When Leonardo Da Vinci died he left the world more than 6,000 pages of ideas.
Think revolving bridge, winged glider, or self-propelled car, and you will begin thinking like Leonardo.
Now, think colossal horse, and you will most certainly be moving in the direction of the Renaissance man. Most of us have heard of Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, but, Il Cavallo? Not so much.
So this past week, we gathered to learn more of this marvelous dreamer, and to be inspired by his prolific idea making. And after reading Leonardo's Horse by Jean Fritz (and ogling over the illustrations by Hudson Talbott), we got to work.
As I tried to imagine the complex engineering of the inner scaffolding, what Leonardo had to consider to create the clay model, let alone the bronze cast, I decided to focus our art making on the bones of sculpting. So from pipe cleaners, pom pons, yarn, and a lump of air drying clay we fashioned our horse.
And what a horse. It's not Leonardo. No. But it is certainly an inspired idea. And I imagine, this would make Leonardo smile. For he knew, better than most: "Art is never finished, only abandoned."
-Kim