Teachers notes
Introduction
Art, craft and design involves children in learning to use all of their senses, their observation skills, memory, feelings and imagination, as well as expressing their responses in two and three-dimensional creations. ( page 14 Creative Development, in the foundation Phase Framework for Children’s learning for 3 to 7 years olds in Wales. Welsh Assembly Government)
Background information about William Brown
He had a unique sensibility. His art, while naïve in style, reflected a personality which was, in certain respects, troubled and curiously childlike. His colours were unusually vivid; his brushwork loose, immediate and expressive. His work comprised a fantastic - yet sophisticated - blend of visual imagery derived from his travels, mythology, poetry, folklore and folk-art. It displayed remarkable playfulness as well as surreal humour, seeming to affirm an enjoyment of life while, paradoxically, having a melancholic feel about it.
Brown's imagery was eclectic, drawing freely upon places and cultures familiar to him. Polar bears, moose and wolves evoked the tundra, icy wastes and coniferous forests of his native Canada. Loup-Garou, a werewolf, was "a nagging reminder of the animal in the human, powerful, cunning and unsophisticated". A popular motif was derived from the ancient Welsh new year custom of the Mari Lwyd (grey mare), in one version of which a man dressed in a white sheet and a horse's skull with two other travellers engage in a battle of wits before being granted entrance to a local hostelry - the ritual is still played out at Llangynwyd, mid-Glamorgan, where Brown's studio was located in an old church. He visited Galicia, Morocco and Tunisia, and aspects of Berber culture became absorbed into his visual vocabulary.
Loup - Garou is a wolf. We can see him in Maesteg, South Wales
William Brown came from Canada.
Canada is a big country, has anyone been to Canada?
Some lakes in Canada are as big as the sea.
William Brown was born near one of the lakes.
The lake is so big it has ships sailing on it.
The cold wind blows the snow across the lake.
The storms make the waves angry.
In the forest lives a moose. Does anyone know what type of animal a moose is?
In the night the moon shows us the moose.
Can you see the moose in the snow?
Can you feel the cold?
‘I can feel someone watching me, watching me, watching me,’ thinks the moose. ‘Peek-a-boo, moose’ whispers the wolf.
Other works by William Brown – enmauve, Hannibalumbrella, chimo, marirobyn, ring of bears. www.welshgroup.co.uk
Let’s look at Loup - Garou The work of William Brown
Activity 1
Let’s look at the painting of the Wolf, see what the children say about this painting.
Draw their own friendly or FRIGHTENING WOLF
Look at stories of wolves. Images and books of wolves
Role play – Red Riding Hood
Creative development – Movement – how does the wolf move and actions
Other stories NURSERY Rhymes
Activity 2
Loup – Garou is painted by William Brown in his studio. William Brown was a big man.
He painted a big picture on a big canvas.
He used big brushes and bright colours from big bottles. He used special paints called acrylics. Some of his pictures were as big as a door and some were as big as your bedroom wall. He liked painting other animals.
William Brown knows that his great grandfather came from Scotland. He went to Canada to live. His name was Mr McClure. Families in Scotland have special patterns called tartan.
William Brown paints the McClure tartan on his wolf.
Questions about the painting
Can you see the black and red stripes on his yellow body?
See Loup Garou has a white heart with painted dots and a bright eye that sees everything
Wheres his mouth? Do you think he is he smiling?
What else can you see?
CAN YOU SEE THE TREES?
Activity 3
This is William Brown’s favourite bear.
It has a big, fat, yellow body.
It has red and black stripes making a tartan pattern.
It has a white heart with black outline.
Look at its eye.
Is the bear fierce or friendly?
The bear is called McClure’s bear and we know why, don’t we?
Let’s create your own bear and create your own patterns
MAKE UP A COLLECTION OF SOFT BEARS.
Use a these bears to draw from
Make the drawings large and then create designs on their bears.
They might do this in groups or pairs to create their large painting
William Brown remembers the animals he saw in Canada. He painted a moose. He paints wolves and he painted lots of bears,
A white bear with grey blobs and a pink heart, two fluffy ears and eyes that look like shiny buttons,
A bright blue bear with dark blue blobs and a pink heart and eyes that shine in the dark,
A black bear with large pink heart,
A blue bear with blobs of cream and long black toe- nails and of course, a heart.
Can you find Canada on our World map?
Can you find Maesteg, South Wales on our map of Wales?
Activity 4
Let’s write a letter to William Brown, to ask him.
GET CHILDREN TO DISCUSS WHAT THE ANSWER MIGHT BE
I can’t wait to hear the answer, get children to come up with their ideas and thoughts
Activity 5
Let’s design a painted heart for your mousse or other animal
How big will it be?
What colours will you use?
What materials might we use?
Lots of experiments here with materials, colours, how we apply these etc
Use mark making to experiment on sheets of paper before doing final heart.
Use paintbrushes in different ways – variety of sizes of brushes, e.g household
Objects to put paint on and transfer onto pare – corrugated card etc use
powder paints, are far better to use , and mixing colours is fun
wax crayons
shiny papers, tissue paper, etc
You will need to demonstrate skills and what you want them to do and challenge to find other methods
Do not use templates CHILDREN MUST BE ALLOWED TO CUT OWN OUT AND DRAW OWN SHAPES
Activity 6
Extension Activity
Use ideas on the video clip – rather limiting, USE REAL MATERIALS AND PAINTS ETC
I know these words
Paint, bright colours, patterns, tartan,
experiment
Studio - a room where an artist works
Canvas – a strong cloth, stretched over wooden frame
Acrylics – thick paint that artists can mix with water
Tartan – a special Scottish pattern
Outline – a line around a shape
Other activities
Can you design your own tartan pattern or, one for your friend.
Construction, block play.
· Children could use construction blocks to create and build their own large wolves or home for the wolf to live in
· Use large cardboard boxes to create the home or Large, soft play PE shapes to create the home for the wolf
· Movement of these animals
Mathematical development
· Using the moose work to observe patterns
· Shapes used to create wolves teeth- triangle
PSE, Well being and cultural diversity
· Investigating different food from a variety of different religions and cultures in Canada
· Healthy life styles – 5 a day.
· Taste Canadian food
Welsh language development
· develop welsh vocabulary relating to animal names and place in Canada
· experiencing traditions in Canada
Physical development
· drawings become more sophisticated and moves into larger work
Creative development
· using different musical instruments, to create music and sounds for their own wolves
· Listen to different forms of music, songs from Canada. What emotions or ideas do they create?
· Sounds of these animals
· List of songs:
Wolves in Canada
Wolves Need a Bigger Gene Pool Than We Thought
Old Growth Forests Critical to Survival of Coastal Wolves
Eastern Wolf
Study Shows Wolves' Importance to Ecosystems
Power vs Dignity:
The Wolf in Alaska & the Yukon
Wolves in Yukon Territory
Gray Wolves in British Columbia Rain Forests May Be Unique
Wolves in British Columbia
Wolves in Alberta
Canada's Rain Forest Wolves a Link to Past
The Canadian Wolves
A Tale of Two Countries
The Explorers
Opportunity South of the Border
Mackenzie Wolf
Additional Resources
BOOKS
For Children of All Ages:
Amazing Wolves, Dogs, and Foxes by Mary Ling (Knopf,1991)
The Eyes of Grey Wolf by Jonathan London (Chronicle Books, 1993)
The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig by Eugene Trivizas (Margaret M. McElderry
Books, 1993)
Walk with a Wolf by Janni Howker (Candlewick Press, 1997)
Wild, Wild Wolves by Joyce Milton (Random House Books for Young Readers, 1992)
The Wolf & the Dog: First Friend to Best Friend (Defenders of Wildlife, 2007)
The Wolves by Brian J. Heinz (Dial Books for Young Readers, 1996)
Wolves (A New True Book) by Emilie U. Lepthien (Childrens Press, 1991)
Wolves for Kids by Tom Wolpert (Northword Press, 1990) Parent/teacher questions at the end of
the book.
Wolves in Yellowstone by Randy Houk (Humane Society of the United States, 1995) A narrative
poem about the Yellowstone wolves, evocative and beautifully illustrated.
Zoobooks Series: Wolves by Wildlife Education Ltd (Wildlife Education Ltd., 1989). You can
order this booklet through their website at www.zoobooks.com.
For Upper Elementary and Middle School, High School and Beyond:
The Arctic Wolf: Ten Years With the Pack by L. David Mech, (Voyageur Press, 1997)
Gray Wolf, Red Wolf by Dorothy H. Patent (Houghton Mifflin, 1990.)
Hungry for Home: A Wolf Odyssey by ‘Asta Bowen (Simon and Schuster, 1997.)
Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead-George (HarperTrophy Books, 1972.)
The Journey of the Red Wolf by Roland Smith (Cobblehill Books,1996)
Kingdom of Wolves by Scott Barry (Putnam’s Sons, 1979)
The Moon of the Gray Wolves by Jean Craighead-George (Harper Collins
Children’s Books, 1969)
Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat (Dell Co., 1963) An interesting natural
history study. Much of the biology in the book is in dispute, but this work
represents one of the first books written drawing public attention to the plight
of the wolf.
The Return of the Wolf by Steve Grooms (Northword Press, 1993)
Snowflake Come Home by John Gregling (Woodsong Graphics, 1992)
Trail of the Wolf by R.D. Lawrence (Firefly Books, 1997)
The Way of the Wolf by L. David Mech (Voyageur Press, 1991)
The Wolf by Abigail Frost (Marshall, 1990)
Wolf by Maureen Greeley (Metro Books, 1996)
The Wolf Almanac: A Celebration of Wolves and Their World by Robert H. Busch
(The Lyons Press, 1995)
The Wolf: Ghost Hunter by Daniel Leboeuf (Firefly Books, 1996)
Wolf Songs: The Classic Collection of Writing About Wolves edited by Robert
Busch (Sierra Club Books, 1994)
Wolf Tales: Native American Children’s Stories edited by Mary Powell (Ancient
City Press, 1992)
The Wolf, the Woman, the Wilderness: A True Story of Returning Home by
Teresa Tsimmu Martino (Newsage Press, 1997)
Wolves by Nancy Gibson (Voyageur Press, 1996)
Wolves by R. D. Lawrence (Sierra Club Juveniles, 1990)
Wolves and their Relatives by Erik D. Stoops and Dagmar Fertl (Sterling
Publishing, 1997)
Wolves: A Portrait of the Animal World by Leonard Lee Rue (Todtri
Productions, Ltd, 1994)
Wolves: A Wildlife Handbook by Kim Long (Johnson Books, 1996)
For Adults And Serious Students of Wolves:
Arctic Wild by Lois Crisler (Harper and Row, 1958.)
The Company of Wolves by Peter Steinhart (Vintage Books, 1996)
Dance of the Wolves by Roger Peters (Ballantine, 1986)
The Great American Wolf by Bruce Hampton (Henry Holt & Company, 1997)
In Praise of Wolves by R. D. Lawrence (Henry Holt &Co., 1986)
The Last Wolf by Gary Enright (Insight, 1992)
The Loop by Nicholas Evans (Delacort Press, 1998)
Meant To Be Wild by Jean DeBlieu (Fulcrum, 1996)
The New Wolves: The Return of the Mexican Wolf To the American
Southwest by Rick Bass (The Lyons Press, 1998)
The Ninemile Wolves by Rick Bass (Clark City Press, 1992)
Of Wolves and Men by Barry Lopez (Charles Scribner & Sons, 1978)
The Return of the Wolf to Yellowstone by Thomas McNamee (Henry Holt &
Company, 1997)
Secret Go the Wolves by R. D. Lawrence (Curley Publications, 1991)
The Soul of the Wolf by Michael W. Fox (Little, Brown and Co., 1980)
Tales of the Wolf compiled by Denise Casey and Tim W. Clark (Homestead
Publishing, 1996)
The Wild Canids by Michael W. Fox (Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1975)
Wolf Country: Eleven Years Tracking the Algonquin Wolves by John and Mary Theberge
(McClelland & Stewart, 1998)
Wolf: Spirit of the Wild: A Celebration of Wolves in Word and Image edited by Diana
Landau (Walking Stick Press, 1993)
The Wolf: The Ecology and Behavior of an Endangered Species by L. David Mech
(University of Minnesota Press, 1970)
Wolf Wars: The Remarkable Inside Story of the Restoration of Wolves to Yellowstone by
Hank Fischer (Falcon Press Publishing Co., Inc., 1995)
Wolves by Candace Savage (Sierra Club Books, 1989)
The Wolves of Denali by L. David Mech, Layne G. Adams, Thomas J. Meier, John
W. Burch, Bruce W. Dale (University of Minnesota Press, 1998)
The Wolves of Isle Royale: A Broken Balance by Rolf O. Peterson (Willow Creek Press,
1995)
The Wolves of Minong by D. Allen (Houghton Mifflin Co., 1979)
The Wolves of Mt. McKinley by Adolph Murie (University of Washington Press, 1995)
Wolves of the Rocky Mountains from Jasper to Yellowstone by Dick Dekker
(Hancock House Publishers, 1997)
The Yellowstone Wolves: The First Year by Gary Ferguson (Falcon Press, 1996)
Resource and Activity Books for Teachers and Parents:
Beyond Little Red Riding Hood: A Resource Directory for Teaching About Wolves
developed by the Timber Wolf Alliance. Call 1-715-682-1490. An excellent source of information
about where to obtain teaching materials.
Discovering Wolves: Journey Into the Wild World by Nancy Field and Corliss Karasov the
Timber Wolf Alliance. Activities designed to exercise critical thinking skills. Available through The
International Wolf Center. Call 1-800-ELY-WOLF.