterns allows an one to use their own imagination to make something so simple into something that's extravagant!

What is a pattern?

A pattern is an artistic decorative design.  It is a consistent, characteristic form, style, method.  It is the repetition of an element(s) in a work.  Anyone can achieve a pattern through utilizing artistic methods and tools available such as colours. lines, shapes, shades etc.

A big part of where I find everyday patterns in urban settings is whenever I travel! I wouldn't call myself a "pro-photographer" but I absolutely have an obsession with taking random photos that I find gorgeous. These photos were both taken when i had travelled to San Fransisco and New York City, and i noticed that the majority of my photographs had a consistent theme: Patterns.

Zig-Zag Stairs- New York

As an Early Childhood Educator...
Educate children on what a pattern is during circle time.  Bring objects from home, or even when your running errands- shapes, and patterns are everywhere!
Set this patterns and shapes as an activity for children to do in the classroom.  An outdoor activity for children becoming familiar with patterns is taking them outdoors! Play "pattern scavenger hunt" and allow children to pick out patterns within their own playground!

Art Word of the Week: Pattern

A pattern is a "mark or design that is repeated in some recurring sequence" (Schirrmacher & Fox, 2009).

Through the pictures i had took through my vacational journeys, majority of the pictures have a design that has distinctly been repeated to create the greater asthetic appeal to a building or a piece of clothing.








References

Schirrmacher, R., & Fox, J. E. (2009). Art & Creative Development for Young Children (6 ed.). Belmont, CA: Delmar.