Jackson Pollock was a well-known influential American
painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. He became
known for his “drip” style of painting.
Jackson would lay his canvas on the floor and use paintbrushes, sticks
and even basting syringes to drip or splatter paint onto the canvas.
When I first heard of Jackson Pollock I was surprised to
learn that a well-known artist was using the same techniques children in my preschool classroom were using in their artwork. I knew I loved the splash of color and the
sense of freedom it made me feel as I watch the children chose which colors,
which brushes and which way to flick their brush but I didn’t realize how
insightful and truly original they were in their approach. Perhaps Jackson
Pollock took his cue, knowingly or not from his own childhood experiences when
he developed his well-known technique of “drip” painting.
Just recently some of the children in the preschool learned about Jackson Pollock and his famous masterpieces. Later, the children chose a variety of colors of paint and different paintbrushes and collaboratively created their own modern day piece of expressionist artwork, which proudly hangs in their classroom.
