The P O W E R of Observation

........When we look closely at something during our art class we try to pretend that we are looking at it for the very first time.  We try to forget what we thought we knew about the thing, and then begin to LOOK at it like we would if we had pulled it from a "Time Capsule".
        We have practiced this technique over and over with insects, seed pods, flowers, and birds.  One day this Fall, I wanted to try the technique with an OREO.   THE KIDS WERE THRILLED!  Every child received one oreo cookie to observe, to hold in their own hands, to render with a sparpie pen and contour lines, and then to eat.  We took twenty minutes to look and sketch.....then we took twenty more minutes to LOOK AGAIN.....noting the details that perhaps we had passed over.  When most of the children told me they were "done" I noticed that they had not done their most precise work and I asked them why they felt the need to hurry......the answer was obviously that they could not wait to eat the cookie.