The University of Kansas
Spencer Museum of Art
The University of Kansas Spencer Museum of Art
e-news    |    donate    |    RSS Icon rss  

How Does it Feel? Home How Does it Feel?

An activity for elementary-school children

Bernard Palissy and Workshop
France
Rustic Basin, circa 1570-1590
lead-glazed ceramic
Museum purchase: Helen Foresman Spencer Art Acquisition Fund

Name some different textures.
smooth soft rough hard prickly bumpy scaly furry pitted
  • Besides smooth, what other textures do you see?
  • Do the plants and animals look real or imaginary?
Look carefully at the plants and animals. What details has the artist included? (hint: veins in the leaves, scales on the snake)
  • Do the surfaces of the plants and animals look like they would feel in real life, or not?
  • Is the texture in this work of art real or visual?
  • If you could touch these plants and animals, they wouldn’t actually feel like they would in real life, would they? Why is that?
The plants and animals on this work of art look lifelike because the artist used molds of real plants and animals to make them. He then attached them to the platter.