Staff writer
The art of capturing the images of the environments around them and recalling the images of history was shown to McKinley Elementary students when a professional artist recently visited.
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Professional artist Dave Geister gives fourth-grader Alex Choraman a tip on how to proceed with his watercolor painting while Spencer Smith listens in. Geister gave presentations to and worked with fourth and fifth grade art classes at McKinley Elementary over a four-day period recently. Photos by Eric Hagen |
When he was in elementary school, Dave Geister never had a professional artist visit his classroom. His interest for books, history and art as a young boy led him down his path.
There are bound to be kids interested in history or painting, Geister said. The chance that somebody will be inspired to go home at night and paint or draw instead of playing video games motivates him.
“On a personal level, it’s one of the most rewarding things I’ve done,” he said.
Geister, who lives in Minneapolis, has been a historical artist and illustrator for several years. His paintings have been featured in The Military Collector and Historian, The Saturday Evening Post and several issues of The History Channel Magazine.
A phone call from a children’s book publisher in 2005 led him start illustrating for children’s books. The stories were adventurous and along the same lines of books Geister has read such as “Gulliver’s Travels” and “Pippi Longstocking,” but the focus was on historical topics so the books would entertain and educate young minds.
Books he has done illustrations for include “The Legend of Minnesota,” “The Voyager’s Paddle,” “The Legend of Wisconsin,” “Riding to Washington” and “B is for Battle Cry: A Civil War Alphabet,” which was written by his wife Pat Bauer.
Geister has even dressed up in historical outfits to portray frontier artists Seth Eastman and George Catlin for public television shows broadcasts and presentations.
Geister dressed up in historic clothing to share his paintings with fourth and fifth grade students during presentations April 23 and April 24 in the school’s media center.
On April 30 and May 1, Geister worked with fourth and fifth grade students on landscaping watercolor paintings during their art classes.
When Geister visited McKinley Elementary, he integrated social studies, science, history, art and literature into his sessions, said Mary Carroll, media specialist.
“It’s been a unique experience that they’ll remember forever,” said Sara Fabian, art teacher.
Students said it was interesting and fun to have Geister come into their classroom.
Paige Benhardus, a fourth grade student, said she likes how Geister does his landscaping paintings.
“He makes the art look like a real actual picture,” she said.
Students learned new things or re-learned things Fabian taught them to improve their watercolor paintings.
Fourth-grader Connor Lange said Geister told him it is best to let the water color paint sit longer.
Dabbing the wet paint with paper can also be a useful trick, fourth-grader Ashley Anderson learned.
What Geister hoped to instill in students interested in art or history was to let their passion flourish and be more observant of the world around them.
Geister said he is a person who is always thinking about how the pieces come together to make shapes, even when driving down the road looking at a sunset. He regularly carries a sketch book, scribbling down things he see.
“I just love the idea of kids thinking more about the way things look around them,” he said.
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