Finished artwork, Nursery Rhymes, Poems & Art
- sarah816202
- Feb 11
- 5 min read
So many ideas and artworks from this topic. Nursery rhymes left lasting impressions on many from childhood, and some researched the darker meaning behind them, adding their artistic interpretations. Other members of our artistic community based their artwork on a poem that resonated with them. Whilst others wrote and illustrated their own poems, there was a creativity crossover.
This week, I've divided the blog into the two areas, nursery rhymes will feature first and then poems afterwards. Let me know if any poems resonate with you, or there may be nursery rhymes you still remember all the words to that strike a chord to this day. Enjoy the gallery everyone.
Nursery Rhymes & Art
Donna - some excellent pieces of artwork, illustrating some of Donna's favourite nursery rhymes, Humpty Dumpty and Hickory Dickory Dock. I love Donna's inventiveness that prompted her to make use of a chocolate mouse, before she ate it, to draw around and copy the details for her mouse character in her Hickory Dickory Dock rhyme! Felt-tip pens were used for these.
Nicole - Fabulous art and reminiscing about these nursery rhymes, 'Incy, Wincy Spider' and 'Row, Row, Row your Boat'. It was great talking with Nicole and seeing her interpretation of these rhymes. We spent a while chatting afterwards, delving into the meanings behind some of these. I especially love how Nicole has made her spider look less scary than some you are faced with, which are all gangly and appear quite menacing! Nicole said she used a biro and coloured pencils to create these pictures..
Phil - Awesome imagination of how the characters felt in the rhyme of 'Jack and Jill', and how the water was all spilt out. Poor Jack looks quite dazed after falling down the hill, hitting his head, and Jill looks in pain and a little cross. Phil created this on his Sketchbook digital art app. Super colourful and creative, love how Phil brings the characters to life with his artwork.
Andy - chose the poem/song 'The Animals went in two by two', often sung for young ones to help them remember numbers and their counting. I believe he said he often hears it at meetings he attends. This is a great picture, love the kangaroo and the Ark, collecting the animals. The sky looks miserably grey, filled with rain and reminds me of how it's been looking recently, with the rain that we have been experiencing! Andy said he used watercolour and oil pastels to create this picture.
Barbara - A masterfully interpreted nursery rhyme, looking at the darker meaning behind the nursery rhymes written during bygone times.
A little history, 'Three Blind Mice' was written when Queen Mary I of England (18 Feb 1516 - 17 Nov 1558) - known as Bloody Mary - ordered to have 3 Protestant Bishops be blinded and executed for going against the Catholic Church. However, the three bishops, Ridley, Latimer & Cranmer, the 'Oxford Martyrs', were burned at the stake, for their 'blind devotion to Protestantism'. This happened in 1555/56, more than 50 years before the original 'Three Blind Mice' was published by composer Thomas Ravenscroft in 1609.
This is a fantastic piece of art, Barbara. My heart goes out to the mice who face this angry, snarling woman. She looks far too blood thirsty! Especially how she carries the tails in her apron pocket, she has no shame or heart at all. If this character is based on Queen Mary I, she is reputed to be cold-hearted; you certainly have brought her up to date. This is somewhat chilling!
It does look as though you really enjoyed creating this artwork, as it's something completely different for you. It was great sharing a gruesome conversation at the end with you. A watercolour and gouache painting.
Poems & Art
Donna - Donna also wrote and illustrated a poem about one of her favourite pastimes, Sign and Sign, using her handprint and the colour of her nail varnish to add realism to the illustration, brilliant! Such a fantastic idea and very inspirational to write and then illustrate your own poem during our art session, Donna, I love this. Felt-tip pens and graphite were used for these.
Noor - Spent a great deal of her time during our art session working on her own poem and shared this with us. Her poem is written about the Koran, and she also spoke about Ramadan. Noor illustrated her poem with various drawings that are significant to her beliefs and her as a person. Her illustrations are colourful and vibrant. The lower one of her smiling widely is a beautiful picture. Noor created these with coloured pencils and Sharpie marker pens.
Helen - An absolutely stunning piece of artwork based on the poem 'She Let Go', by Safire Rose. I researched this poem after Helen bought this to my attention. Helen's picture is most beautiful and explains what it meant to her in our art session.
The author says that this poem explores the theme of releasing fears, judgments, and anxieties without hesitation or struggle. It emphasises the beauty and peace found in the act of letting go, allowing yourself to simply be in the moment. How incredible, take a minute to think about that in your life, maybe we all need to stop and reimagine letting somethings go in our lives?
I think this is a very heartfelt sketch, and the simplicity of intention without colour makes it all the more impactful. Graphite was used.
Sarah - This painting is called 'Follow your heart', look for a space and path that fulfils your soul. It was inspired by the poem 'The Road Not Taken', by Robert Frost, Written (1912-1915) while living in England. Inspired by walks through a beautiful yellow-leaved forest with his indecisive friend and writer, Edward Thomas. The poem reflects on their moment of choosing 2 paths. Frost later sent Thomas the poem before Thomas joined WWI, where he sadly died 2 years later. I took away from the poem, always choose a path that feels most aligned to you, and not to follow what a crowd is telling you or what you believe you are destined for, regardless of the outcome. You made the right choice for you at that moment in time. Created with acrylic paint.
Amazing work from all our artists this week. Please take your time looking through each of the artworks, and go and find some of the poems online if you are interested or drop me a message if you would like more information about them. I'm happy to help you.
It is such a wide genre, and we as a group took this one on tour, as it were, in a creative sense, and the results are fantastic. Thank you to everyone for their brilliant efforts this week, both literary and artistic. As a side note, we do run both a Writing group and a Free Poetry group once a month at All4inclusion, so please, if that is something that interests you, come along and join us for those creative sessions.
If you would like to come along and join us for our next art session, different topic each week, the link is below, every Wednesday, starting at 7:30pm. Click on All4Art
Awesome artwork everyone one!! very creative, ide love to do one on fairy tales or the brothers Grimm fairy tales!! Ive been very inspired by this project xxx