To paint the portrait of a bird or Pour faire le portrait d'un oiseau

Nearly a month ago I was meant to be taking off for 9 days. It seems that every time I go to Wales, I come back only in body, and my (freshly upgraded) mind remains in Wales for a good couple of weeks afterwards.

In the mean time, I have returned to Glorious Spring. Homeschooling outside. Painting outside. Life outside. And birds, eggs and birdlings everywhere ;-) It's literally a bird watcher's paradise on our very own doorstep.

Needless to say, we have been inspired. Libellule found this poem by Jacques Prévert*** in one of her homeschooling books. We decided it would be a welcome change to the very dry content of the rest of the French program we had initially elected to try.

Paint first a cage

with the door open

next paint

something pretty

something simple

something lovely

something of use

to the bird

then put the canvas near a tree

in a garden

in the woods

or in a forest

hide behind the tree

say nothing

don’t move…

Sometimes the bird comes quickly

but it can just as well take many years

before deciding

Don’t be disheartened

wait

wait years if need be

the pace of the bird’s arrival

bearing no relation

to the success of the painting

When the bird comes

if it comes

keep very still

wait for the bird to enter the cage

and once it has

gently close the door with the brush

then

paint out the bars one by one

taking care not to touch any of the bird’s feathers

Next paint the tree’s portrait

choosing the loveliest of its branches

for the bird

paint likewise the green leaves and fresh breeze

the sun’s scintillation

and the clamor of crickets in the heat of summer

and then wait until the bird decides to sing

If the bird does not sing

that’s a bad sign

A sign the painting is no good

but if it sings that’s a good sign

a sign you can sign

so you must softly pluck 

one of the bird's feathers

and you write your name in a corner of the painting

Libellule can't stay in one place for more than five minutes, so the rest of the poem (another painting for example) may never be completed. That however, is of  little consequence. This first part was enough fun. We will move on to other things...

Yikes!! There is a howl coming from the cherry tree. That must mean my break time is over. Sigh...

Bisous to you all …

PS.
I have been busy WORKING! Which is why you have had no news from this corner of the woods. Photos to come…

***Jacques Prévert (1900-1977) was a French poet whose poems are often about life in Paris after the Second World War. He also wrote several classic screenplays for film director Marcel Carné, the most famous of which, Les enfants du paradis (The Children of Paradise, 1945), is considered one of the greatest French films of all time. 

"His satirical attacks on rigid French education and the Catholic Church and other institutions of authority expressed France's post-war disillusionment and defiant spirit."