Talking Pictures for Children 

Talking Pictures is an online resource for children and their adults based on artwork from the Crawford Art Gallery Collection. We will share creative prompts for happy talk and play every Wednesday.

You can download an Irish language version of this page in PDF format here.

About the artwork

This is a beautiful stained-glass panel which was created in 1911 by the Irish artist Harry Clarke. Here we see St. Brendan on a boat with his men meeting the unhappy Judas. Judas is clinging to a rock and being punished with fire for betraying Jesus. Brendan looks like he is about to get out of the boat to talk to Judas and his men look terrified.

What is Stained Glass?

Stained Glass is coloured glass that is used to form a decorative pattern or picture, with a lead (metal) frame, most often seen in church windows. The creator of this stained glass, Harry Clarke is probably the best known Irish stained-glass artist and his work can be seen all over Ireland in different churches and galleries. In Cork, you can see his pieces in the Honan Chapel in UCC or in the Crawford Gallery. Harry Clarke used bright colours in his work and loved deep blues, as you can see in this stained glass. One of Harry Clarke’s favourite saints to capture in glass was St. Brendan, let’s learn more about him.

St. Brendan the Navigator

St. Brendan the Navigator was born in County Kerry in the year 484. He set up lots of monasteries around Ireland but he also loved to travel on the sea. He had many adventures with his team of men in a coracle (small boat) including a seven-year voyage where he visited Iceland, Greenland and maybe even America long before Christopher Columbus discovered it. Brendan is the Patron Saint of Sailors and Travellers.

Let’s sing!

By now I’m sure you love singing, so let’s sing this fun song about St. Brendan by Christy Moore. Here is the first verse and chorus and you can find more verses and a recording of the song online.

St. Brendan’s Voyage by Christy Moore

A boat sailed out of Brandon in the year of 501
’twas a damp and dirty mornin’ Brendan’s voyage it began.
Tired of thinnin’ turnips and cuttin’ curley kale
When he got back from the creamery he hoisted up the sail.
He ploughed a lonely furrow to the north, south, east and west
Of all the navigators, St. Brendan was the best.
When he ran out of holy water he was forced to make a stop,
He tied up in Long Island and put America on the map.
Did you know that Honolulu was found by a Kerryman,
Who went on to find Australia then China and Japan.
When he was touchin’ 70, he began to miss the craic,
Turnin’ to his albatross says he “I’m headin’ back”.

CHORUS

“Is it right or left for Gibraltar”
“What tack do I take for Mizen Head?”
“I’d love to settle down by Ventry Harbour”,
St. Brendan to his albatross he said.

Let’s Tell a Story!

Can you tell the story of St. Brendan? Here is a map with some of the things that we think happened to St. Brendan on his voyage to America... (Except Donald Trump of course – that part is a joke!)

You can start the story in Kerry with Brendan and his men building a boat and loading it up with supplies. What did they bring with them?

Then you can follow numbers 1-6 to tell the rest of the story. What do you think happened when St. Brendan came across these strange things? Do you think he was afraid? How do you think he managed to overcome these obstacles and continue on his journey?

Maybe you could draw out some of the stories like a comic strip!

Let’s Make Stained Glass!

Let’s make our own stained glass style artwork. You can use old sweet wrappers as ‘glass’. I find Quality Street wrappers work best.

• First, draw out a picture on some black paper or card (cardboard from a cereal box works fine too). You don’t have to draw a boat – you can draw whatever you’d like but make the shapes big so you can easily cut them out.
• Next, punch holes in the corners of your drawing using a pen, like in the picture below, to make it easier to cut out the shapes.

• Cut out the shapes using a scissors.
• Take the sweet wrappers and rub them with your fingers to smooth out the big wrinkles.

• Cut the sweet wrappers into sizes to match the holes and stick onto the back of the card using glue or Sellotape. If you don’t have enough of one colour you can add in a similar colour, like I did with the purple wave below.

• Turn over to see your stained-glass masterpiece and hang it in a window to get the full effect. This is a lovely way to brighten up a window, especially on a grey dull day!

We would love to hear your stories and artworks inspired by Talking Pictures! Share them with us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter using the #crawfordartgalleryhomelife.

Activities and illustrations by Hazel Hurley.

We would love to hear your stories and artworks inspired by Talking Pictures! Share them with us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter using the #crawfordartgalleryhomelife.

Please share:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitter

Talking Pictures for Children 

Talking Pictures is an online resource for children and their adults based on artwork from the Crawford Art Gallery Collection. We will share creative prompts for happy talk and play every Wednesday.

You can download an Irish language version of this page in PDF format here.

About the artwork

This artwork was created by an artist called Colin Middleton, who was born in Belfast in 1910. He was a Surrealist, which meant he liked to put unexpected things together to create fantastical, dream-like scenes in his paintings. Surrealism was a movement in art and literature that emerged in the early twentieth century. It was all about embracing the powers of our imagination, fantasies and dreams to produce sights that had never been seen before!

Look closely

Look closely at the painting. What do you think is inside all those boxes? Could it be more birds. The painting is called ‘Market Day’ so do you think the lady is going to the market to sell the boxes? What will she buy with the money she gets for the boxes?

Let’s sing!

You loved singing in last week’s Talking Pictures right? So let’s sing again. Here is a song for this week’s boxes theme. This song is by Malvina Reynolds and it is very catchy. You can find the song on Youtube and sing along with the words below.This lovely painting could inspire you to sing a love song to Cork! We’re going to sing a famous Cork song called ‘The Banks of My Own Lovely Lee’. Maybe you have learned this song in school or maybe your parents know it. Here is the first verse for you to sing and you could find the rest of the song online.

Little Boxes – Malvina Reynolds

Little boxes on the hillside
Little boxes made of ticky-tacky
Little boxes on the hillside
Little boxes all the same
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same

And the people in the houses
All went to the university
Where they were put in boxes
And they came out all the same
And there's doctors and lawyers
And business executives
And they're all made out of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same

Let’s Play Dots and Boxes Game

All you need to play this game is a pencil, paper and another person to play with! Start by making an empty grid of dots, then take turns drawing a single horizontal or vertical line between two dots. The player who draws the fourth line to make a complete box wins a point and writes their initial in the box to record it. When all the dots have been joined by lines to make boxes, the game is over and the players count up their scores. The winner is the person who has earned the most points.

Here's a demonstration to help you get started:

Activity Dice

Click here to download a printable PDF version of this activity dice.

Remember to ask a grown-up for help with cutting along the black lines and gluing or taping your dice!

Let’s make a cardboard box monster

Cardboard boxes are very fun to play with. With a little bit of drawing or even just a bit of imagination a cardboard box can become anything you want!

You could make…a spaceship, a boat, a fish tank, a robot, a castle, a dinosaur, a car.

Here is an example of a cardboard monster that you could make. Use some markers or crayons to draw on eyes and a mouth, horns and hair on an old cardboard box.

Look at the silly socks on the bird and the donkey in the painting above…Could you use silly socks as feet for your box monster.

You could add feathers or glitter or shiny wrappers from sweets, whatever you have at home. See what you can make! Have fun!

Answers to last week’s Cork Slang Quiz

We would love to hear your stories and artworks inspired by Talking Pictures! Share them with us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter using the #crawfordartgalleryhomelife.

Activities and illustrations by Hazel Hurley.

We would love to hear your stories and artworks inspired by Talking Pictures! Share them with us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter using the #crawfordartgalleryhomelife.

Please share:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitter